The Children of the Nation/Second Issue!

The Children of the Nation/Second Issue!

Having sold out on the first issue a second batch is now available and can be obtained through either Connolly Books or Culture Matters.org at a cost of €10 or £9. However orders through Jenny Farrell will continue to be €5 including postage and she will be ready to resume posting again after the 23rd of December. This is no small anthology and would make an ideal Christmas gift in that as she points out in the introduction the "readers will find the poems entertaining as well as thought provoking". The title borrows from the Proclamation of the Republic and is a reminder that we've strayed a long way from those beliefs. 

Jenny Farrell/Editor

Fr. Peter McVerry/Launched Anthology.

From the Introduction

The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally.

Still waiting you might say!

The editor Jenny Farrell can be contacted at editor@culturematters.org.uk or text/WhatsApp to 087 783 4213.

The Meath Writers' Circle/ December Meeting 2019!

The Meath Writers' Circle/ December Meeting 2019!

Paul Martin and Willie G. Hodgins

The Meath Writer's Circle held its last meeting of the year on Thursday night last with an update on our magazine sales, which are in their hundreds by now, so a good success there. The next meeting will not be until February of 2020 with a long break over the Christmas season so plans on hold until then. A number of things in the pipeline which may or may not come to pass. But as they say; way to go! A happy Christmas to everyone!

The Meath Writers' Circle 5th Annual Magazine 2019!

Meath Writers Circle 5th Annual Magazine 2019                Darby Print                €8



Tempted though I am to select many pieces for special mention here (some contributions are truly remarkable), I’ll keep shtum and let readers decide for themselves. But I will say that this book is beautifully produced and features works of fiction, memoir, history, ballad and performance poetry, essay and of course some nostalgia. And the real beauty is in the fact that this motley crew of writers come from every walk of life and every age group, from 8 to 80, with the ‘young poets’ section assuring the safety of poetry as an art form in the future. There are pieces here by experienced award-winners, too; they know who they are.



Cover design is by Eugene Kane and although there’s no credit given for the plates and illustrations throughout the book, it’s a highly polished publication. Copies are not available in the shops but can be purchased directly from Willie Hodgins at 086 1085528. At only €8 a copy it’s a steal and in fact you should buy two – one for yourself and one as a Christmas gift. There’s something for everyone in this gorgeous book.

Anne Cunningham/Book Reviews
The Meath Chronicle.

Thanks Anne
FM.

Boyne Berries 26!

Boyne Berries 26!

Finally got around to a read through of a magazine that has become a staple part of the Irish literary scene. Since its first issue in the Spring of 2007 Boyne Berries has published writers who are both local and from just about anywhere further afield that you'd care to mention. Maurice Devitt was supposed to launch this one but due to weather circumstance and postponements Jean O' Brien did the honours instead. Her own poem Kintsugi - Golden Joinery was I believe the inspiration for the cover above and the editor Orla Fay remarks on this in her editorial and on the art work by Rory O' Sullivan who created the image. Continuing on the name dropping Michael Farry has an interesting piece on this on his blog site: link to the right. The magazine has any number of interesting poems and pieces of prose and is an absolute gem in that they are not afraid to make a point, both as reflections and as something that might shape. Also included here is the Trim Poetry Competition Shortlist poems from 2019. Great pieces of prose towards the end as well. Give yourself a treat and purchase a copy for Christmas. Priced at €10. Cherry picking ~ just too difficult!

“The Children of the Nation” working people’s poetry from Ireland

Launched by Fr. Peter McVerry in Connolly Books, Temple Bar on Saturday last, I believe every copy sold out on the day. Represented there were the Irish Trade Union Movement, Fórsa, Unite, CWU, Mandate, and the Belfast and Dublin and Galway Trades Councils. Other speakers were Eoin Ronayne, Deputy General Secretary of Fórsa, Mike Quille of Culture Matters and the editor of the Anthology, Jenny Farrell, Department of Languages & Humanities, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology. The Anthology includes a foreword by Brian Campfield, General Secretary of the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance, 2010-2015 and President of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, 2015-2017. The video was loaded by Eoin Mc Donnell.  

The Children of the Nation/The Irish Times!

The Children of the Nation/The Irish Times.

The above anthology will be launched tomorrow in Connolly Books in Temple Bar, Dublin by Fr. Peter McVerry. Below is a link to an article in The Irish Times which is worth a read or two. It is almost one hundred years since the creation of this state and in that time the treatment of the marginalised and the adherence to an economic and social order that was responsible for its creation in the first place is a joke we've played on ourselves. Was it for this...  

Writing in the margins: a collection of working-class Irish poetry

An Tobar ~ Poetry for Pleasure/November 2019!

An Tobar ~ Poetry for Pleasure/ November 2019!

The theme for last night's gathering in Ardbraccan was on remembrance and at least sixteen people brought poems or readings that touched on some quality of the above. Rose Mawdsley led off with her own piece on the "Famine Walk" and while I suppose everyone is familiar with some aspect of this catastrophe, there were many others that were equally harrowing. Any analysis or account of those years treads more than a little careful. Respects by Jane Clarke, a writer who was originally from Roscommon but now living in Wicklow was next followed by In Memory of my Mother by Patrick Kavanagh. The Oak Tree by Johnny Ray Ryder was followed by Holly by Seamus Heaney. Carol Owens read her own poem In Remembrance of  Leonard Cohen and very good it was, followed by Bereft by John Quinn and this one I hadn't heard before. Last Flight, Last Sight by Eugene Kane was about his brother Camillus who died on the Missions in Kenya and this was followed by Bridie Halton reading a poem by her Uncle Felix which also touched on the subject  of the famine, In Remembrance of the Famine Victims. A Brother's Demise was read by Willie G. Hodgins and Memento to More for Peter and Dee was read by John Curran. Myself I read Comrades by Eva Gore Booth. Above Pesaro 1993 by MacDara Woods was followed by Do You Remember, a beautiful poem by Dunsany poet Myra Lalor. Finally the night finished off with Home by francis Ledwidge, The next meeting is on Tuesday the 17th of December and the theme is off course Christmas. All are welcome!