Patricia’s Blog

 

En Route to Bekan in September

Sep 13, 2010 |

I was back in my childhood places – the village of Greenwood and the parish of Bekan – in East Mayo at the week-end and heard talk of a strange walk the previous Sunday when about 60 people gathered, I’m told, and made their way through fields and paths in Larganboy, Lassany and Lissaniska. It’s part of the En…

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Human Chain and Butts on Mullaghmore

Sep 6, 2010 |

In the week that Seamus Heaney’s Human Chain was published,  four of us – me, Joan, Deirdre and Mary – wound our way along the blue waymarked path around Mullaghmore in the Burren.  The heat of the day was blunted by a lively breeze and Mary asked us, Did you hear Seamus Heaney on the radio this morning…

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Books on Writing: my well-thumbed half-dozen

Aug 29, 2010 |

I have a full shelf of Books on Writing and still buying. I had a few goes at making this selection, ended up with ten books, then had another go to get it down to the half-dozen I’m allowing myself. Along the way the criterion I used was this: which books have I reached across…

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Bells in the Clouds and Fire on the Road

Aug 23, 2010 | Comments Off on Bells in the Clouds and Fire on the Road

I picked early blackberries this week on the road that connects the main arteries from Kilkee to Doonbeg to the north and Kilkee to Kilrush to the south. It is the West Clare area of Corca Baiscinn and that has to be one of the most musical place names that I know of.  The roadside is aglow with blooming montbretia and a woman with…

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An Accidental Gatherin’ of Mollycewels an’ Atoms: Sean O’Casey’s Dublin

Aug 17, 2010 |

Sean O’Casey was in the air for me at the week-end. I had tickets for The Plough and the Stars at the Abbey on Saturday evening and woke to find the Irish Times magazine had a reproduction of poster by American artist Owen Smith for the new production of The Silver Tassie by Druid Theatre.…

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Literary things to do in Erris

Aug 5, 2010 |

There are a host of literary things to do in Erris – the area in the north-west corner of County Mayo, Ireland, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. A thrilling place for the literary inclined. Here are a half-dozen suggestions of things to do and texts to read: Read Seamus Heaney’s poem ‘Belderg’ at the Ceide Fields – the most extensive…

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A Nation agog with Molly Allgood: In Synge’s Footsteps in North Mayo

Jul 25, 2010 | Comments Off on A Nation agog with Molly Allgood: In Synge’s Footsteps in North Mayo

Ireland is agog with her – with Molly Allgood. What would she have thought if she had even the faintest imagining that her name would be flying around the nation on the airwaves, on the web, in rooms and libraries where book club members gather in 2010? It seems that Joseph O’Connor’s Ghost Light has made…

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Deserted Island Boost for Writing

Jul 19, 2010 | Comments Off on Deserted Island Boost for Writing

Islands, especially uninhabited ones, boost my imagination. It is as if you can see layers of life and memory wrapped within them in a stark way. At the weekend I stood on Querrin Pier in West Clare at full tide in a fresh wind and watched the round tower on Scattery Island out on the Shannon…

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Old Words Made New: Dorothea Brande’s Classic on Writing & Creativity

Jul 12, 2010 | Comments Off on Old Words Made New: Dorothea Brande’s Classic on Writing & Creativity

I’ve been re-reading Dorothea Brande’s book , On Becoming a Writer. Hard to believe the Chicago woman was born in 1893  and published her classic on writing and creativity in 1934. It’s an easy read and you could almost get through it at one sitting. What makes the book refreshing is that it’s not about the nuts…

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Hands Moving at the Speed of Falling Snow – Aideen Henry Poetry Collection

Jul 7, 2010 | Comments Off on Hands Moving at the Speed of Falling Snow – Aideen Henry Poetry Collection

I’ve been reading Aideen Henry’s first poetry collection, Hands Moving at the Speed of Falling Snow (Salmon Poetry). We both attended the poetry workshops given by Mary O’Malley and Mick Gorman as part of NUI Galway’s MA writer programme. I have good memories of listening to Aideen read some of these pieces in a room that looked…

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