Women and The Irish Rebellion: Hannah Purtill
Just finished reading Wounds by Fergal Keane. In it Keane tells the story of his grandmother, Hannah Purtill. A Kerrywoman, she was born...
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The First Thirty
(After ‘Piggotts’ by Martin Figura Aged seven, walking down the road to school. Late home when hiding from the Caretaker. Swimming at the...
Spring brings Hope
The first real sunshine on yellow narcissus at the bottom of the garden.
Haikus for January 2021
Dark shapes walk their dogs through misty, frozen meadows it's 2 degrees C. Thirteen hundred deaths from Covid winter lockdown in...
How to walk on a breezy day!
Michael is a long-time Liverpool FC fan. Here he is with two of his grandsons; James and Cillian. Out for a walk on a breezy day in...
You'll never walk alone
Gerry Marsden, the singer of this great song, died yesterday. RIP. Follow the link below to listen to this beautiful song....
Reading: 'Take Off Your Pants' by Libbie Hawker @LibHawker
This is a super book about writing novels. It's all about really in-depth planning and I have found it absolutely eye-opening. For...
Daughters in Exile - Emigration and Transportation.
I'm writing about the two characters from my first novel, Annie Power and Jane Keating. They left Ireland in the Famine year 1846. In the...
New reading What Hath God Wrought
This book won the Pulizer Prize for History in 2008. I'm writing the second novel where my protagonist Annie Power, has arrived in New...
Poetry in favourite songs: Forever Young
I love looking at the poetry in songs. This one for example: Bob Dylan & The Band "Forever Young" - A Tribute To Bob Dylan...
The Map of Knowledge
I'm reading this book about how knowledge was transmitted from the time of the Ancient Greeks, through the Middle East, into Spain with...
Best Irish historical novel ever?
Just finished reading Strumpet City by James Plunkett. I'm in awe of the lyrical writing and the attention to detail about life in...
Poetry
Mslexia have a poetry pamphlet competition I'd like to enter. I'm writing some poems about nineteenth century women and the work they...
Researching 19th century Melbourne, Australia
I'm doing some research on the founding of Melbourne, Australia in 1835. My protagonist Jane, arrived there from Dublin, in 1846, so I...
More on The Great Famine Voices
I watched this short film about the Grey Nuns of Montreal who cared for thousands of Irish migrants in 1847. Many of these people had...
In Search of the 1490
Just watched a fascinating video about the 1,490 Irish Famine emigrants from Strokestown estate in county Roscommon. This resulted in...
Vintage reading.
Just started to read The Famished Road . I'm trying to diversify my reading, so bought this Vintage Classic, 25th Anniversary edition. As...
The Irish Wolfhound- An Ekphrastic Poem
This poem is based on the Irish Famine painting ‘Black 47’, by the artist Michael Farrell. I saw the painting last year (Jan 2019) in...
Autumn
The best part of the year. Russety apples ready to pick. Salad crop warm out of the ground and greenhouse. A friend's pink and green...