My Grandad
It was the anniversary of Grandad’s death today. On 10th March 1991, he died at Yeovil District Hospital. The last time I saw him was when on a visit to England in September 1990. He stood at the back door of his farmhouse as I was leaving and said, “I’ve had a good life. Whenever it comes to an end, … [continue reading …]
The Saint Patrick’s festival of silly sums
There’s an old rhyme that goes: Saint Patrick was an Irishman He came of decent people He built a church in Dublin town And on it put a steeple. No, he wasn’t (he was British). No, he didn’t (he describes himself as a “rustic”). Where? (His work was in Ulster). What’s a steeple? (Celtic churches were plain barn-like structures). The … [continue reading …]
Music and community
Talking about community ties in the Year 8 class, we discussed what groups or communities the students themselves belonged to or had joined. The most enthusiastic response came from a boy who talked about his four years playing trumpet in a band. There was a real enthusiasm and a warm humour in the experiences he described. There is a link … [continue reading …]
TELEGRAPHIC TRANSFER NOTICE ,
This was spammed by Google. It is very amateurish. Zenith Bank (UK) Ltd 39 Cornhill London EC3V 3ND United Kingdom tel: +44 70 8646 8527 Fax:+447043071539 Dear Esteemed Customer, TELEGRAPHIC TRANSFER NOTICE. We are hereby officially notify you concerning your fund Telegraphic Transfer through our bank, Zenith Bank (UK) Ltd United Kingdom, to your bank account, which has been officially … [continue reading …]
Bullying policemen
The postmen drove red ones and the Post Office telephone engineers drove bright yellow, my uncle’s Bedford van was white. It remains fresh in the memory. In childhood, I loved going out with him as he did the farm rounds: checking livestock; drawing water from wells; moving electric fences; delivering bales of hay; tying gates firmly. One summer’s evening, he … [continue reading …]
Sermon thoughts for the Second Sunday in Lent, 17th March 2019
“Go tell that fox’. Luke 13:32 Calling him a fox, Jesus speaks about Herod in less than complimentary terms. Jesus’ comment shows that the way people today would compare cunning and devious behaviour to that of a fox goes back a long way. More importantly, it shows Jesus as he was, a person of absolute truth and integrity. Jesus is … [continue reading …]
Who was civilised?
The Middle East has been the focus of lessons. Ideas about religious groups are firmly fixed in the minds of those in the class and it is a struggle to challenge ideas rooted in prejudice. Perhaps it would have useful to have given them photocopies of a page from Des Ekin’s book The Stolen Village. The Stolen Village tells of a … [continue reading …]
A song not to play tomorrow
In popular music mythology the Irish rock group Thin Lizzy are iconic. Somewhere among my album collection there is at least one by Thin Lizzy, I enjoyed their music. Phil Lynott, the lead singer of Thin Lizzy is a legendary figure. Even if he had lived on to be a venerable institution of rock music, appearing on BBC 4 television … [continue reading …]
Settling the account
This story was expanded from a piece of flash fiction. It was entered for this year’s RTÉ Francis McManus Short Story Competition. The evening classes at the college gave her the opportunity. It was a computing class that had taught her to use the Internet, something of which she had been frightened. It had been the stories in the papers … [continue reading …]