An Tobar ~ Poetry for Pleasure/July 2026!

An Tobar ~ Poetry for Pleasure/July 2026! 

On Mon, 27 Jul 2026, 20:15 Geraldine and Jim, <kiltale2@gmail.com> wrote:

Folks 

Good evening,

Our final session of poetry before we take our Summer break is on tomorrow evening at 7.30pm 

I am having a senior moment and I have forgotten our selected theme for tomorrow evening 

Can someone who remembers press Reply All  and let us all know

Meanwhile let us sing 

Oh the Green and Red of Mayo

I can see it still

Its soft and craggy boglands

Its tall majestic hills

Where the ocean kisses Ireland

And the waves carress its shore

Oh the feelin' it came over me

To stay forever more

Forever more.............!!!

See you tomorrow le cunamh Dé

The theme for tomorrow night is 'Love Poetry' (From, Vincent Mulvany)  

Jim

Tel: 087 967 6728

* What about: The Boys From The County Mayo!

                                                                             FM 

Tucson, Arizona ~ Dan Fogelberg!

Tucson, Arizona ~ Dan Fogelberg.

Dark social commentary and one of the finest American ballads ever written. Has stand alone lyrics and  he considered it to be one of his finest compositions. Would not be qualified to comment on the music and the critics were not too favourable but something wrong there.  Not in the American Music Hall of Fame, though he is in a number of others. Considering the songs he has written - mad or what! From the album 'Windows and Walls' 1984. The video was loaded by 'Jokarilon' and with thanks.

*Dan Fogelberg : August 13th 1951 - December 16th 2007

Gettysburg ~ Buster Kilrain's speech!

 Gettysburg ~ Buster Kilrain's speech!

Given the year that's in it,  here's an interesting piece from the film Gettysburg (1993) where Kilrain in conversation with Colonel Joshua Chamberlain challenges the notion that all men are created equal. But rather that it is in what they do, and that the only true aristocratic ideal is that of the mind. Couldn't agree with him more. Doesn't matter what colour or creed or class that you think you are.

Steve Earle's song (Dixieland) and his intro is really worth a listen and is probably one of the best war songs written. Inspiration for both of them, to whatever degree, would be Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize winning novel 'The Killer Angels'. 

The above video was loaded by oWallis and with thanks. To Youtube for all the comments.

Finnegan's Wake ~ The Clancy Brothers.

Finnegan's Wake ~ The Clancy Brothers/Tom Clancy.

Here's a brilliant piece of entertainment, apostrophe or not, and with the ballad said to be the inspiration for James Joyce's 'Finnegans Wake'. Don't know but a good story. I read somewhere once the the Irish writer Sean O' Casey was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature ten times but refused the nominations because it had never been awarded to Joyce. Look it up! This video was loaded by Vito Likavec and with thanks. To Youtube for the comments and lyrics. Make sure you read them.

 

Still I Rise ~ Serena Williams/Maya Angelou.

Still I Rise ~ Serena Williams/ Maya Angelou.

Twenty three now and thirty nine in total Serena Williams is one of the greatest sports stars of all time. I don't know if you've seen the end scene in the film 'King Richard' but maybe you should watch it if only for that scene. There are a number of versions of the above but I picked this one because of the serve action at the start and what can you say; 'Poetry in Motion'. So you get that and her version of the Maya Angelou poem as well. Look them up on Wikipedia. Loaded by ZindaStudies and with thanks.

 

Bonnie Tyler ~ Total Eclipse of the Heart.

 Bonnie Tyler ~ Total Eclipse of the Heart!

Just heard the news on the radio that the singer - songwriter Bonnie Tyler passed away last night.  She was one of the most powerful female artists of the modern era and was born in Wales on the 8th of June in 1951. It makes you wonder just what it is about the Welsh that they produce so many fine artists. Loads of material about her career and background out there on Wikipedia and Youtube and many other places. There are not too many of today's 'visuals' that can match that voice. Video loaded by Bonnie Tyler and with thanks.

Bonnie Tyler: June 8th 1951 - July 8th 2026

The Days of Pearly Spenser ~ David McWilliams.

 The Days of Pearly Spenser ~ David McWilliams.

Probably the best song recorded by an Irish artist during the nineteen sixties (1967), and from the middle of the showband era, the above song was later recorded by Marc Almond and there are a number of versions of it on Youtube. David McWilliams was born on the 4th of July 1945 and died on the 8th of January 2002. The song was banned by the BBC because of its connection to pirate radio and is unusual in that its chorus is said to have been phoned in from a telephone box. Fine piece of work. The showband era in Ireland then makes today's entertainment scene look very tame indeed and the talent of its artists was the equal of anything else at the time. Thousands would flock every weekend to county towns and carnivals where today you'd be lucky if you got a few hundred. Loaded by tryton111 and with thanks.