Tag Archives: poetry

A HANDWRITTEN message from one Clare author to another has proven to be both a mystery and an inspiration for writer, Mary O’Donoghue. The North Clare woman, who is to launch a new collection of short stories in the coming days, met Tuamgraney’s Edna O’Brien in Boston at a public reading event in 2011. More than a decade later, Mary is an established writer herself, and still fondly wonders about a message from Edna which remains undeciphered. “Edna was just marvellous and she signed my book, and, to this day, there’s one little part of her message to me that I can’t read,” Mary explained. “She has lovely copperplate handwriting and I’ve shown it to a number of people, but there’s one little part that we’re never sure what that says. I kind of like not knowing what that is. The book has an even more mysterious quality for that reason. I’m an ardent fan of Edna and of her …

DOOLIN is the destination for a unique poetry performance on Saturday night next (March 25). Fiddle and Bow Collection will host Leitrim’s Stephen Murphy, whose exciting and authentic work is attracting huge attention.  A reading as part of Listowel Writer’s Week went viral, capturing the hearts and minds of thousands who saw video clips. John O’Connor, who has organised a Wild Atlantic Way tour for Stephen described the live performances as “incredible”. “I’ve never seen anyone to establish such a strong connection with an audience and he does everything straight out of his head,” he said. “It is quite something to witness.” Originally from rural Leitrim, Stephen is a bard in the truest sense of the term. His live performances have seen him previously called “the highlight” of the Electric Picnic by Kitty Holland in The Irish Times. He was hailed as a “poet of our age” by Irish Independent columnist Billy Keane, and “a splendid, gifted and courageous young …

A SMALL North Clare national school is celebrating the power of hope, as the festive season approaches and pupils look ahead to the future. The rescue of a wounded bird inspired six-year-old Adam Wall to write a poem called ‘Hope’. The poem then became a video and the message began to spread. The bird flew into the classroom, one summer afternoon, and hurt its wing. A little boy, Cian Vaughan, cupped the frightened bird in his hands until it recovered and was able to fly away. When Adam got home that evening, he wrote the poem. That went on to inspire teacher Miss Dilleen, SNA Mary Lou Moylan and principal Patricia Vaughan to devote a whole school project to the theme of ‘Hope’. All pupils got involved in making an art project and filmed the results. What came as a pleasant surprise was the incredibly positive reaction of the wider community. Pupils had really captured the hearts of parents and …

MOUNTSHANNON Arts will to present an evening of music and poetry at St Caimin’s Church of Ireland, on Friday, December 17 at 8pm.
The night will begin with a recital from Bríd O’Gorman, Cyril O’Donoghue and Clí Donnellan presenting a mix of music, song and familiar melodies. Each of these artists have independently produced their own CDs and have performed together with other musicians over the years. They are very excited to perform as a trio for this recital.
This performance is followed by a poetry reading from Michael Durack, a Ballina poet with East Clare roots. He will include poems from his most recent book ‘Flipsides’. The final performance will be from John Canny, Pat O’Connor and Terence O’Reilly. This trio have performed the best of East Clare traditional music for many years both at home and abroad, having produced CDs independently and together. Mountshannon Arts are delighted to be able to have them perform live on the night.
This is a free Christmas event …

Caher woman supporting Clare Haven Services with proceeds from book of poems POEMS can pop into Reah Higgins’ head at any time of the day. The Caher woman has been finding her creative voice over the course of the last year-and-a-half, when lockdowns kept many people at home with a little extra time on their hands. “I don’t sit down to write,” she said. “The poems just keep coming. It could be something that comes into my head while I’m reading or watching TV, or a poem could be sparked by something someone says. “It’s been a childhood dream to write and lockdown started something by giving me more time for creativity.” Last year, the Wexford native launched her first CD collection of poetry to give something back to the Irish Kidney Association (AKA). In 2017, the organisation was a lifeline when Reah donated a kidney to her husband Aaron. Now, the professional social care leader has turned her literary …

STUDENTS in Ennis are making their voices heard about the effect Covid-19 has had on their lives as part of a poetry initiative. Coláiste Muire recently awarded prizes to staff and students who had taken part in a poetry competition around the theme of Covid-19 organised by the school’s guidance counsellor Fiona Christie. She explained the endeavour was organised as part of her role in supporting the well being of students at the school. The prize giving event was held virtually as celebrations took place across the country for Poetry Day Ireland. “This cross curricular guidance counselling/wellbeing/English initiative was run across the whole school and the response was just overwhelming from both students and staff,” she said. “The aim of this was to capture the student voice around Covid, the student voice is very important. “By inviting students to pen a poem, I hoped they would share their experiences with us so that their voices could be heard. And it …

NEW Directions, Maps and Journeys are the themes of Poetry Day and the inspiration behind a project being undertaken by Mountshannon Arts, as the community organisation reflects on its 25-year history. Poetry Day takes place on Thursday, April 29. Poet Róisín Bugler notes that it will also mark the first outing this year for Moutshannon Arts, whose festival has been inspiring and entertaining audiences from East Clare and far further afield, for a quarter of a century. “We are still curtailed by Covid-19,” Róisín said, “but Poetry Day will be our first opportunity to showcase Mountshannon Arts this year on the 25th anniversary of the festival. “We’ve been doing something a little different for Poetry Day and this year people have been responding to the popular and beautiful local art trail.” This ‘ekphrastic’ poetry project – where one art work is inspired by another – has been embraced enthusiastically, with inspiring results. “Ordinarily, I would put out a general call …

AT 74-years of age Ennis man Martin Knox admits he left it rather late to start publishing poetry, but the trained chemist is certainly making up for lost time. After a fruitful working life, which took in stints at Syntex, later Roche; as well as teaching at some of the country’s most prestigious educational institutions, Martin made the leap into poetry and has just published his first book. Entitled, Words Without Song: Vignettes of Reflective Dissent and Childhood Reflections, the volume is a collection of over 100 poems which “go against the establishment” and give voice to Martin’s long-standing belief that the purpose of literature is to highlight uncomfortable truths. “Racism, poverty, mental health, corruption, environmental damage, the unequal distribution of wealth, suffering, those are some the main themes of my poems,” he said. “Writers should ask serious questions. For a long time, I didn’t have the time to write. When I retired, I found that time. So many questionable …