I think the sea swimming is an act of gratitude – gratitude perhaps for being alive, healthy and happy, and for being all those things here.
Inis Meáin II: I moved there
I’ve few illusions but so perfectly did the stars align to land this opportunity in my lap, it almost must be right.
Visiting Inis Meáin
Inis Meáin is at once bleak and alluring, as much as reminder of how handy we have it here and how unnecessary much of what we have is.
Why John Hume was great.
John Hume said that what united us was far more important than what divided us. Practise that; let that and the candle for peace tonight be your tribute to him.
A streak of small farmer radicalism; how Roscommon voted then and now.
I can’t see how anyone aspiring to get elected here can do it without tapping into the farming vote.
Sunset, and the photos I wanted to show off.
A spectacular sunset transforms the landscape for a few minutes, allowing us to look anew at every day’s view.
All the heritage sites in Roscommon I’ve never visited, and rectifying that in 2020.
Maybe if we go and visit these places, we might get a bit better at selling Roscommon – not just to tourists, but to ourselves too
An Irish respect for black lives mattering.
Going to Chicago in my thirties meant that I saw and noticed things that would’ve sailed right past me in my early twenties, namely how much easier life was for a person with white skin.
The bog’s special place in the Irish imagination.
The bog has a special position in the Irish imagination; an otherworldly place that we avoid like the plague as children but Instagram the living daylights out of in adulthood.
“If we winter this one out, we can summer anywhere”
Any news? Only joking. There’s no news. Well, that’s not strictly true. I was in Castlerea a few days ago.…
The rabbit hole that is the 1901/1911 census, and the only Doireann in the country.
I had to fact check something on the 1901 and 1911 censuses for last week’s piece and with time on…
MidWest Radio, RTE and chatting to old ladies on walls; my COVID-19 media diet.
Artistic merit is important, but so too is being able to sit on a wall and talk to an eighty-year-old woman about the thing we both enjoyed on the television last night.
Little Rock, Arkansas; thank God for the Clintons!
I visited loads of ordinary and everyday cities like Little Rock and though few were exceptional, collectively they’d much to teach me about the country I’d just imposed myself upon.
Being home, and social isolation in a socially isolated area.
Until a fortnight ago, social isolation was rural Ireland’s primary problem, now it’s a selling point.
Actual California Dreamin’
California is everything. From the coastal majesty of Big Sur to the spellbinding Death Valley and all in between, there’s…
On travelling solo and adventures in the Pacific Northwest
By far, the best thing about travelling alone are the moments of absolute bliss that I experience; at least once a day something wonderful happens.
On how hard Americans work and public services in America being so lacking that Bernie Sanders and Fianna Fáil have a lot in common. (v. catchy title)
America’s been great and maybe I’d have stayed a bit longer if I could, but it’s not for me long-term.…
My tuppence-worth on the US military and truly thanking veterans.
I suppose I’m a pacifist. I come from a neutral country and I’ve read enough history to know that wars…
The time I went to Iowa. Iowa and Ohio are two different states. You don’t need to go to Iowa.
I went to Iowa, a state that only Iowans know about except when the Iowa caucus comes around. It’s in…
Years of Midwest Radio had me ready for Nashville
I can’t remember my online banking password but turns out I know every word of Garth Brooks’ Much Too Young (To Feel this Damned Old).
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