Patricia’s Blog
The Achill Mission Colony and the rise of narrative nonfiction — Read on www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/the-achill-mission-colony-and-the-rise-of-narrative-nonfiction-1.3632411
Read MoreSurviving the Famine on Achill Island – Tinteán — Read on tintean.org.au/2018/09/06/surviving-the-famine-on-achill-island/amp/
Read MoreBOOKS ‘The Preacher And The Prelate’ is a riveting read about the impact of Rev Edward Nangle on Achill Island life during famine times — Read on www.mayonews.ie/living/32212-conflict-and-the-colony
Read MoreIt seems like a creation of Arthur Miller, Ibsen, or indeed John B Keane: a ravaged island community, young zealous preacher and the established but impoverished priest obsessed with a — Read on m.independent.ie/irish-news/the-preacher-the-priest-and-an-island-fight-over-faith-and-famine-36994018.html
Read MoreTheJournal.ie – The fascinating story of the Achill Island preacher, the Famine, and the Prelate — Read on www.thejournal.ie/preacher-prelate-patricia-byrne-4033791-May2018/
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On a hot August evening in 1974, I hauled my case up a cobbled street of uneven red brick in Pittsburgh, USA. Exhausted after my trip by greyhound bus from New York via Philadelphia, it was a relief to finally reach the neat three-storey house with its covered porch and white rocking chair on the…
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Oranges and chocolate were exotic extravagances in my childhood; pointers to a future when these would become normal daily purchases and not occasional luminous luxuries. In our 1950s childhood home in East Mayo, an orange was a sporadic treat; the fruit was carefully peeled, divided in four, the white pith discarded and each succulent segment…
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Some weeks ago, before the most recent heartbreak for the Mayo football team, I reminisced on Jones’ Road, Drumcondra. As I crossed Binn’s Bridge, Brendan Behan was leaning towards me on the metal bench, seemingly watching my every movement. But it was the blackbird perched beside him on the Royal Canal seat that engaged his…
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Glad to see The Irish Times recently publish my nomination of Erris in its Best Place to Holiday in Ireland series. This is a hidden gem in the north-west corner of my native County Mayo that is immortalised as the setting of J M Synge’s drama The Playboy of the Western World.
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