Wake at Ballinalee
My mother told of attending a wake when a child in her native village Ballinalee, where the pipes that were smoked cermonially …
Out Dogs and More Along With You
In our home in Aughagreagh we used to have our share of the local sessions, where neighbours met up to party, tonight …
Fairy Fort at Lough Gowna
Did they look as I walked Where tradition states one never should, Inside the round ditches of the fort, Perched above Loch …
From Corn Hill His Spirit Watches
The latest of the restored poems to the website, from a couple of years back Upon that hilltop he does sleep His …
Let Death Have For You No Fear
Master Greene was a Ballinalee schoolteacher who learned the Irish Traveller cant and ended up teaching it to the grandchildren of the …
This Land A Piece of Our Souls Holds
A poem reflecting on our homeplace in North Longford…
Sleuthing for the German Reillys
ne of the tragic and most interesting things to come out of the Great War and the Second World War was the …
Shed, Undrawn, Ballinamuck
I seek to draw a picture here A shed, roof caving in, Its gable end seen through the door By the artist …
I Wish Cows Would Say Hello, And Dogs Quiet Would Keep
While walking to Arvagh today, a cow jumped up and bolted in a field next to me and put the heart crossways …
Barbados Chest in a Molly Cottage
* Molly is a townland in North Longford, Ireland, where my great grandmother Margaret Drake (who married Michael O Reilly, she herself …
In the Shadow of Cairn Hill
Are they true the old tales, that he who slay Queen Maeve, Neath one of these cairns in death enjoys sleep? That …
Basket Across the Boyne
Smoke had cleared, blood clotted, breaths gone Flies feasted on the dead Victories armies raged the land Men fled to hills and …
Stone Angels, Stone Hearts
Pennies of the poor gathered, one by one, counted Thousands, and hundreds of thousands, from the faithful amounted… Destroyed one cold morning, …
Walking by Swans at Lough Sallagh
As if applause, a clap clap clap Echos the evening air As I walk past spectators And yet, there’s no-one there. It …
Telegram Ignored
Next of kin – sisters name given: Duty done, family contacted Telegram ignored – the shame, the shame As if kinship itself …
Cairn Hill – Stanzas from the Summit
I stood there upon the summit After a long hard climb Looked down upon the land below To rest I took my …
Sleeping, I Did Not See the Dancing Sun
Sleeping, I, I did not see the dancing sun, That my grandfather claimed each Easter to see, That is what you miss …
Dont Kill the Plants
Background: The calamity that is Carty, no matter how bad his DIY (which is worse than my cooking!), the only thing worse …
Walking Under Edenmore Hill
Random scattered shades of brown, Rarer yellows, more common black hues, What was once a trickle a torrent is now, Rain falls …
Beauty Passed, and Yet Still Beautiful
Beauty passed, and yet still beautiful, Walls crumble, slaves to time, build long ago The rhubarb that once here grew I ate, …