There is no better way to get away than to fire up a motorcycle and to make for the horizon. My bike is normally used for the dreary purpose of commuting to work. Today, however, I would be taking it to Ireland’s Atlantic coast. I had been hankering after a deep draught of the west of…

Children love animals, but the reverse is not always so. To animals, especially ones which belong in the wild, children are erratic, noisy little creatures, capable of pulling tails, poking eyes and shrieking alarmingly. Still, it is always a sad day when a child first comes to the realisation that their love for an animal…

It’s springtime and “adventure” is the watchword in our house. We no longer walk to the playground, we “go on an adventure” to the playground, taking obscure and unnecessary paths through the woods, clambering over fallen trees and exploring hidden glades. We are already, under duress, planning summer camping trips to faraway adventure-filled lands such…

Sherkin Island had apparently drifted about 2,000 miles to the south. Certainly the weather over the Easter holidays was worthy of the Canaries, with wall to wall sunshine and temperatures up to 18 degrees most days. The odd patch of sea fog or cooling sea breeze was almost a welcome relief from the amazingly unrelenting…

It was going to be a big, and very emotional, adventure. The older two kids were going to have their first full weekend away on their own without one or other parent with them. They were going to Cork to stay with their nana and grandad for a whole weekend alone. They’re very close to…

Baddies are still cartoonish characters in the mind of my five-year-old boy. But sadly, he is becoming increasingly aware that bad things do happen, and that there are bad people out there. Like most parents, we always try to shield him from unnecessary fears, even if we are only delaying the inevitable.  Driving past an…

As I write, my wife is in the kitchen chopping vegetables, while somehow keeping our six-month-old baby daughter happy. The older two sit each side of me on the sofa, where I balance my laptop, homework, crayons and a colouring book. The annual St Valentine’s Day extravaganza is passed, with its notions that love is shown…

It is a strange thing to realise that you have become a sort of slave – albeit a fairly happy one, at least when you are tucking your peacefully slumbering little masters in at night. Perhaps the term, “indentured servant” is more accurate, because there is the prospect of eventual freedom, allegedly. With each new…

My first niece was born before Christmas, Grace arrived into the world in Holles Street hospital, to a celebratory city strewn with lights. Christmas is a beautiful time of year for a baby to be born. My wife and children had already gone to London ahead of me for the Christmas break, and so I…

Rory Fitzgerald gives thanks for the ‘happy chaos’ of family life