Environment 21 British navy, spent several days imprisoned in the Tower of London on corruption charges, and died of smallpox before reaching 40. Initially, a strait running between the two main islands was named after him and, by 1765, the Falkland Islands had become the English name for the entire archipelago. But where does the word Falkland itself come from? It refers to the small town of Falkland in Fife, Scotland. (The Cary family had received the title from a Stuart king, even though they themselves were based in England.) While there remains some speculation that the name may preserve an older Pictish word, the most widely accepted explanation is that it derives from Gaelic. The first element may come either from falach (meaning hidden) or falc (to wash or heavy rain), with the second part being the common, lann, which means plot of land or church enclosure. A suitably damp toponym, you might think, for a town in the east of Alba and its rugged namesake in the South Atlantic, though in both spots the rain isnt as relentless as you would imagine. The Celtic connections dont end there, however. The Spanish name, Las Malvinas, derives from the French Îles Malouines, the title stamped on the islands by musketeer mathematician Louis Antoine de Bougainville in 1764. This imperial explorer would later become the first Frenchman to circumnavigate the globe and brazenly claim Tahiti for Louis XV. Malouines itself means people from Saint-Malo, the Breton port from which de Bougainvilles crew set sail. Today the town is famous for its magnificent walled old town, popular crêperies and bustling cider houses. But who was St Malo? It turns out he was a Welsh monk who is said to have taken part in the legendary voyage of our own St Brendan before travelling to Brittany to spread the gospel. His name likely derives from the Old Breton Machlou, meaning a beautiful hostage or bright pledge. While the Celtic language origins of the Falkands-Malvinas may have no impact on the ebb and flow of contemporary geopolitics, they do offer a clear reminder of how meanings and labels evolve across time and tides Once again, the title is quite fitting: a seafaring saint who sailed the high seas lending his name, indirectly, to a distant ocean-bound archipelago. While the Celtic language origins of the Falkands-Malvinas may have no impact on the ebb and flow of contemporary geopolitics, they do offer a clear reminder of how meanings and labels evolve across time and tides, how conquest marks both land and sea, and how unlikely linguistic connections can span the globe. One story told about St Malo is that he once left an island community in Brittany because of a bitter dispute over land. The people later begged him to return, which he did, and he duly restored peace and order. Such a skilled reconciler would come in handy today, you would think, be it in discussions regarding the islands named in his honour or elsewhere on our beautiful, troubled planet. Maybe someone should send a prayer or two in his direction. EllaMcSweeneyreturnsattheendofthe month 3 ter, particularly tadpoles and small fish. They can even nip humans if handled. Adults, which can live up to three years, fly around dusk and often seek out new waterbodies to colonise. They can mistake shiny car bumpers for reflective pond water with tragic results. 3 Do you have any idea what this plant is, which has sprung up this year among the cabbages? The bees seem to love it. John Joe Conneely, Drogheda, Co Louth This is Borage Borago officinalis. It is a perennial plant that is occasionally grown in gardens for culinary and medicinal purposes. It has escaped into the wild and can now sometimes be 4 The Great Diving Beetle, Dytiscus marginalis, can mistake shiny car bumpers for reflective pond water with tragic results found where it was never planted, usually in the east of Ireland. The fresh leaves taste of cucumber and it has traditionally been used as a garnish for Pimms cocktails. But beware of over-indulgence one of its medicinal uses was as a diuretic. 5 Pleasesubmit your nature query or observation, ideally with a photo and location, via irishtimes.com/ eyeonnature or by email to weekend@ irishtimes.com 4 This year, a pair of hooded crows have nested somewhere near our garden near Derry (incidentally displacing the magpies who have ruled here for some years) and two of their young have obvious white patches. Will this disappear at their first moult? Dave Atherton, Derry It is not likely that they will. This is a condition called leucism, where the normal colour fails to develop in some of the feathers, leaving them white. It is not albinism, which is a complete lack of colour and would affect the bill and eyes too. This is a genetic condition, and two of the young have it. They may not survive till the next moult, as other hooded crows may not tolerate them as they look different. Nature is red in tooth and claw. 5 What is this bee doing? I watched as it brought a piece of leaf into the tubular frame of a garden chair, several times. John Massey, Sutton, Dublin Kevin Haverty in Killimor in Galway has one as well in an old timber step in the garden. It is the leaf-cutting bee that was mentioned last week, under the image, sent in by Lee Hogan, of the circular holes in the rose leaves. Here the bee is caught in the act bringing the section of leaf back to its nest cavity, which, it would seem, is in the innards of the garden chair. THE IRISH TIMES Weekend Saturday, August 1, 2026 DavidSedarisontheseriousbusinessofcomedy.Page8 WalledtownsofIreland:RositaBolandvisitsWexford.Page10 PatrickFreyne:GlenHansardwasIrelandsbandleader.Page5 WEEKEND THE IRISH TIMES Saturday, August 1st, 2026 A WOUND IS HEALED Afterdecadesofheartbreakandnearmisses, Mayofinallyhasitsmomentinthesun By 2 Cover story A HOUSE OF PAIN NO MORE MayosAll-Irelandtriumphreleased75yearsof pent-upemotioninoneunforgettableafternoon ByKeithDuggan M acHale Park in Castlebar has always been best suited to those Saturday-night matches in winter, when the season is young and the promise uncontained. An ideal Cover story meme, the jokes came thick and fast. Through all that, Mayo footballers and supporters never shied away from speaking about it, nor returning to All-Ireland finals. Maybe we make too much of the football, Fr Leo Morahan, the former county board executive, said back in 2007. Mayo has the 4 Cover story 2004, when he was beginning his sec- ond term as Mayo manager. By September, he had the county back in an All-Ireland final, when Kerry defeated his young team. Like most GAA counties, the network of names and connections within Mayo football are impossibly dense: you could fill the People GLEN HANSARD WAS OUR NATIONAL BARD TheFramesfrontmanwasIrelandsbandleader, anditfeltlikehewouldbedoingthejobfor alongtime ByPatrickFreyne I n the 1990s, I wasnt convinced by The Frames. They felt a bit mainstream. A bit major label. I was a young idiot. Later, a friend convinced me that I 6 Music THE PIANIST WHO PLAYS WITH ONE HAND ONLY Freya Terris is the first pianist to pass their Grade 8 piano exam playing solely with their left hand ByJohnOConnor L ike countless other young musicians, Freya Terris discovered her love of music at the piano stool. Yet her journey has been anyt People 7 Fearkeptmefrom doingwhatIreally wantedtodoorsay Q&ARevJanetBroderick The Donegal-based priest on childhood games with her brother actor Matthew Broderick, how people react when she preaches sermons, and who could play her in a biopic Howagreeableareyou? I think life has made me agreeable 8 Interview I DONT LIKE EXTREMISTS. BUT I FIND THEM THRILLING AS CHARACTERS TheUSwriterandhumouristtalksabouttheseriousbusinessofbeingfunny onthepageandathislivereadings ByPatrickFreyne WEEKEND INTERVIEW DAVID SEDARIS A few days after I interview David Sedaris, I receive a thank-you postcard fe Interview 9 I just tried to get through my days [at school] without being found out as gay. Im 69, so no one even really imagined then that anyone could be anything that awful back then DavidSedaris: Idontknowhow tobuyaplane ticket.Idontopen anymailthat doesntlooklike fanmail. Photograph: Leonardo 10 Feature HISTORY EMBRACES US EVERY DAY IN WEXFORD In the first of a four-part series on Irelands walled towns, we visit Wexford, where history is quite literally in peoples back gardens ByRositaBoland I f Billy Colfer talked to you about history, youd sit up and listen, Paul Walsh tells me. W Feature field. We discovered that Sparrow was a surname of ship owners back in the 1830s, Hussey says. Hussey brings me out into their back garden to show me where, more than a century ago, a house was built against the other side of their wall. The medieval wall thus became a party wall. It towers 12 Photo essay Formedtotacklethe siltingissueintheriver Liffey,thereservenow extendstotheentirety ofthebay WILD AT HEART Photographs: DaraMacDónaill andEndaODowd Words: EndaODowd O f the 797 Unesco biosphere reserves across 147 countries, Dublin Bay is the only one to include a national capital Photo essay DublinsNorth BullIsland,partof theDublinBay Unescobiosphere reserve,isnow hometo180 differentspeciesof bird.However, conservationists warnthat,asworks tostopcoastal erosionareerected alongthecoastline, theirlong-term impactonthe ecologyand landscapemaybe difficulttopredict. Photographs: 14 Feature TWINS PEAK WERE PROBABLY MIRROR IMAGES OF EACH OTHER Whetheritsthehighsofalwayshavingcompanyor thelowsofsensingtheotherspain,thebestpartof beingatwinisneverbeingstuckforafriend ByJenHogan I relands birth rate may be falling, but the incidence of twin births continues to rise, with al Feature 15 Its sometimes fun and its sometimes not, because they could steal your stuff had a friend beside you. In fact, the twins only really went their separate ways when they went to college and that was a major shock, Emma says. Rebecca says there are lots of upsides to being a twin, but the T 16 Essay he vintage front page shows a street full of Dublin holidaymakers smiling at the camera, sitting on the kerb, waiting for the bus in the sun. But these early queues soon dissipated. Bank holiday spoiled by weather, announces the reusable headline. The citys thoroughfares were WEEKEND E Essay 17 Governments might fancy deploying bank holidays to foster cohesion and goodwill, but that doesnt mean everybody has to play along crashing out of the Fifa World Cup was that Friday, July 24th, became the bank holiday that never was. Would Keir Starmers mooted last act have applied across 18 Feature BE LIKE JOHN LENNON AND BUY AN IRISH ISLAND Four islands for sale off Mayo, Donegal, Tipperary and Galway, with bidding starting at 299,000 ByJessicaDoyle W hen you attract screaming fans everywhere you go, what do you do to get some peace and quiet? You buy an island, of course. Tha People 19 SARAH MOSS Teenage dieting made me an expert in mental arithmetic I bofin. It is suitable for grazing and features two natural freshwater lakes. The island measures 1.2km by 0.4km and rises to a maximum height of 63.3m above sea level. It is a Special Protection Area under the EU Bird 20 Environment TOMAÍ Ó CONGHAILE Our beautiful, troubled planet needs a skilled reconciler T he World Cup may be over but the fallout continues: Trumps unwanted interventions; Germanys early exit; football not coming home; Argentinas post-final petulance. Not to mention, of course, that banner. Environment 21 British navy, spent several days imprisoned in the Tower of London on corruption charges, and died of smallpox before reaching 40. Initially, a strait running between the two main islands was named after him and, by 1765, the Falkland Islands had become the English name for the entire 22 Obituaries FIRST WOMAN DIRECTOR OF A NATIONAL INSTITUTION, LIBRARIAN AND ACADEMIC Patricia (Pat, Patsy) Donlon Born: January 28th, 1943 Died: July 23rd, 2026 Patricia (Pat, Patsy) Donlon, who has died peacefully aged 83 at Blackrock Hospice, Dublin, was a leading light in that remarkable generat Obituaries 23 RENOWNED ORNITHOLOGIST AND COMIC ACTOR WHO STARRED IN THE GOODIES Bill Oddie BillOddiewasamemberofcomedy trioTheGoodies,whoseanarchicTV sketchshowairedinthe1970sand 1980s.Photograph:IanGavan/Getty Born: July 7th, 1941 Died: July 25th, 2026 Bill Oddie, who has died aged 85, was a mul 24 Last word DAVID McWILLIAMS ThefirstvictimofAI? Theeconomy W e are in an era of great technological advances, or so say all the tech bros who are championing not just AI, but a whole host of technological innovations from finance and healthcare to supply chain management and communications. In