‘Dedication’ by Patrick MacGill – The Navvy Poet

16/01/2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

‘Dedication’ by Patrick MacGill –The Navvy Poet I speak with a proud tongue of the people who were And the people who are, The worthy of Ardara, the Rosses and Inishkeel, My kindred– The people of the hills and the dark-haired passes My neighbours on the lift of the brae, In the lap of the […]

‘Prayers in a Foreign Field’ © Joe Canning 2019. All Rights Reserved.

12/01/2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

‘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 […]

#OTD in 1972 – Death of Longford poet and playwright, Padraic Colum. He was one of the leading figures of the Irish Literary Revival.

11/01/2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

Padraic Colum was an Irish poet, novelist, dramatist, biographer and collector of folklore. He was one of the leading figures of the Celtic Revival. Colum wrote and met a number of the leading Irish writers of the time, including W. B. Yeats, Lady Gregory and Æ. He also joined the Gaelic League and was a […]

‘A Walk Among Snowdrops’ © Joe Canning 2019. All Rights Reserved.

05/01/2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

‘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 […]

#OTD in 1821 – Lady Jane Francesca Wilde is born in Co Wexford. Author, poet and the mother of Oscar Wilde, she is also known as Speranza.

27/12/2018.Reading time 1 minute.

Jane Francesca Agnes Elgee, later Lady Wilde and mother of Oscar is born. She became famous in her own right as a writer and poet under the name of “Sperenza.” Sperenza was an ardent nationalist in addition to being a staunch feminist. Her most famous poem is probably ‘The Famine Year’. Weary men, what reap […]

‘Winter’ by Tommy Makem

22/12/2018.Reading time less than 1 minute.

WINTER, a sharp bitter day the robin turns plump against the cold the sun is weak silver faded from gold he is late in his coming and short in his stay Man, beast, bird and air all purging, all cleansing, earth already purified awaits the rite of spring Her bridal gown a virgin snow and […]

‘A Childhood Christmas’ by Patrick Kavanagh

16/12/2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

One side of the potato‑pits was white with frost— How wonderful that was, how wonderful! And when we put our ears to the paling‑post The music that came out was magical. The light between the ricks of hay and straw Was a hole in Heaven’s gable. An apple tree With its December‑glinting fruit we saw […]

‘My Fair Irish Maid’ by Michael Walsh

15/12/2018.Reading time less than 1 minute.

‘My Fair Irish Maid’ by Michael Walsh Ma Vourneen is language of, A sweet land called Desire, From glens of Donegal to Cork, She sets the heart on fire, There’s beauty in a colleen Blue eyes and auburn hair, Or hair in flame, or Saxon blonde, Much more than heart can bear. There’s a beauty […]

14/12/2018.Reading time 8 minutes.

‘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 […]

#OTD in 1900 – Death of playwright, novelist, and poet, Oscar Wilde, in Paris.

30/11/2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

Oscar Wilde was an Irish author, playwright and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. He is remembered for his epigrams, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, his plays, as well as the circumstances of his imprisonment and early death. […]

Stair na hÉireann/History of Ireland

Tag: Poet