Childhood memories, family, grief, the beauty of nature, climate change and war are my main themes. I write to make sense of life and to shape my memories and feelings. I have a lyrical style of writing. Continue reading
Filed under creative writing …
Memories of Our Old House
Who can forget the smell of the Ulster fry of bacon, eggs and fadges completely soaked in gravy? Continue reading
Poetry Corner: Michael Boyle, Colette Ní Ghallchóir, Seán Ó Coistealbha, Eda Hamilton
We heard you read local poets
McNiece, Larkin, Rodgers. Told us of
Hewitt’s ox and goat metaphor
for Northern Ireland. Continue reading
POETRY CORNER: Michael Boyle, Patrick Deely, Colin Ryan.
My father’s father’s father
survived the potato blight of ’47.
lived all his life
on the Crow’s Nest farm
where he heard an eerie
caw, caw, cawing
late in the night. Continue reading
‘Real Porridge’ and Food for Mothers
Daddy said: ‘Give her a bag of porridge going’. Continue reading
What we are reading at the moment
Poetry anthologies are always a favourite of mine, particularly those that don’t focus on a particular theme and allow all styles and colours to flow freely. Something new and exciting on every page, a book that can be dipped in and out of as you sit down for a cuppa, varied voices and styles that … Continue reading
Creative Fiction: short story ‘Uncle Jack’
My grandmother and father would sometimes make derogatory references about Uncle Jack’s conduct and deportment on certain occasions, whether he was alone or not, at what hour he arrived, or was the last to leave, or even if he showed up at all, information that was meticulously dissected. Continue reading
Poetry Corner: Aedh Eamon, Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Audrey Molloy, Anne Casey
The old man’s sighs emerged from a deep-felt sorrow as he dipped oars into poetry and myth,
his phrases like sails gliding between uncertain isles before shifting the rudder of his thoughts to old
familiar phrases: ‘sin a dóigh, that’s the way of it’. Continue reading
Christmas Delights and Disasters: recipes and anecdotes
The main course was a labour of love, requiring a new (double) cherry seeder and a great deal of patience and finding space in the fridge, overstuffed for the season. To me, it looked festive with its glossy cherries and a crisp watermelon. Continue reading
What we are reading at the moment: Hilary Mantel, Donal Ryan, Emma Donaghue, Colette Ní Ghallchóir
A little snippet, a snapshot, insights that convey so much. A sentence that describes one man’s grief ‘Chris, his poor heart smashed…’ is an example of how much emotion is expressed in so few words. Continue reading
Tinteán 