The climatic scenes in the new blockbuster movie “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” were filmed in the Skellig Islands, eight miles off the coast of Portmagee in South West Kerry. Rising majestically from the sea, Skellig Michael towers 714 feet (218 metres) above sea level. On the summit is a remarkably well- preserved sixth century monastic settlement. On the spectacular Small Skelligs, some 23,000 pairs of gannet nest on every available ledge, making it the second largest gannet colony in the world.
An island off Ireland’s southwest coast is wowing audiences at screenings of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Unveiled in the film’s closing minutes, this closely guarded secret ending to Episode 7 was filmed in September 2014 on Skellig Michael Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Tomi Reichental addresses the students.
Visitors came in droves Stonehill College in late October for a teaching event that explored a concept that is simple in theory, but complex in practice: forgiveness.

Tomi Reichental, a Holocaust survivor and Dublin resident, and the filmmaker Gerry Gregg talked about their experiences in making a documentary called “Close To Evil,” which details Reichental’s attempt to find and meet with former SS officer Hilde Michnia, who served as a guard at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where Reichental was imprisoned as a boy.

Gregg told his audience that he jumped at the chance to make the film with Reichental, as it was believed that no Holocaust survivor had ever met with an SS officer outside of a courtroom since the end of World War II.

The event was billed as "the world's fastest field sport" in a return to Boston's Fenway Park as a team from Galway met the lads from Dublin in a "friendly" hurling match Nov. 22 on the field at Boston's own cathedral for sports.
And the game more than lived up to expectations.

Our city’s revered baseball field was transformed into a football gridiron for an American college football game between Boston College and a nationally ranked Notre Dame on Nov. 21. That Saturday night, a sold-out crowd of almost 40,000 filled Fenway for a game that ended in an unexceptedly close 19-16 win for the squad from South Bend.
The next day saw the Irish hurlers take the field for a highly competitive match in which 2015 All-Ireland finalist Galway squeezed out a 50-47 victory over the Dubliners.