Storms of biblical proportions were reported in most provincial newspapers last week. Over Christmas, the ESB in the southern region struggled against unusual manifestations of mother nature's fury, reported the Kerryman on-line edition.
"The damage was caused by a combination of a lightning storm on Christmas night, and wind and salt storms on St Stephen's Day," according to Mr P.C. Lynch, operations engineer for Kerry and West Cork.
"The salt storm in particular caused a lot of problems," Mr Lynch said. "In as far as Knocknagoshel, the winds were full of salt. Salt is a conductive material and it breaks down the insulation in networks. The rain clears them off."
More than 20,000 people in the area were without electricity over Christmas.
God's air strikes also affected Mayo. According to the main headline in the Western People, "Hurricane Heralds Nightmare for Region."
The paper reported: "In a winter nightmare of weather systems the West, North West - and Mayo in particular - were whipped by hurricane force winds on St Stephen's Day and were blanketed with inches of snow the following day, leaving the area virtually cut off and with many thousands of homes without electricity supplies."
The ESB estimated that 60,000 homes in the north-west were without power in the immediate aftermath of the storm, while 160,000 homes throughout the State were without electricity on St Stephen's Day.
The weather claimed lives, young and old, throughout the country over the holiday week. A car carrying a young couple was struck by a tree between Maam and Leenane, instantly killing the young man, reported Michael Commins in the Western People.
"A Christmas of dreams turned to a Christmas of tragedy for a young couple on their way to Clifden to announce their engagement."
Michael Joyce (25) was buried in his native Ballindine, Claremorris on Tuesday, leaving behind fiancee Samantha Smith (20) of Somerset, England, his parents and four siblings.
The blustery gales and cold temperatures also created dangerous conditions in the midlands. Three bachelors aged between 38 and 64 were killed when the BMW in which they were travelling went out of control in icy conditions and crashed outside Carlow town.
The accident was front-page news in both regional papers with "Three Die in Horrific Road Crash" in the Nationalist and Leinster Times and "Friends Die in Horror Crash," in the Kilkenny People.
Violence of a human nature was the subject of the Nationalist's strongly-worded editorial this week, entitled: "Interestingly extraordinary but shockingly ordinary."
It centred on the widely-publicised trial and conviction of David Murphy for killing his wife Patricia. In video evidence, used for the first time, the Murphy children recalled seeing their mother lying dead in the garage before her body was later found in a skip.
"The fact that the video evidence of the Murphy children was utilised in the trial of the children's father should not blind us to the fact that Patricia Murphy was yet another woman murdered by a man.
"She is yet another statistic in an increasingly chilling roll-call of Irish women who have become the victim of violence perpetrated against them by men."
Women like Patricia Murphy could be the woman next door, silently suffering brutality and cruelty, continued the editorial. "We should remember her not because the story is extraordinary, rather because it is far too ordinary for comfort."
In unusual animal news, the Kilkenny People located a bee-whisperer. Mr Jack Phelan of Troyswood, Kilkenny is "The Man Who Talks to Bees" according to Eamonn Horgan.
"We've heard of the Horse Whisperer. Well, Jack doesn't just whisper to the bees, he chats with them and calls them by their name!
"If you are brave enough to stand nearby as he opens the hives for tending or harvesting, you will hear his steady and reassuring voice as he calms the nervous ones or lays down the law to the more obstreperous. `Easy there, Nora,' `Come on now, Bridgie, behave yourself!' `Right, Mollie, we'll soon be finished'. Very occasionally, a well-placed expletive will help emphasise a point.
"Does each individual bee answer to her name? Well, if you manage to get close enough, try checking that with the bees themselves."