A Limerick dairy and beef farmer has found pastures new in which to plough his furrow. The Limerick Leader reports that Mr Gerard Leahy has opened a bio-energy healing clinic at his home in Kilmallock. Patients can gaze out at the relaxing view of a herd of grazing Friesians while Mr Leahy re-balances their life-force energy and releases stress patterns from internal organs.
The therapy works by re-correcting imbalances in the patient's energy field or aura.
Mr Leahy, who completed an 18month training course in bio-energy therapy after nearly 20 years studying esoteric science, told the paper he has had success in treating a woman who had agonising knee pain and a man with arthritis.
"There's nothing new about it," he said. "It's an age-old technique which is now attracting more and more devotees."
Treatment of a different kind is the focus of attention in Kerry.
The Kerryman reports that the number of alcoholics being treated in the county has increased.
Some 314 people were treated for alcoholism in Kerry last year, eight times as many as for drug addiction, according to figures from the Southern Health Board.
This has led to a call for a "social re-think" on the problem of alcohol by the director of the Talbot Grove Treatment Centre, Mr Con Cremin.
"The alcohol problem in Kerry is very understated," Mr Cremin told the paper. "It's doing more damage in our society than drugs because it is much more commonly used and available, but we tend to have the attitude that it is socially acceptable. It's a bit like drink-driving in that we used to look on that as being socially acceptable, but it's not well looked upon now."
A man living on death row in an American prison is trying to trace his relatives in Donegal, according to the Donegal Democrat.
Jerry McFadden (49), whose father was from Co Donegal, is awaiting the date for his execution by lethal injection in Huntsville Prison, Texas.
He has been on death row since 1987 when he was found guilty of raping and murdering a teenage girl. He strongly denies this charge and says he has the backing of Amnesty International.
McFadden, whose mother was Cherokee, wrote to a woman who corresponds with him regularly and she contacted the paper to see if anyone could help. McFadden, who has no living relatives in the US, had his execution postponed last March. The paper says he is hoping to get in touch with any possible Donegal family before a new date for his execution is fixed.
A spate of unexplained car accidents on a stretch of road in Co Laois is compared to a storyline from the television science fiction series, The X Files, in the Laois Nationalist.
The paper reports that a civil engineer who exhaustively tested the road at Pedigree Corner in Farnans, Arles, in Co Laois was unable to explain why 11 cars have gone off it in six months.
Mr Charles Quinn, the farmer whose field the cars always end up in, said the road needs to be resurfaced. Perhaps agent Scully and agent Mulder can help solve the mystery.
The paper also reports on plans by Laois County Council to bury a time capsule under Portlaoise Main Street with information about how life was in the town in 1997.
The capsule will be left undisturbed until the street is dug up again, which, says the paper, hopefully will not be in the near future. The time capsule ceremony will be part of celebrations planned for later this month to mark the completion of the street, which has been totally refurbished.
Residents in Co Wexford who haven't been able to glimpse their roads at all since they were swamped with muddy rain last weekend have started the post-floods clean-up.
The Wexford People has six pages of reports and photographs of the bank holiday weekend wash-out which has cost business people and householders thousands of pounds.
But the paper reports that waterlogged staff of a local insurance company, which was itself damaged in the floods, managed to deal with the deluge of claims.
There is also good news to lift the dampened spirits of business people in the south-east. The Wexford People reports that the number of tourists visiting the area has increased.
Most hoteliers and bed-and-breakfast owners told the paper there are more visitors to Wexford, Rosslare and Kilmore this year than last.
Business people are already gearing up for a bumper season next year when the Tour de France brings droves of visitors.
Vandals have caused irreparable damage to an ancient abbey in the village of Golden, according to the Tipperary Star. Athassel Abbey, one of the largest Augustinian ruins in western Europe, was damaged in the attack and stone slabs were stolen. Gardai are investigating the incident.
In Co Kilkenny, a pub which was beerless for 34 years recently reopened its doors for a Vintage Day in Ballinakill. The Kilkenny People reports that former locals who had tasted their first pint in Jackman's pub returned older and wiser to share a few sentimental sups.