![\"Dark](\"http:\/\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Dark-Brown-Turf-300x73.jpg\" "\\"Dark")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In solidarity with the turf cutters. The latest of the poems restored to the website, this one was written a few years back. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
By hand it was cut, the dark brown turf
\nDonkey and ass dew it by cart home
\nHands hard from work tossed it to the fire
\nNeath hair that rare e’re saw a comb
\nThen by machine it was cut, dark turf
\nTractor now drew it home to the shed
\nSoft hands, from little work, into the range
\nTossed it, neath styled combed hair now instead.<\/p>\nNow, by decree from abroad, dark brown turf
\nIt cannot be cut, or burned no more
\nWe must save the world, by killing ours
\nOur lives not to be as before.
\nMore than mere labour, was cutting turf
\nMore than a way to work and lose sweat
\nIt was a bond of community
\nAnd kin that together are strong yet.<\/p>\nHands may be softer that fuel the fire
\nAnd the ass in the field is for play
\nBut the eyes that look out upon land
\nAre the cold hard eyes of olden day.
\nThey take slight to mutterings of fools
\nWho say that the best for us they know
\nHey, we survived famines before
\nAnd its not all of that long ago.<\/p>\nWhen greed, fascism and hate ruled their worlds
\nAnd Irishmen for their freedom died,
\nNot our own fight, not under our flag
\nTo their arguments it should be replied.
\nThrough it all, through it all, dark brown turf
\nWas thrown by working hands to the fire
\nStudents, scholars, fools, equal drew heat
\nTruth!!! None can call the writer a liar.<\/p>\nStranger, stand back, leave to us our bog
\nAnd we’ll leave to you your nuclear fuel
\nWhen another Chernobyl blows up
\nYou’ll see the Irishman was no fool!!!”,””<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In solidarity with the turf cutters. The latest of the poems restored to the website, this one was written a few years back. By hand it was cut, the dark brown turf Donkey and ass dew it by cart home Hands hard from work tossed it to the fire Neath …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[109,256,1],"tags":[2314,2313,970,592,2345,583,582,2315],"class_list":["post-2181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment","category-irish-heritage","category-uncategorized","tag-bog-of-allen","tag-bord-na-mona","tag-eco","tag-environment-2","tag-ireland","tag-turf","tag-turf-cutting","tag-turfcutters","column","twocol"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7EI4f-zb","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2116,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/strangers-scorn-us-for-being-what-we-are\/","url_meta":{"origin":2181,"position":0},"title":"Strangers Scorn Us For Being What We Are","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"29th July 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"For the strangers came and tried to teach us their way. They scorned us just for bein' what we are. But they might as well go chasin' after moon beams Or light a penny candle from a star. \"Galway Bay\" ~ by Arthur Colahan The strangers came in suits Shiney\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Banagher"","block_context":{"text":"Banagher","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/banagher\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"We will always cut our turf!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Edenmore-Bog-in-Longford.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Edenmore-Bog-in-Longford.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Edenmore-Bog-in-Longford.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Edenmore-Bog-in-Longford.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Edenmore-Bog-in-Longford.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3677,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/long-walk-in-edenmore-bog\/","url_meta":{"origin":2181,"position":1},"title":"Long Walk in Edenmore Bog","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"21st April 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Walking the bog in Longford brought this reflection on life to mind - a rare nonrhyming poem from me! Walking the long way home Brought me to a beauty That I had not seen for years... Having not walked this path Meaning to do so later When weathers better... or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Environment","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Stack of turf in Edenmore Bog with Cairn Hill in background in North Longford","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Stack-of-turf-in-Edenmore-Bog-with-Cairn-Hill-in-background-in-North-Longford.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4225,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/christmas-dream-of-the-banagher-garda-sergeant\/","url_meta":{"origin":2181,"position":2},"title":"Christmas Dream of the Banagher Garda Sergeant","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"23rd December 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Sergeant dreamt yet another Christmas morning To find in the stocking he had hung It was another few lumps of coal Santa in rage into it had flung! For such a Grinch should get for Christmas Is was way too goof for him there What heart has a man\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Banagher"","block_context":{"text":"Banagher","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/banagher\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The 2017 Banagher Horse Fair - going from strenght to strenght - 2018 Fair is on September 16th","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/The-2017-Banagher-Horse-Fair-going-from-strenght-to-strenght-2018-Fair-is-on-September-16th.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/The-2017-Banagher-Horse-Fair-going-from-strenght-to-strenght-2018-Fair-is-on-September-16th.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/The-2017-Banagher-Horse-Fair-going-from-strenght-to-strenght-2018-Fair-is-on-September-16th.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/The-2017-Banagher-Horse-Fair-going-from-strenght-to-strenght-2018-Fair-is-on-September-16th.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2597,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/plain-of-the-kings-of-irelands-past\/","url_meta":{"origin":2181,"position":3},"title":"Plain of the Kings of Irelands Past","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"13th March 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Some people wonder why I am so into supporting the turf cutters rights. My dad worked Blackwater Bog, where the order came through to work on through and ignore the stone and iron age roads and weapons that were found in a cultural massacre to rival Wood Quay. No fan\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Current Affairs in Ireland"","block_context":{"text":"Current Affairs in Ireland","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/ireland\/current-affairs-in-ireland\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"My father worked Blackwater Bog where many stone age and prehistoric items and roads were found. \"Work on, if the archaeologists come it will be shut down and you will all be out wages\" came the order - not in writing of cource - from the offices of a semi state agency, a compatriot of which hyprocritically is stopping private people cutting bogs \"to save our culture\" ignorant or silent of the history that was willingly destroyed for profit a mere 30 years before...","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Blackwater-Bog-in-Shannonbridge-during-the-1980s.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Blackwater-Bog-in-Shannonbridge-during-the-1980s.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Blackwater-Bog-in-Shannonbridge-during-the-1980s.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Blackwater-Bog-in-Shannonbridge-during-the-1980s.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Blackwater-Bog-in-Shannonbridge-during-the-1980s.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2788,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/on-the-border-run\/","url_meta":{"origin":2181,"position":4},"title":"On The Border Run","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"7th June 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The line that Craig the clever chap Carving Ulster in three, drew on a map The maximum area the minority could hold Cleft to the Union barely a Century old Resented by all this border imposed But borders bring opportunity we supposed When war broke out shortages were rife We\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ireland"","block_context":{"text":"Ireland","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/ireland\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tea was traded for coffee... turf for coal... sugar for chocolate for sale on the black market either side of the border between Eire (now known as the Republic of Ireland) and Northern Ireland...","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/148939681.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2085,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wake-at-ballinalee\/","url_meta":{"origin":2181,"position":5},"title":"Wake at Ballinalee","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"25th July 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"My mother told of attending a wake when a child in her native village Ballinalee, where the pipes that were smoked cermonially at the wake were swiped by her and her freinds. Having no tobacco to smoke, they filled them first with turf and then with coal, only to become\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Death"","block_context":{"text":"Death","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/death\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Clay pipe remnant of the kind that was smoked at an Irish funeral years ago. Wefound tons of these in our garden in Banagher when I was a child growing up. This sample is from County Clare.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/funeral-clay-smoking-pipes.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/funeral-clay-smoking-pipes.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/funeral-clay-smoking-pipes.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/funeral-clay-smoking-pipes.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/funeral-clay-smoking-pipes.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2181"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2186,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2181\/revisions\/2186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}