Irish History, Culture, Heritage, Language, Mythology
‘I Dream of Sleepy Valleys’ © Joe Canning 2020. All Rights Reserved.I yearn for you my country, To be be back on your soil, To walk again thy hills and vales, I wandered as a boy. To climb again thy chestnut trees, And leap thy grey stone walls; That old folk built long long ago, […]
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[Local history | ‘The Ballad of Bella Brooks’ | Purportedly murdered in 1876 and found drowned in the Finn near Castlefin, Co Donegal | No one was convicted of the crime tho’ rumours abounded at the time] Joe Canning ‘ A look at Ireland in verse’ ‘The Ballad of Bella Brooks’© Joe Canning 2019. All […]
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‘Patient Hero’ © Joe Canning 2018. All Rights Reserved. I speak of Robert Emmet And the words he had to say Before the black hat sent him To an unknown place in clay The words that Gael and hero spoke To those that took his life, To those who broke the heart of Sarah. She […]
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‘Seven Days in May’© Joe Canning 2019. All Rights Reserved. The Stonebreakers’ yard is a cold and chilling place,Where brave men stood bar one to watch their final dawn.Where the sad whispering priest guided their souls to Paradise. Letters of despair, of farewell, of pride, of patriotism.Fond farewells, of weepings, of love, of “remember me”.Final […]
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Trevelyan is referred to in the modern Irish folk song The Fields of Athenry about ‘An Gorta Mór’. For his actions, he is commonly considered one of the most detested figures in Irish history, along with the likes of Cromwell. Image | Charles Trevelyan accompanied by a poem written by Joe Canning SaveSave SaveSave
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‘The Box in The Corner’ © Joe Canning 2019. All Rights Reserved. Joe Canning ‘ A look at Ireland in verse’ Psst! Psst! Psst! went their whispering lips As they knelt in their frayed laddered stockings, No tittling, no tattling, just Rosary beads rattling, Most tired from long miles of walking. Waiting […]
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‘Local Hero’ © Joe Canning 2019. All Rights Reserved. Joe Canning ‘ A look at Ireland in verse’ In our street there’s a chap I can’t mention, A character famed in the town, Sure he’s partial to selling the poitín, And many’s a flagon I downed. It’s brewed from his crop on the mountain, […]
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‘Prayers in a Foreign Field’ © Joe Canning 2019. All Rights Reserved. Joe Canning ‘ A look at Ireland in verse’ The bells rang out at 6am, at noon and six at night, To still the lands and living rooms for just a little while. As eighteen times the hammer struck, The old folk stood […]
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‘A Walk Among Snowdrops’ © Joe Canning 2019. All Rights Reserved. Joe Canning ‘ A look at Ireland in verse’ My warm breath creates a brief mist, The crisp fallen leaf and twig crackles underfoot. My heavy boots rustle the natural compost. The earthen floor is soft, cushioning, comforting. The alert squirrel darts […]
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‘Untitled For Christmas’ © Joe Canning 2018. All Rights Reserved. Warm is my breath as it comforts my hands, Soft plays the hymn from ‘The Salvation Band’, My thoughts they do stray to my friends far away, They, that left this old country behind. For want of a penny and a fortune to […]
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