Poem of the Week: Snail Notes
Whorley snail, terrifier in its botanical realm,
ravager of leaves with its shearing jellied
mouth. Its shell protects only against shrivelling
desiccation in a drought. It scabs a snotty screen
across its home's gaping floor. A shrew's milk teeth
could crush the crisp of its armour. As a baby, poised
on a daffodil stalk, it is a mobile brown globule
slowly pouring itself, a muddy raindrop, an uphill-drip.
Sometimes slow enough to appear still, like an inedible
stone or flake of wind-dropped bark to a cloud-high
crow. For all its ponderous existence it extols no
philosophies, but provokes thought in others, not least
daffodils who rasp at one another through their roots
at times of ooze and prowl, after dews and wind howl.
Patrick Cotter's fourth collection, Quality Control at the Miracle Factory, was published recently by Dedalus Press. patrickcotter.ie
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Irish Times
5 hours ago
- Irish Times
Wills and spouses: Why you cannot just cut a wife out of your will
An acquaintance left all his assets, mainly his house which is probably worth about €250,000, to a distant relative. He had been on bad terms with his wife of about 50 years and left her nothing. They had no children and were not legally separated or divorced. Their only income was the contributory old-age pension. Now the relative has told the widow that he wants to take possession of the house to sell it and pay capital acquisitions tax. He has helpfully suggested that she should enter a care home. I know that, by law, the lady is entitled to two-thirds of the value of the house, irrespective of the will but, assuming that the facts are as I've given them: can the will even go to probate? Can the widow continue to live in the house indefinitely given her contribution to the marriage or for some other reason? READ MORE Did the solicitor who drew up the will have an ethical or legal obligation to ask if the man was married? When I made a will recently, the solicitor didn't ask me if I was married. Mr DF Well, this is a bit of a mess, isn't it? There's being on bad terms with a spouse, and then there's trying to cut her out of a will entirely after 50 years of marriage. It must have been some row. The approach of the distant relative to whom the house has been left in the will is also sadly lacking in empathy. What a wonderful pair. There's nothing like a will to show up the worst side of people. More to the point, this will is unsustainable. You simply cannot disinherit a spouse entirely – at least not unless they have been convicted of killing you, trying to kill you or trying to cause you serious harm. If you die without a will, your spouse will automatically inherit your entire estate where there are no children and two-thirds of the estate (by value) where there are children. And in a case like this, where there is a will, a spouse is entitled to what is called a legal right share. That lays down that the spouse is automatically entitled to one-half of the entire estate in a situation like your acquaintance's wife where there are no children. If there had been children, the legal right share would be one-third of the estate. This entitlement ranks ahead of any other beneficiary, regardless of what the will says. Only creditors rank higher – ie, debts left outstanding by the deceased. If she was deliberately left in the dark, I would expect any court to back her right So whatever this distant relative thinks, in an estate where the sole or main asset is the family home, the relative has no absolute right to it until the wife has her share. And the onus is not on the spouse to claim this. It is the legal responsibility of the executor to the estate to notify the spouse that she has the right to half of the estate (in this example), regardless of what the will says. Having said that, they do need to claim the right within six months of being informed by the executor, or one year of the grant of representation (probate) being issued. If she was deliberately left in the dark, I would expect any court to back her right. If they had been legally separated, provision would likely have been made one way or the other in the formal separation for the handling of the legal right share. That's common enough. Divorce would have extinguished it. But neither is the case here. It is also possible for someone to renounce a legal right share but, again, that is a formal scenario and there would be a written record. And if the spouse argues that they were pressured into so doing, or simply did not understand what they were doing, they would be in a strong position to challenge such a renunciation in court. So the idea that a distant relative can wander in and tell her 'Sorry love, I want you out to sell the house. Maybe you can head on to a nursing home' is quite simply deluded. They have no such right. And even in a case like this, where it appears the wife's name is not on the deeds of the property and her legal right share will not be sufficient to secure ownership of the house in its entirety, she is not without options. The first course of action would be to pay the difference between the value of her right share and the balance of the market value of the house. In your scenario, where it appears she would not have the financial resources to do so, she could make a case to a court on hardship grounds. The court can rule in those circumstance that the money does not have to be paid, although it is not obliged to do so. Whatever this distant relative thinks, in an estate where the sole or main asset is the family home, the relative has no absolute right to it until the wife has her share Has the solicitor drawing up the will on behalf of his client the moral or legal duty to inquire whether there is a spouse, and then to notify the client of the legal right share provision? No, not a legal or moral duty, but they certainly have a commonsense one. I cannot imagine a solicitor advising a mature client on their will where no mention is made of a spouse not at least querying whether there are any close family, given they would certainly be aware of the legal right share provision. After all, failure to do so and to make provision is only storing up trouble for the executor, who may well be the same solicitor, when they have to manage probate and the distribution of the estate. Please send your queries to Dominic Coyle, Q&A, The Irish Times, 24-28 Tara Street Dublin 2, or by email to with a contact phone number. This column is a reader service and is not intended to replace professional advice
Irish Times
8 hours ago
- Irish Times
TV guide: The Bear returns, and the other best new shows to watch on RTÉ, Disney+, and Netflix this week
Pick of the week Natasha Wednesday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm In 2022 Natasha O'Brien was violently assaulted on a street in Limerick, in a random attack that left her bleeding and unconscious. The attacker, Cathal Crotty , was a serving soldier in the Defence Forces, and there was a public outcry when he received a suspended sentence for his cowardly and brutal act. This documentary follows O'Brien's subsequent refusal to stay silent about her treatment at the hands of a deeply flawed Irish legal system, and her subsequent battle to get justice for the trauma which was inflicted upon her. Thanks to her relentless campaigning, the DPP appealed Crotty's sentence and he was sentenced to two years in prison. With help from other women who shared their stories of facing their attackers in court, and from politicians including Labour leader Ivana Bacik and expert criminologist Dr Ian Marder, O'Brien looks at ways the system can be reformed to take ensure that victims' voices are heard. Highlights From that Small Island: The Story of the Irish Sunday, RTÉ One, 6.30pm From that Small Island: Marion Casey in New York Nigel Farage can't seem to understand why Ireland would not want to join with the UK and leave the European Union; perhaps he should watch this third episode of this landmark historical series, as it might explain why his Irexit idea went down like a lead balloon. The 17th century saw mass migration of Irish to continental Europe, displaced by the brutal conquest by Oliver Cromwell, and this episode tracks the first diaspora as they set up new lives in various European countries. The programme also follows the Irish who signed up to French, Spanish and Austrian armies in the wake of the Williamite wars at the end of the 17th century, and became known as the Wild Geese. It marked the beginning of centuries-long ties between Ireland and Europe that will take more than a few bellowing Brexiteers to break. The programme, narrated by Colin Farrell, also looks at the life of anti-slavery campaigner Daniel O'Connell, known as the Liberator, and how he influenced black abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass. Aistear an Amhráin Monday, RTÉ One, 7pm This series looking at the stories behind well-known songs ends with one of Ireland's most beloved bangers, An Poc ar Buile. The song was recorded in 1962 by Seán Ó Sé, and became an instant classic, but there's a tale to the tune that dates from the 17th century. The song about a mad billy goat was written in the 1940s by Donal Ó Mulláin and became associated with Puck Fair in Killorglin, Co Kerry, but the original poem it was based on has a darker meaning. An Boc ar Buile, written in the 1600s, was about a local landlord trying to exercise his right to have sexual relations with a tenant's bride on her wedding night. Given recent stories about landlords demanding sex from tenants as payment for rent, maybe the original version is due a revisit. The Gilded Age Monday, Sky Atlantic & Now, 9pm The Gilded Age Long before Sex and the City, New York was ruled by an elite coterie of well-got women, all vying for power and position in the upper echelons of high society in Upper East Side Manhattan of the 1880s. The Gilded Age is set during a period of huge transformation, when old money is under attack from a new generation of upwardly mobile industrialists and entrepreneurs, all hoping to buy their way into privilege. Louisa Jacobson stars as Marian Brook, a newcomer in New York society who arrives in the midst of a social war between the old-money Van Rhijn-Brooks and the new-money Russell family. Marian must quickly learn the rules of the game – and make up a few of her own – if she is to survive in this cut-throat world. Cynthia Nixon from SATC and Christine Baranski costar, and series three takes up the story in the aftermath of the so-called Opera War, which has given the Russells the social advantage. How will the old-money crowd hit back? This could turn into an epic confrontation. READ MORE Death in the Desert: The Nurse Helen Mystery Monday, Channel 4, 9pm Helen Smith was a young nurse working in Saudi Arabia in 1979, enjoying her adventure and making new friends in a culture very different from her own. At just 23 years old, however, Helen died in mysterious circumstances. The official story was that she fell from a balcony at a party, and her death was ruled an accident, but questions lingered over the lack of a thorough police investigation and whether her death really was accidental. This documentary looks back on Helen's life in Saudi Arabia and the political and cultural climate of the time, and tries to uncover what really happened on that balcony more than 45 years ago. Amol Rajan Goes to the Ganges Wednesday, BBC One, 9pm Amol Goes to the Ganges The Maha Kumbh Mela Festival in northern India is the world's largest religious festival, and the biggest gathering of human beings on the planet, attended by almost 500 million people from around the globe – more than the combined populations of the US and UK converging on an area the size of Manhattan. Joining them for this special documentary is journalist and presenter Amol Rajan, and he's visiting for personal reasons – to help him come to terms with the death of his father three years ago, and to reconnect with the land of his birth. The Kumbh festival happens only every dozen years, and this year's festival coincides with a rare alignment of the planets, making it extra special for pilgrims. Amol meets many of these pilgrims, all here to purify themselves in the polluted waters of the Ganges, but he also comes close to tragedy as a huge crowd surge results in the deaths of 30 people. Murder on the Doorstep: The Killer Clown Wednesday, Sky Crime & Now, 9pm Dan Reimer, who features in Murder On The Doorstep: The Killer Clown In the 1990s, a young woman, Marlene Warren, was shot dead on the doorstep of her own house in Florida by a mystery assailant. The killer had dressed as a clown to disguise their identity, but police immediately suspected Marlene's husband, Michael Warren, of his wife's murder. Their marriage was in trouble, and there were rumours of extramarital affairs, but Michael had a rock-solid alibi and the police had no proof, so he was eliminated as a suspect. Nearly 30 years later, though, police make an apparent breakthrough, charging Michael's alleged mistress Sheila Keen with Marlene's murder. But is there more to this murder than meets the eye? This three-part docuseries looks back at the investigation, interviewing investigators, witnesses, friends and family members in an attempt to unravel a very tangled web of lies and betrayal. Glastonbury 2025 Live Thursday, BBC One, 10pm The BBC's live coverage of this year's Glasto in Pilton, Sussex, kicks off on Thursday, but all this week the Beeb will be airing programmes in anticipation of the big weekend, beginning with three half-hour specials featuring Glastonbury legends from the 1970s (Monday, BBC Two, 10pm), 1980s (Tuesday, BBC Two, 10pm) and 1990s (Wednesday, BBC Two, 10pm). Clara Amfo and Lauren Laverne will be on hand at Worthy Farm to look forward to the fun in store for the weekend, which will see headline performances on the Pyramid stage by The 1975, Neil Young & the Chrome Hearts and Olivia Rodrigo. If you haven't got tickets for the festival, the BBC's coverage of the onstage action will be almost as good as the real thing – and a lot less mucky. Streaming Countdown From Wednesday, June 25th, Prime Video Countdown: Amber Oliveras and Mark Meachum A dead Homeland Security agent, a secret taskforce and a terror plot that could end in millions of deaths: maybe I won't have another consonant after all, Rachel, thank you very much. Jensen Ackles from The Boys heads the cast of this action-thriller series created by Derek Haas, the mind behind the FBI series and all its variants. Ackles is the LAPD cop Mark Meachum, who is recruited into the taskforce after the Homeland Security guy is murdered in broad daylight. The murder is just the tip of the iceberg, and soon Ackles and the team are racing to stop the bad guys from turning the citizens of LA into DOA. The Bear From Thursday, June 26th, Disney+ The Bear Chef-patron Carmy Berzatto is back in kitchen hell in the fourth series of the foodie dramedy, and he's still in pursuit of excellence in the former sandwich shop in Chicago that he inherited after the suicide of his brother, Michael. Carmy, a Michelin-star chef, has turned the dive into a fine-dining restaurant, but success is far from a done deal. Money is running out, and the kitchen is still in chaos and turmoil. Can Carmy create a calmer atmosphere in this culinary crucible? Jeremy Allen White stars as Carmy, with Ayo Edebiri, Oliver Platt and Jamie Lee Curtis among the cast. Squid Game From Friday, June 27th, Netflix How much of a gaming junkie do you have to be to go back into a game that could end in your death? In series two of the hit Korean series – Netflix's most successful non-English-language series – Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) went back into the game with a clear mission to take down the faceless organisation behind this murderous, macabre theme park, but in this third and final series he finds himself back in the Squid Game dorm after the failure of his attempted rebellion – and this time the games have been taken to even deadlier levels. Gi-hun must survive this last round and also outwit his treacherous adversary the Frontman as the tournament reaches its bloody, adrenaline-pumping climax. Smoke From Friday, June 27th, Apple TV+ The Rocket Man star Taron Egerton heads a strong cast in this new crime series about an arson investigator in pursuit of two serial pyromaniacs. Joining Egerton in the series – based on a true story – are Rafe Spall, Jurnee Smollett, Anna Chlumsky, Greg Kinnear and John Leguizamo. Egerton plays the investigator, with Smollett as the detective who becomes his reluctant partner; they'll have to find common ground if they are going to stop the firestarting spree before it gets completely out of control.
Irish Times
9 hours ago
- Irish Times
Transforming and personalising old furniture: ‘If things go wrong, it can be easily rectified'
In homes across Ireland in 2025, there is an appetite for more personalised eclectic styles where comfort and character mingle with sleek modern design. There's a growing appreciation for vintage and restored furniture – including old counters and cabinets from closed shops used in domestic settings – either bought second hand or revamped after years of neglect. Waterford-based artist and interior designer Marianne Heaphy, aka the Revamp Tramp , is one of the leaders of this band of upcycling enthusiasts. In her workshops she gives people the know-how and confidence to bring new life to tables, chests of drawers, chairs, lampshades and bookcases. At a Saturday workshop in Waterford city, she is explaining her techniques and sharing a range of materials – from paints and primers to wood stains, stencils, gold leaf and wallpaper – with the six participants who have each brought along one piece of furniture to revamp. Mary Kennedy and Olive Hanlon at the workshop Olive Hanlon from Kilmacthomas in Co Waterford has a glossy pine bedside locker, which she wants to spruce up for use in her 16-year-old son Syd's bedroom. She has painted skirting boards, airing cupboards and tables in the past. READ MORE 'I see now how I did things wrong by putting on too much primer, followed by an undercoat and paint. I would have saved myself hours of work if I had come to this workshop first,' she says. Edel Kiely Edel Kiely from Pilltown, Co Kilkenny, is also upcycling a bedside locker for her son, Finn (13). Originally a light pink colour, she repaints it a subtle dark blue. 'I'm very happy with it. It looks expensive,' says Kiely. Kathleen O'Hanlon, from Kilmacow, Co Kilkenny, is here to bring some new life into a green table she bought second hand, which has been sitting on her upstairs landing for years. Although not an expensive piece, it has attractive splayed legs and after a bit of work, it looks much smarter. She has also brought along a plant stand she bought at auction for €5. 'I enjoy painting and seeing how the pieces transform. I did a rocking chair in one of these courses before,' she says. An oval table and a television stand are other pieces she has worked on. [ The rise of repair cafes: 'It's not sustainable to keep buying new stuff' Opens in new window ] Deirdre Clooney has been renovating her 1920s home in Waterford for the last seven years. She's here with a small green chest of drawers which she paints an aubergine colour, in-setting small strips of patterned wallpaper into the front panels of the drawers and on the top of the piece, using a technique called decoupage. 'I've always been interested in upcycling. I've done a mosaic with broken pieces of glass on my garden wall and another mosaic with tiles on the base of my courtyard,' she says, showing pictures of her work. Mary Kennedy Mary Kennedy from Joanstown, Co Waterford, has brought along two vintage foot stools with woven cord seats. The stools, which came from her deceased mother-in-law's home, have sentimental value. 'My husband used to sit on one of these stools for his dinner as a child, so he's very attached to them,' she says. She repaints one to put in her 10-year-old daughter Beatrice's playhouse. The second, which she meticulously sands and rubs beeswax into, will be used as a plant stand in her kitchen. Many of her friends go to antique fairs, seeking out older pieces for their homes. 'People don't appreciate the full modern look any more. We pick out one or two individual statement pieces to mix in with modern furniture,' she says. Noreen Taberlin from Mullinavat in Co Kilkenny has a flat-pack matt grey small table which she transforms with gold paint. She creates a point of interest by pasting on colourful patterned paper to the top surface of the table, using the same material for the front panel of the table's drawer. At the workshop, the mood is jovial and lighthearted – a few women joke about how it gets them away from their husbands for the day. But while there is plenty of banter, there are also moments of quiet industriousness. The restoration workshop Most of Heaphy's workshop participants are women – although when she runs them at the Rediscovery Centre in Ballymun, some couples come along together. (Her next Furniture Revamping workshops at the Rediscovery Centre are on June 28th, August 23rd and September 27th and cost €120. See .) The Rediscover Furniture social enterprise at the Rediscovery Centre also runs long-term training programmes in furniture restoration and repair, wood working and contemporary and traditional upholstery. 'The aim of the course is that people will go into full-time employment or set up their own businesses afterwards,' says Nessa Doran O'Reilly, the programme manager. A cabinet maker, Doran O'Reilly studied conservation and restoration of furniture and decorative arts at High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire in England. She also runs public workshops in furniture reupholstery at the Rediscovery Centre (the next one is on August 30th). The Rediscovery Centre also sells second hand furniture in their Second Life shop on Ballymun's Main Street, which is a great place to pick up an old piece to upcycle. But if you're not interested in doing the work yourself, the Ecostore on the first floor of the Rediscovery Centre has some stylish pieces that have already been upcycled. Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Nessa Doran O'Reilly, the furniture programme manager at the Rediscovery Centre in Ballymun, at Bloom festival in May. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA Wire Alongside the one-off workshops that she runs around the country, Heaphy is project manager for the Loved Back to Life social enterprise in Waterford city. There, she runs back-to-work courses for men and women recovering from addiction at the Aiséirí residential centres. One of her partners in this work is Finline Furniture, a high-end sofa factory that started a take-back scheme for old sofas last year. 'We've always offered a re-covering service but in 2024, we decided to work with a social enterprise to get these returned pieces stripped back to their foam,' says Vanessa O'Rourke. Customers who return a Finline furniture sofa are given a €100 voucher to spend in store. The company, which has retail outlets in Emo in Co Laois, Dublin, Galway and Cork, then takes back the sofas from Aiséirí and reupholsters them in their own factory for sale in their Revive range. 'We use sample or end-of-life rolls of fabric to cut out wastage and keep the costs down, so we can sell these pieces for 20-50 per cent of the equivalent new sofa,' says O'Rourke. 'It's about extending the life of something well made, reducing environmental waste and supporting individuals as they rebuild their lives through skilled work,' says Ciarán Finane, director of Finline Furniture. [ 'My husband's attempts were a disaster': The women DIYing it for themselves Opens in new window ] Back at the Waterford workshop, Heaphy is on hand with advice on everything from spreading a thin coat of primer before painting the surface to looking after paintbrushes (top tip: leave brushes in a jar of water rather than wrapped up in a plastic bag after using water-based paint). 'Stay away from the pound shops and buy decent brands of brushes at your local hardware shop,' she says. Relaxed yet attentive, she has an unflappable manner that accommodates everyone. 'In all my years doing these workshops, I've never had a fail yet,' she says. If things go wrong, it can be easily rectified. 'The main thing to remember is that we're not surgeons here. It's about not taking it too seriously, and enjoying yourself.' Many of the participants talk about the meditative quality of working on their pieces of furniture. 'It's very mindful, says Taberlin. 'You don't think of anything else when you're doing this,' adds Kennedy.
