Usually a day late but here I am a few days early so maybe I'll load something for Bloom's Day as well. Here Stephen Fry tells of why he thinks Ulysses is the best book ever written. Reading a book by Lord Dunsany at the moment where he recounts some of the escapades by the one Oliver St. John Gogarty, the gentleman who was in the Martello tower with Joyce and who fired a revolver in the early hours of the morning causing Joyce some discomfort I'm sure, though Joyce got his literary revenge later in Ulysses by modelling 'Stately Plump Buck Mulligan' on the same Oliver. Anyway that's how the story goes and they are endless. I'll stop and let you listen to Stephen who is one of the most interesting individuals out there. This video was loaded by 'Whyilovethis book' and with thanks.
The Catalpa Rescue: The Greatest Prison Escape in Irish History!
One of the most daring rescues ever, this documentary/film was directed and edited by Marcus Howard from the Easter Rising stories. It's better to watch this on the YouTube channel because of the difficulties in loading and also for the comments. It is incredibly detailed and is one to sit in for or watch in instalments, or the aftermath and what happened to the individuals concerned, which is included in the summary. The story of John Boyle O' Reilly who was born in Dowth, County Meath in June 1844 and who died very young in 1890 is told, with regard to the above rescue, but he was one of the most outstanding men ever to come out of this county. His ascendancy to the pinnacle of American society was extraordinary and he was described as one of America's foremost poets. On his death, memorials were held around the world. Will add one of his poems to the above when I get back to this. With thanks to Easter Rising Stories who posted and to Frances Rocks who is listed in the credits.
An email from The Manuscript Publisher on the anniversary of the death of author and activist Rex Lee, included a link to the video above and a reminder of what an extraordinary man he was. Born with cerebral palsy on the 23rd of May 1939 he overcame all obstacles to lead a creative and productive life that would defy all the pronouncements made by the medical profession. A member of The Meath Writer's Circle and at a time before Covid reined us all in, the above video is of the launch of his memoirs in Kells Library, County Meath. Adopting a philosophy of physical and mental compensation, he lived a life that would leave most of us in the shade and left an example to all of us. Rex Lee died on the 9th of January 2025. His book is I'm sure still available from his publisher or in your local library and a great read but especially if you're from the Kells area of County Meath. The above video was posted by Drumlin Media and with thanks.
The next meeting of our writing group takes place on this Thursday night coming (4th of June) at 6.15 pm in Trim Library, County Meath and new members are always welcome. So whether you're an aspiring poet or storyteller or just like to sing a few songs then we'd love to see you there. Membership is free and the facilities are excellent and we hope to have a book out by the end of the year. If you've something you'd like to be included or just wish to put pen to paper or listen in - always welcome. Hope to see you there.
Bob Dylan on The Clancy Brothers, Slane Castle Ireland 1984!
A little late for Bob's birthday (May 24th 1941) but here he pays some tribute to a group who took Irish culture and ballads all the way from the back streets of Ireland to the White House and as he himself remarked on more than one occasion, Liam Clancy was the best ballad singer he had ever heard and in my opinion nobody could recite a poem better or bring a little magic to the words like Liam. The video was loaded by CR's Video Vaults and with thanks. To Youtube for the comments and other videos.
This video was loaded by 'Boru Video' so with a lot of thanks. Will get back to it with personal comments over the next few days but I've had a quick run through and it looks more that interesting, or at least if you want to put the history of Ireland and our poets or poetry in any sort of context. So looking forward to going through it slowly. Will get back!
*Fine video above and one that should probably be on the school curriculum, as few today have any real knowledge of a culture and tradition that almost disappeared in the last few hundred years. While writers such as W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory and others of the Celtic Revival have been credited with picking up the threads, which they did, it was the success of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem in America that really brought it home to our general public and in a time when our national broadcaster thought it was in the Home Counties and still does to some degree. This also applies to at least some our regional broadcasting stations today. The Fontaines DC have millions and millions of streams, so will have to chase that up a bit more.
A member of the Meath Writers'Circle in Ireland since 2001 and a once a upon a time Teacher/Instructor in Telecommunications. Now that's too much. Winner of The Jonathan Swift Creative Writing Award Poetry/Saggart Dublin 2009,runner up Boyle Literary Festival Poetry 2008, 2nd Dromineer Literary Festival Poetry 2007 and Shortlisted Goldsmith International Poetry Festival, 2005, 2007 and 2014 and Highly Commended and Shortlisted in many others as well. Joint third Jonathan Swift Creative Writing Award Saggart 2013. Third in the Goldsmith Poetry Competition 2015. Final Four Humorous Essay Listowel Writers Week 2017. Honourable Mention, Frederick Douglass Poetry Competition 2021 and short listed Trim Poetry Festival 2021. Highly Commended Cathal Buí 2024. 2nd Shahidah Janjua Poetry Competition 2024. Commended Francis Ledwidge Poetry Award 2025. Must Stop!
