Daytimes: Art enthusiasts can discover some new contemporary artists at Catherine Bowe's talk on Figurative Painting in the 21st Century at the Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, today at 1.15 p.m. Admission free. Tel: 01-6081116.
Nighttimes: The life and works of W.B. Yeats are celebrated in a play entitled The Widening Gyre by Sunflower Arts Productions at 8.30 p.m. in the Hawks Well Theatre, Temple Street, Sligo town as part of the Sligo Festival. Admission free. Tel: 071-42693.
Childtimes: Bring your children to the Dublin Writers' Museum at 18 Parnell Square, Dublin to learn about the lives of our famous writers. While there, they can also view an exhibition entitled, Scenes from Literature, by Jonathan Barry, which includes illustrations (see above) from children's classics such as Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Opening hours, Monday to Friday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Saturdays 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sundays 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Admisison: adults €5.50/children €3. Tel: 01-8722077.
My Native County: Carlow
Olivia O'Leary, broadcaster/Three of my favourite places:
1 The weir at Clashganny. We swim off the bank here, but even before you dive in you're drowning anyway in the thick scents of meadowsweet and ferns and purple loosestrife. As you reach the weir, you can pull yourself up on its moss-covered stones and lie with the white water bubbling over you on its way south to Graignamanagh.
2 Cahir's Den. Cahir was a highwayman and his den was said to be this outcrop of rocks near the top of Stirragh Mountain, part of the Blackstairs range. After an hour's climb, you're looking out over counties Carlow and Kilkenny and back over Co Wexford. All you can hear are the birds, and the sheep, and the wind.
3 The bridge at Graignamanagh. Keep your feet on the Tinnehinch side and you're still in Carlow. Below you is the long weir and Brandon Hill.
Above you, there's a distant glimpse of Mount Leinster. Around you is all the traffic and gossip of the Barrow Valley which pass over George Semple's 18th-century bridge. Look out for my cousin Philip. - Sylvia Thompson
Just-in-times/lateoffers: Backgammon in the jacuzzi? Handmade chocolates in bed? Champagne on the rooftop while looking at the lights over Dublin city. It's all part of the Penthouse Pampering Package from Chief O'Neill's Hotel in Smithfield, in the heart of old Dublin. The fifth-floor suites are the last word in luxury - bring your favourite CDs. Sunday to Thursday, this month, the package is €255 per room and includes: champagne, chocolates, chauffeur service to and from the airport or train station, 25 per cent off dinner in Kelly and Ping, where West meets East and two-for-one entry to the 185-foot viewing tower. Tel: 01-8173838.
Joan Scales jscales@irish-times.ie
