A few years ago when I worked as a home carer, I used to visit a lady called Pat. From our first hello at the hall door, I knew she and I would get on. She was from Kerry and had a fantastic turn of phrase that both charmed and awoke me. Despite living in …
UCD lake is rarely quiet. During weekdays it is a gathering place for students between lectures. At weekends a younger audience come to say hello, often with bread, and nervous parents warning about getting too close to the edge. The swans who live there must be used to all these callers and go about their …
They say you should live far enough away from your family that you have to put your coat on to visit them. The Brother took this advice to heart and settled a whole county away in Co. Meath. To be honest this arrangement suits me down to the ground. An hour drive either way, means …
February is one of those months that drags me backwards and forwards along the hope continuum, until I don’t know which end is up. One minute I’m congratulating myself for getting through January and relishing the grand stretch, the next I’m stiff with the cold and despair of warmth ever returning. Transition months will do …
Last April, I watched in awe as 7 baby cygnets appeared on the main lake in UCD. Their proud parents, who’ve reared many broods here before, knew the drill. Like Royals emerging from a maternity hospital for the paparazzi, the pen and cob (mum and dad) launched their 7 tiny pompomesque babies onto the lake …
When we were children, we used to go to UCD to collect conkers. I remember Mum laughing, saying ‘I hope they’re not the only trophies you take home from here’. She was laughing because a) we lived right beside it and b) she felt confident we’d bag as many letters after our names as we …
By all accounts I was a very chatty child, too chatty going by the many sayings my father used to get me to pipe down. ‘A quarter of the talk Margaret’, was his mantra of choice, followed by ‘If there were prizes going for talking Margaret, you’d win them hands down’. But the one that …
Monty's name really suits him, or Montgomery to give him his full title, which I only ever do when we're taking Earl Grey together. Though sometimes I think we should have called him Dumbo. Not casting aspersions on his intelligence, nor because of his over-sized ears. Simply because he poops as much as an elephant. …
I'm not a proper scout leader, more of a helper really. I've done sufficient training and paperwork to be able to don a neckerchief and roll up my sleeves. I'm just a parent who's grateful for how much my kids got from scouting that I can't see my local scout group stuck. Thankfully they are …
I've always loved personality quizzes. Everything from multiple choice questions in magazines to Myers Briggs. A chink of wisdom to help us understand why we tick the way we do. The earliest one I can remember was a test I was shown in school. You give someone a piece of paper and ask them to …
Ordinary Plenty 