Death of and at Garristown and its Horse Fair
The sad and tragic story of the demise and the cause of the demise of Garristown Horse Fair, and as an apperant …
Gurteen Lake and the Curse of the McCarthys
Verse from another legend from Longford recorded by the Irish Folklore Commission From Clonbroney the priest was travelling Was making his weary …
Lady of Lough Gowna
An eerie cry echos the evening air The mermaids plaintive song The saying among the folk that know Is there will be …
Ghost at the Gate at Willie Carty’s
This is a story I heard as a child about a gate at Willie Cartys in Aughagreagh. My own father often could …
On The Border Run
The line that Craig the clever chap Carving Ulster in three, drew on a map The maximum area the minority could hold …
Aughnacliffe Dolmen for the Lovers for One Night is Their Bed
A bed hard of stone neath the sky starry above Is good enough, soft enough, for a couple in love He who …
War with the Whin
“Whin” is the word for furze in Hiberno English and Ulster Scots in the northern half of Ireland (North Leinster and Connacht, …
Fidel Castro Meets a Country Girl
The dust was only settling The blood bare dry on the Cuban streets America gauging the new regime Brought him over their …
Naked Protest at Derrycassin
April 20th 1847 Men, children and women with clothes cast away Came to Derrycassin door To protest and plunder for want of …
No Dancing Sun This Easter Morning
No dancing sun the Easter morning As the birds sing in the sky I sleepy look out at the dawn As the …
Chicago May – the Mary Ann Duignan Story…
Not for her the toil of the cold hard soil The neighbours angry word, the calling agent of the landlord The …
Lady Fortune Smiles And Frowns on the Jessops of Moydow
The Jessops later married into the Bomfords, who themselves were married through the Dopping – Hempestal family. Descendants in both the Church …
Rattling Buckets Cant Be Seen
A boy, an errand, and a bucket of beer … A drain, a death, and now a ghost does appear … A …
Good Boys and other Blaggards
Bucks and nyeucks read books in nooks Of history, language and culture told Lewd jokes, vetted new comrades in diviment For adventures …
Plastic Bag: Ballinamuck
Walking in to the village of Ballinamuck last year, I saw a lone plastic bag blowing in the street. A once more …
Saintjohnstown – So Beautiful A Name
My mother grew up outside the Longford village of Ballinalee. She always said she preferred the English name on it, St. Johnstown… …
Bitter Sugar
The island of St. Croix has a Granard, Annally, Longford, Corn Hill, Cartys, Cartys Point, and Madame Cartys placenames. All very quant …
Blaggards and Blackguards, Slavery, Civil Rights, the Irish and the Longford Connection
When I was a child, I collected stamps. Sad, I know, but I loved it. One of the counties I got stamps …
Burning Zeal Rekindles the Flame of Faith
Every so often as a writer I get asked to write a tribute piece for someone about someone who is important to them. …
Dead Now, And Their Beliefs With Them
Inspired by a story of my fathers about a person who could not find their way into the house one night at …