Many Irish homes still follow the custom of placing the Christmas Eve candle in the window, traditionally a red candle, big enough to burn all night, to show the welcome for Christ that He had never received in Bethlehem.

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https://gript.ie/why-we-had-a-red-candle-in-the-window-on-christmas-eve-2/

Willie Clancy was born into a musical family in Miltown Malbay, Co Clare. His parents both sang and played concertina, and his father also played the flute. Clancy’s father had been heavily influenced by local blind piper Garret Barry.

ON THIS DAY: 24 DECEMBER 1918: Birth of Uilleann Piper, Willie Clancy

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https://gript.ie/on-this-day-24-december-1918-birth-of-uilleann-piper-willie-clancy-4/

CYRIL CUSACK – LÁR AN STÁITSE ar Lá Nollaig, 9.30pm

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https://gript.ie/cyril-cusack-lar-an-staitse/

MARGARET HICKEY: Times change, but the magic of Christmas is eternal

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https://gript.ie/times-change-but-the-magic-of-christmas-is-eternal-2/

A very happy Christmas to all our readers, subscribers and contributors!
Happy Christmas
#happychristmas #gript

We are sorry to report that Donal Rogers, who came to prominence this year amid a fight to save the life of his dog, Kim, passed away on Christmas Day. He was 85 years old.

https://vimeo.com/757127017?fbclid=IwAR0kga9NFIZkqaQ81oziLEW6d-qxGx_o_bd7bAxfmOiqGBdoiq8GaWJt8DY

ON THIS DAY: 26 DECEMBER: Feast of St. Stephen or Wren Day

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https://gript.ie/on-this-day-26-december-feast-of-st-stephen-or-wren-day-3/

"I was sixteen years old when the troubling of my life began. It was then that the fatal ambition to be a poet seized me."

Maolsheachlann Ó Ceallaigh writes

https://gript.ie/the-woes-of-a-traditionalist-poet/

PAT SHEEHAN: Christmas: The Greatest Revolution

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https://gript.ie/christmas-the-greatest-revolution/

ON THIS DAY: 27th DECEMBER 1969: Death of Dan Breen

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https://gript.ie/on-this-day-27th-december-1969-death-of-dan-breen-4/

“I have lost count of the number of times I have pleaded with former Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, to create a ministerial role that would accord fisheries the level of respect and concentrated full-time engagement that it demands,” said Deputy Collins.

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https://gript.ie/fisheries-left-on-the-hook-as-government-fails-to-appoint-dedicated-junior-minister-michael-collins/

LOOK BACK: The Irish Times advice column openly encourages a woman who is also a wife and mother to pursue life as a gay man after she says she was encouraged by members of the trans community to do so

https://gript.ie/irish-times-encourages-mother-to-live-as-gay-man-is-this-the-worst-advice-ever/

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LOOK BACK: “Sadly, for all the talk of inclusion, it appears RTÉ does not believe Dana’s is a story worthy of telling. Regardless of RTÉ’s pettiness, the story of the girl from the Bogside winning our first Eurovision is an incredible one.”

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https://gript.ie/all-kinds-of-shenanigans-going-on-in-rte/

LOOKBACK: “The ranks of gender detransitioners appear to be growing. Over the last number of years, an emerging community of people who have undergone medical and/or surgical treatment to change their sex, and then realised this was a mistake, has formed and begun to find its voice."

#gript

https://gript.ie/what-have-i-done-the-people-who-realised-changing-sex-was-a-mistake-now-speak-out/

LOOK BACK on the story of 85 year old Donal Rogers who spent much of the last year of his life fighting to save his beloved pet Jack Russell, Kim, from being put down.

https://gript.ie/roscommon-man-fights-to-save-pet-jack-russell-from-being-put-down-2/

#gript

Parents of children with Down syndrome have said that the Rotunda needs to examine the message it is giving parents after the master of the maternity hospital, Dr Fergal Malone, said that 95% of babies diagnosed with Down Syndrome were aborted.

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https://gript.ie/rotunda-downsyndrome-95-shock/

A LOOK BACK on pride 2022 and how organisations like Stonewall ‘encourage’ businesses to contribute to lgbt+ interests.

https://gript.ie/pride-and-placement-are-inclusion-and-marketing-becoming-symbiotic/


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UK disability rights activist Heidi Crowter has been named in the BBC’s ‘100 Women of the Year’ for 2022. The campaigner, who has Down Syndrome, came to prominence after she brought a legal challenge against the UK’s abortion law.

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https://gript.ie/down-syndrome-campaigner-heidi-crowter-named-in-bbcs-100-women-of-the-year/

Conor O’Dowd, a young man with Down syndrome, has delivered a letter to the Rotunda urging them to ‘save babies’ after the master, Dr Fergal Malone, said 95% of babies with the condition were now aborted – almost double the 50% figure he gave in 2018.

https://gript.ie/watch-save-babies-young-man-with-down-syndrome-delivers-letter-to-rotunda-as-95-aborted/