Her final words are to the homeless and to those who become so because home is not safe: ‘To anyone trapped in a place that does not feel like home, and anyone who has ever been asked the question ‘why don’t you just leave?’ This book is for you. Continue reading
I watched her through the process as her fingers moved so fast as to blur. Constantly she consulted the intricate pattern from a book by her side. Continue reading
There’s a kind of seeing that only happens from the corner of the eye. I’ve stood outside at twilight, watching a crescent moon, convinced I could trace a full silver orb. Never when looking directly. Continue reading
Late in the lean month of Iúil an Chabáiste on Friday 26 July 1850, before the digging of the new crop and at the remnants of the previous seasons harvest, agents of Government, bailiffs, crowbar men, police, army, law and land agents gathered at Ross Cottage at Cullohill or Kearns Cross to clear the surrounding townlands of Cooleen, Carrigeen, Cullohill, Mountkinane, Curraghkeale, Glenanoge and Glenarisk. Continue reading
I had longed with all of my heart to be one of the girls taking the Leaving Certificate, exchanging ideas with the nuns, listening, considering, and being part of Paradise Lost or Paradise Regained. But that was not to be. Continue reading
Swinging on the front gate with my brother for mother to arrive home with the fruit we only saw once a year: coconuts and pomegranates. My brothers attacking the coconuts with a hammer and chisel. Me, the youngest, given the first taste of the milky juice. Continue reading
In reviewing this important book about Irish who have migrated to Australia since 1945, I have two messages. Firstly, Patricia O’Connor and Fidelma McCorry have broken new ground with a solid and stimulating book. Continue reading
No, it was not the gold discovery that brought me out. In Corrigeen, Barony of Kilmarney, where I lived, seventeen houses were burnt in one day by way of eviction. I at once made up my mind to be under Parker, our landlord, no longer, and I came out here. Continue reading
Good stories can be hard to find these days, so it is good to hear that Irishman Fergal Butler’s lost, found, and restored boat Old’s Cool is set to be relaunched. Continue reading
But strangely enough despite all my extensive sports background, I got totally absorbed and immersered listening to cricket games on the BBC radio. Continue reading
Tinteán 