Helen Macdonald is a writer, poet, naturalist and historian of science. Her prize-winning book, H Is for Hawk, was made into a film starring Claire Foy in 2025. She is a guest at the Shaking Bog Festival in Wicklow on August 22nd

Low-budget, highly ambitious project to restore populations of critical insects fast became a top nature-positive initiative

Every two months antiques and vintage traders convene in Dún Laoghaire to sell everything from furniture to jewellery to paintings to bric-a-brac

Worker-owned enterprise provides free healthcare training to migrant women, team meetings and opportunities to join board of directors

Record-setting sale of Gerard Dillon’s Tea Party among the biggest surprises so far

Organic ‘waste’ can create clean energy, green fertilisers, harm-free plastics and even food

Yeats and Henry tend to attract Irish-linked buyers while contemporary works garner broader attention

Artists can be shape-shifters of cultural norms, as they are not afraid to push against the status quo and stimulate behaviour change

Mr Brainwash’s Art Tour goes to auction, and collective creates School of Hibernia featuring prominent Irish women

Be clear about the differences between in-person, timed and live online auctions before you bid

Purcell’s is selling thousands of vintage picture postcards, while deVere’s is to hold a 20th century furniture sale

A decline in the number of boy choristers at St Patrick’s Cathedral Choir School in Dublin has led to a recruitment drive

In Dublin, art is accessible at Whyte’s summer auction, with estimates starting at €400

Stirrings Still by Samuel Beckett, with illustrations by Louis le Brocquy, and second edition of Pride and Prejudice among this week’s finds

How do famous former boarders view their time at school now?