The Fairy Boatmen of Banagher
Verse inspired by a story from the folkore collection Out walking his dog on a July evening In the river there afloat …
Fireside Tales Told at Halloween
Stories of North Longford families, Of folk then dead and gone – Were told to me when I was young By those …
Great Hen of Gortagowan
Gortagown without a crown: So in time its name was made – So again its famous in modern time For the hen, …
Tom Moran – Lusmagh Horsetrader Remembered
From youth, from Lusmagh with his stock Among the traders there From far and near, home and abroad All met at Banagher …
Christmas Dream of the Banagher Garda Sergeant
The Sergeant dreamt yet another Christmas morning To find in the stocking he had hung It was another few lumps of coal …
Tom Moran Remembered at 2017 Banagher Horse Fair
The Banagher Horse Fair of 2017 as expected was a great success, with one of the largest turn outs seen in recent …
Weekend of Hit and Miss in Banagher and Longford
I made the Readings at the Pallet this year, and found that its ten years since I was in at the first …
Marching Again for Water – 2016 Banagher Horse Fair a Great Success – Readings from the Pallet postponed – the annual Pilgrimage to Banagher
Around this time of the year there are three things on the agenda, the Banagher Horse Fair, the annual Readings at the …
First Day at School
I can’t remember my first day at school in Saint Rynaghs in Banagher (of the famed Annual Horse Fair). So when folk …
Faction Fight of Banagher Town
For fun folk with sticks each other set to fight It was the fashion of the peasantry of the time The …
Holy Waters of Saint Bridget at Ballycumber
This story I first heard from a poem read by Rosemary Porter at Banaghers “Readings from the Pallet” festival some years back. …
Restless Sídhe of Keeraun Hill
Keeraun Hill is a fairy fort, or ring fort, or Danish fort, call it what you will outside Banagher in County Offaly …
“The Window Crisis” and “The Miracle of the Porch”
This article first appeared in the 2014 edition of the “Banagher Review” Dad was a handyman in his spare time… handy to …
People Power Wins at 2015 Banagher Horse Fair and I Manage Not to Get Arrested – Drowned Boy Forgotten in Turkey
I managed not to get arrested at the Outlaw Horse Fair in the Wild West of Offaly… however it was a close …
Not at the Races as Poetry in the Park gets lost in Athlone Triathlon
Poetry in the Park is an initiative in the cultural life of Athlone running for the past year or so that I …
For The Corncrakes and Mankinds Sakes
If we put the same resources to saving the hungry and the homeless as we do into one little bird, this would …
Babser
My family came to Banagher in 1977 from Ballinalee in North Longford (via Clones, Athlone, Daingean and Moate!) and I grew up …
2015 Siobhan English Horse Fair Calender, Tara Calling book, and Blackwater Poetry tribute anthology – some projects Hot Off of the Presses
From a calender of horses, to an anthology on the passing of a writer, and a book to save Tara, the writings …
More Than Just Another Memory
To ride a horse is to ride the sky, Someone once said somewhere… Well I was not with horses raised, But I …
Address to my Feathered Friend
When growing up in Banagher, the Willie Wagtail was one of my favourite birds. They nested regular in our garden and yard, …