For almost ten years my wife has been patiently waiting to have ‘Grace Notes’, the creative part of her PhD thesis, published. Without compromise there was only one publisher acceptable to her: Salmon Poetry, based in Ennistymon, in the west of Ireland. When she first cast her line we were living in Australia. It was […]
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I once thought the Irish tin whistle was nothing more than a child’s toy. I really could not take seriously that a simple metal tube and mouthpiece, costing less than $10 from a store could produce such a magical sound. Over the last few years I have been spending more and more time with and […]
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If I were either an industrial designer or a biologist specializing in mycology I think I’d be drawn to beer taps. Once they were just utilitarian mechanical pumps drawing on the bartender’s strength to ‘pull’ ale from kegs. Now however these bright iconic taps sporting their manufacturer’s logos seem to sprout from bars like mushrooms. […]
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Sometime coincidences are just a little too spooky. I was a little bit lost on the the back roads of County Cork when a tiny cemetery and chapel caught my attention. Later I learned it was Kilshannig Cemetery. Despite the rain I pulled off the road as best I could, found a small gate in […]
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Connor (not his real name) and Troy are about as likely an Irish couple of lads you could imagine enjoying the craic at Maddens Bridge Bar in the seaside town of Bundoran. … or are they? Look a little closer and you will notice the Liver Bird, mascot of the Liverpool Football Club. Could one […]
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