Analysis The Irish (and probably original) version of this poem first appeared in Adharca Broic (1978), Hartnett’s first collection in Irish.  Thirteen poems from this collection later appea…

I have been posting English notes on my blog, Reviews Rants and Rambles, since I retired as an English teacher and an Advising Examiner for English Higher Level.  I have brought all those li…

Bridget Halpin’s Small Farm in Camas Formative Influences on the young Michael Hartnett Bridget Halpin, formerly Bridget Roche, was born in Cahirlane, Abbeyfeale, in 1885 to parents John Roch…

The Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s announces Dean Browne as the winner of the Seamus Heaney First Collection Poetry Prize 2026.

Pyongyang built real train stations that seemed fake. In Ireland, we are building a fake train station that will, for a brief period, seem real

By Daniel Mulhall If you visit Thomas Jefferson’s magnificent home at Monticello near Charlottesville in Virginia and view his grave, its inscription may puzzle: Here was buried Thomas Jefferson Autho...

Patrick Kavanagh.

For most of the world it has never existed and it's time we stopped the pretence.

The former Limerick hurler states that Cork need to win this Munster Championship clash more than their Limerick opponents

I have many different passions but there’s a special one that rages in my middle-aged heart. Many people may think I am mad but it is the idealism of the majestic, elusive Munster Hurling Champions…

The event celebrating Darragh Creamery takes place in Glenroe hall this Thursday night, March 19 FORMER workers, suppliers, members of Darragh Creamery in Glenroe, and the wider community, are invited to attend and bring along objects and share stories about the creamery in south east Limeric ---

Humour me as I indulge in a little bit of poetic nostalgia!  I love the poetry of Fr. Gerard Manley!  As a teacher of English literature, you are always conscious of introducing poets and novelists…

Mark Carney won’t change Trump’s mind about anything. But Philip Glass might

When I was invited to go on an amble with a veteran guide, it felt like serendipity

Kieran Beville discovers the life and legacy of nineteenth-century poet Aubrey de Vere of Curragh Chase, Kilcornan, Limerick IN the grand procession of nineteenth-century poets, a few names stride in shining armour — Wordsworth, Tennyson, Browning — while others walk in softer light, their fo ---

The Sky is Not Enough by June O'Sullivan (Poolbeg Press) is described as 'a heart-stirring journey of dreams, danger, and destiny.'

English must be a nearly impossible language to learn – but then again, maybe this applies to all languages. We’ve all heard of the phrases, “It was all Greek to me” or even, “It was all double Dut…

I was never that good at Maths, and I’m so old that my Maths education consisted mainly of Geometry, Algebra and Trigonometry!  Some of my teachers may even have been Greek; at least it was all Gre…

Scoil Pól Kilfinane and Scoil Mhuire agus Ide, Newcastle West have reached the Munster semi-finals TWO LIMERICK schools have booked their place in the Munster B Hurling Championship semi-finals. Scoil Pól Kilfinane had an impressive 5-16 to 1-21 victory over Scariff Community School in Maguir ---

Taking recent political events in America into account, especially the election of Donald Trump to the White House for a second term and with his incessant sabre-rattling in the inter-regnum period…

I’ve always been fascinated by books, although I wouldn’t consider myself a good reader. I’m definitely not a consistent reader, and my iPad constantly berates me for not meeting my daily targets. …

Learn, Study and Research in UCC, Ireland's first 5 star university. Our tradition of independent thinking will prepare you for the world and the workplace in a vibrant, modern, green campus.

Abstract: Where did Michael Hartnett get the inspiration for the title of his collection, A Farewell to English?  We believe that Aindrias Mac Craith’s most iconic song, Slán le Máighe (Farewell to…

Childhood memories are mostly of sunny days, but maudlin memories of those Christmases from the late 50s and early 60s still linger.  It was so innocent and naïve, in a way, it was as if Christmas …

I became a serious walker in 2009! For several years before that, I had been severely hampered by arthritis in my left hip. After years of being told that I was too young for a hip replacement, I h…

I like to spend my lazy days in the garden. When Kate and I set up home in Knockaderry in 1979, we inherited a garden and a red setter called Kelly. Then there was the recently acquired three-quart…

St Finbarr's glorious eighties era wasn’t distinguished by brilliance alone. At its heart was a colony of leaders and resourceful men.

I have been posting essays and commentary here over the years on the life and poetry of Michael Hartnett.  The nature of my blog is a bit disjointed and doesn’t have a ready index, so I  have…

The Newcastle West side recorded a 3-18 to 1-17 victory over Colaiste Choilm Ballincollig at Páirc Uí Chaoimh's 4G pitch on Wednesday

This is a detail from the 1840 historic map showing the sculpted and structured gardens surrounding Knockaderry House, the birthplace of Sophie Peirce, and the nearby Chesterfield House. It was unu…

This beautiful video has been produced by Danny Barry’s grandson, Dan Barry. The poem is narrated by the poet Michael Hartnett and it is taken from a radio documentary that he did in 1979 for…

Michael Hartnett arrived back in Newcastle West after nearly fifteen years of ‘exile’, around 1975.  He then imposed a further exile on himself by deciding to settle with his wife Rosemary and his …

IrishCentral Staff @IrishCentral A Christmas Childhood by Patrick Kavanagh I One side of the potato-pits was white with frost –How wonderful that was, how wonderful!And when we put our ears to the …

This piece of incisive and insightful social commentary, written by the poet himself, describing life in Newcastle West in the 1950’s, first appeared in Magill magazine in December 1977 and l…

Advent We have tested and tasted too much, lover- Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder. But here in the Advent-darkened room Where the dry black bread and the sugarless tea Of penance …

Some like Anfield, some prefer Wembley or the Camp Nou or Santiago Bernabéu; some prefer Thomond Park or Cardiff Arms, but my favourite ‘field of dreams’ is Semple Stadium in Thurles, County Tipper…

The title of this blog is ‘Reviews, Rants and Rambles’ and since 2015, there have been many reviews and rambles but very few rants – so here’s one:  We are living through the craziest of times.  Li…

As I have mentioned already in another post here, the decade from 1975 to 1985 in Glendarragh, Templeglantine, was arguably the most productive of Hartnett’s career.  Indeed, the output from that l…

An epiphany is that moment when the penny drops, when the scales fall away from your eyes; that ‘light bulb moment’ when the mystery is solved; when the poem gives up its secret; that Eureka Moment…

For retirees like us, Ryanair has been our ticket to the sun, allowing us to travel and expand our horizons. Since its establishment in 1984, Ryanair has evolved from a small airline, operating sho…