National Poetry Day 2017/Castle Arch!

National Poetry Day 2017/Trim County Meath!

Orla Fay of The Boyne Writers chaired last night's event in the Castle Arch Hotel in Trim to mark National Poetry Day 2017 with readers from a number of different writing groups in the county taking part including The Meath Writers' Circle, The Navan Writers and The Poetry for Pleasure reading group from An Tobar, Ardbraccan. The evening ended with tea and refreshments and the presentation of free copies of their literary magazines to all who came.  

National Poetry Day 2017!

National Poetry Day Readings/Castle Arch Trim, Thursday 27th April!

From Google Images

To celebrate National Poetry Day this year the Boyne Writers are hosting an event in the Castle Arch Hotel in Trim, County Meath on Thursday night at 8 pm. The theme of this year's readings is "Poetry Connects" though you may interpret this as you think suitable or just come along and listen on what is sure to be an enjoyable evening. Who knows what poetry will show up and it's a chance for different groups or poets to get together and to renew their acquaintance or to maybe simply connect! All welcome.

MS Event/The Sands!

MS Event/Trim Castle Hotel

Colum and Ben Sands

Colum and Ben Sands were in the Trim Castle Hotel last night performing in aid of the Trim Multiple Sclerosis Centre. From Rostrevor in County Down they tour the world and Ben has recently returned from Germany while Colum was in New Zealand. Noted for their wit and storytelling as well as their fine ballads both are excellent musicians and their stage presence and interaction with the crowd is of the finest. Always entertaining they were ably supported by others such as Brian Reynolds from Cavan, Frank Foley from Trim, Matt Gilsenan, Trim and some fair old recitations from poets Patsy McDermott and another piece I believe from Kathleen Lucas. All the proceeds were in aid of the Multiple Sclerosis Centre and the event was organized by Eamon Reilly.  

An Tobar/Poetry For Pleasure

An Tobar/Poetry for Pleasure Group.

Front Lawn/An Tobar

The theme of last night meeting at An Tobar was the festival of Easter and perhaps as many as nineteen in all turned out for what was an interesting mix of poetry and song. Sean Reilly closed off with an excellent rendition of, "Were you There" and it really was fine singing. Chaired by Jim Owens the poetry read included almost everything that is associated  with this time of the year from Resurrection to the changing of the seasons and the poets read included, Gerald Manly Hopkins, Padraic Colum, John Boyle O Reilly, Francis Ledwidge, William Spencer, Maya Angelou, Les Murray, Bernadette McCarrick, Paddy Hyland, and I think someone also read a William Blake poem and that was just some of them. One of the highlights of the night though I thought was the reading of Louise Scott's, "The Passion of the Christ" which was published in her book "The Lightkeeper and Other Poems" back maybe about ten years ago. A number of those who attended read their own work and with great feeling. An Tobar is located just outside Navan at Ardbraccan and the group meets every third Tuesday of the month at 7.30 pm. The next meeting is on Tuesday the 16th of May with a theme on the Northern poets or the Province itself. 

Boyne Berries 21

Boyne Berries 21!

Hard to believe this is the 21st issue of the magazine and nice to get an introduction or overview. There are many fine pieces of prose or poetry here and it would need more than a few readings to tease out their qualities. The ones that have most appeal are usually those that you can reference something to or admire for their craft and this magazine has both. "To the Grave" by Trish Delaney or "Edgehill" by John Prior for immediate interest and "Adaptation" by Bernie Crawford has a charm all its own. "After Dinner at Ornans, 1848" by Eamon McGuinness will send you on a reading that compares brushstrokes to pen. The prose section though has a quality all of its own and as I said earlier, "Outsider" by Shona Woods touches more than a few heartstrings, as does " A New Haircut" by Trisha McKinney and "Beacons" by Helen Simcox, and for different reasons. The problem with poetry is that often it cannot reach those depths. That said Anamaria Julia Dragomir's poem, "The Skerries Sea" which comes with a Romanian translation is as fine a piece of descriptive writing as you will find. The book retails at €8 and link to the right, "Boyne Berries" will get you a copy.   

The Dubliners - Building up and tearing england down

One of the great ballads of the Irish construction workers who went to England after the war although they had been going since 1798 I believe. This one was written by Dominic Behan and is as good as it gets. Noting some of the comments on youtube from Michael Dineen and Colin Lowe on Barney McKenna playing "Off to California" as a hornpipe. Quality tenor banjo Mr Lowe described it as. Barney McKenna is buried in St Loman's in Trim not far from poet Tommy Murray. With thanks to dubliner 85 who loaded.

The Meath Writers' Circle/April Meeting 2017!

The Meath Writers' Circle/April Meeting 2017!

About twelve people turned out last night for the April meeting of The Meath Writers' Circle, with a little time given over to what might or might not be included in this year's magazine. Allowing for a number of anniversaries it was decided to leave it open to the members as to what they might like to contribute and a deadline of late July was agreed upon for last submissions. A number of poems and articles were read and the night ended with a few songs, though four part harmonies or not Sean managed to steal the show with a piece from Dylan Thomas, (Eli Jenkin's Prayer) though what will be will be was creeping up on his left. A reminder that the National Poetry Day readings organized by The Boyne Writers are in the Castle Arch Hotel in Trim on Thursday the 27th of April at 8 pm and the An Tobar/Poetry for Pleasure readings on Tuesday the 18th at 7.30 pm. Also there is an event in the Trim Castle Hotel with the Sands Brothers on Friday the 21st in aid of Multiple Sclerosis.

Goldsmith Poetry Competition 2017!

Goldsmith Poetry Competition 2017!

Oliver Goldsmith/Pallas

The closing date for this one is the 28th of April, 2017 and fast approaching. All poems must be the original work of the author and not previously published. Each poem must be accompanied by a fee of €5 with three poems for €10 and personal cheques, postal orders, bank drafts and international money orders etc, made payable to Goldsmith Country Ltd.

Entries must be clearly printed on A4 paper, using a single sheet for each page of poetry with no double-sided printing. The poems and payment should be firmly attached to a fully completed entry form which can be downloaded from their site. The name of the entrant must not appear on the poems themselves. 

The judges' decisions are final and no correspondence can be entered into regarding these. Winners will be invited to read their work and receive their prize at the Poetry in Pallas event on Sunday the 4th of June 2017. Entries to be sent to: Ms Anne Tully, "Abbeylands" Firmount, Edgeworthstown, County Longford.

Check out full details at:  www.olivergoldsmithfestival.com and good luck!