Eibhlin O'Neill's blog

The Marble Arch Caves are a series of natural limestone caves located near the village of Florencecourt (Irish: Mullach na Seangánin) in County Fermanagh  (Contae Fhear Manach) in the north of Ireland. They are close to a natural limestone arch called Marble Arch, under which the Cladagh River flows and from where the caves get their name. The caves are formed from three rivers draining off the northern slopes of Cuilcagh mountain, which combine underground to form the Cladagh.

Today marks 170 years since the Irish tricolour was first flown publicly. Thomas Francis Meagher raised what would later become the national flag at the Wolfe Tone Confederate Club at 33 The Mall in Waterford city in 1848. The flag was presented to Thomas Francis Meagher (August 3 1823 – July 1 1867) when in France by a group who were sympathetic to Irish aspirations for independence. He was a founder member of the Irish Confederation, an Irish nationalist independence movement formed in 1847.  

Sometimes described as the "woman forgotten by science", Annie Russell Maunder (14 April 1868 – 15 September 1947) will be remembered in a series of events on the anniversary of her birth. As reported by BBC Northern Ireland (Irish: BBC Thuaisceart Éireann) her story will be told in the town of her birth Strabane, County Tyrone (Irish: An Srath Bán, Contae Thír Eoghainas) in the north of Ireland. 

At a special Ard Fheis held in Dublin today and attended by around 1,500 party delegates, Mary Lou McDonald has been formally elected as President of Sinn Féin. Mary Lou McDonald is a TD (a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the Irish Parliament) for Dublin Central. She was the only contender for the position and has been president-elect of the party since the beginning of this year.

The Petroleum and Other Minerals Development (Amendment) Climate Emergency Measures Bill 2018 was debated in the Dáil on Wednesday and secured the backing of 78 TDs, with 48 opposing it. Dáil Éireann (Assembly of Ireland) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature).

Imbolg, observed on the first day of February, is the second of the four ancient yearly Celtic Festivals, representing the advent of the traditional agricultural year. There are four great Feast Days of the Celtic Year:

Samhain - the Celtic New Year (Halloween) celebrated on November 1st

Imbolg - the Feast of the Goddess Brigit on February 1st

Beltane – festival honouring the beginning of summer

Lughnasadh - the harvest festival and last feast day in the year which falls on August 1st

The River Lee (Irish: An Laoi) rises in the Shehy Mountains (Cnoic na Síofra) in the west of County Cork (Contae Chorcaí). It flows eastwards where it splits in two for a short distance, creating an island on which Cork's city centre is built. The river then enters into the Celtic Sea at Cork Harbour. Cork was said to have originally been founded as a monastic settlement by Saint Finbarr in the 6th century. He is patron saint of the city and of the Diocese of Cork and his feast day is September 25. Between 915 and 922 the Vikings developed Cork it into a significant trading port.

Retiring Sinn Féin party president Gerry Adams is scheduled to be formally replaced by Mary Lou McDonald at a special Ard Fheis (party conference) on February 10, 2018. She is a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Central constituency. Michelle O'Neill, leader of Sinn Féin in the Northern Ireland Assembly and a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Mid Ulster will become the new deputy leader of Sinn Féin.

A 435 million-year-old starfish fossil discovered in Connemara, Co Galway by an Irish geologist, Dr Eamon Doyle, in the late 1980's, has now been confirmed as a new species and the oldest of its type in Ireland. Dr Doyle has been given the the honour of it being named after him. According to the latest issue of the Irish Journal of Earth Sciences, published by the Royal Irish Academy, it has been given the Latin name Crepidosoma Doyleii by international palaeontologists. 

Construction work being undertaken in Quay Street, Galway (Irish: Gaillimh) in the West of Ireland  has revealed the remains of a castle. Archaeologists believe it to be part of the oldest-known stone building in Galway city and that the two metre thick stone walls formed part of Dún na Gaillimhe, a castle built by the De Burgo family in 1232. The fortification was built along the then shoreline of the river Corrib. It was preceded by a wooden structure on the same site, which is mentioned in the annals of 1124.