During the night, my brother Brian’s dog never stopped yapping. Early next morning my mother called out and she always used the Irish language pronunciation of my name.
‘Meehawl, your fry is on the table, and you’ll need it. You have a long day ahead of you.’ Continue reading
Filed under creative writing …
Once Upon a Time in Edenderry
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
Filíocht/Poetry: David M Reid, Rose Malone, Réaltán Ní Leannáin, Colin Ryan, Hugh Curran
Winter is coming by David M Reid Acrylics on canvas A Homeless Ghost by David M Reid 28 October 2025 In ’68 I left my troubled Belfast homeland.Friends, with only a hint of friendly malice,slyly suggested,‘You’re not emigrating.You’re deserting.’ In that divided city,one must pick a side.But I feltneither Irish nor British,neither Protestant … Continue reading
What we are reading, hearing, attending, watching
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
Filíocht/Poetry: Rose Malone, Réaltán Ní Leannáin, Colin Ryan, Hugh Curran
Liath Feictear liath ar liathA chiallaíonn Gaza:Liath na luathaLiath an smionagarLiath na haibhleoigeLiath craicinn gan fuilLiath na gcléití réabthaLiath na cnámh lomLiath an fhásaigh, ina bhfuil coscAr áthasAr atruaAr bheathaAr dhóchasAr thrócaireAgus, fiú, ar dhaonnacht. Grey There is a particular shade of greyThat signifies Gaza:Grey of ashGrey of rubbleGrey of embersGrey of bloodless skinGrey of … Continue reading
Once Upon a Time in Edenderry
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
Poetry Corner:Mionscéal Eicfreastach/Ekphrastic Drabble
‘Have you seen the exhibition yet?’ Continue reading
September: What we are reading, hearing, attending, watching…
Like Heaney, I too was catapulted back to the powerful impact of reading Wilde’s De Profundis, also penned in Reading Gaol, on me aged 20. Continue reading
I Leave My Schooling Behind: a memoir
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
What we are reading, hearing, attending, watching…
Go see the movie for the breathtaking landscape and the solid acting of Gabriel Byrne and the young stars Anne Skelly, Fionn O’Shea, and Ferdia Walshe Peelo, Continue reading
Tinteán 