Have you ever watched Who Do You Think You Are? A TV show where well known people trace their ancestry, finding out who and where they hail from. There is always a mixture of excitement and fear as people embark on discovering their lineage. Everyone hopes to find heroes, people they can hang photos of …
Thankfully I’m out of isolation. If I had to spend any more time at home binge-watching docudramas, I‘d be in danger of turning into a criminal mastermind. I’m not sure if it’s intentional on Netflix’s part, but they’re basically teaching a how-to-become-the-next-top-con-artist seminar. I’d already seen The Tinder Swindler so it suggested I might enjoy …
The pox has finally tracked me down. Like a shadow boxer I have ducked and dived, but it caught me unaware last week with a sharp uppercut. As Paddy Kavanagh said, ‘We have tested and tasted too much, lover, through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder’. Whatever about tasting too much, we …
When I was around eight, I lived in fear that I’d accidentally buy a cow. It seemed there were a thousand simple things I might do that would result in me having to shell out for a heifer. Going to the mart in Thurles with my Dad, The Brother, and Uncle Tom was visually, aurally …
Many of you have sisters whom you love and possibly sisters that you struggle with. I’m in the fortunate position of being able to choose my own sisters. Several decades ago, when I went in search of pals who I could bestow this title on, I didn’t get lucky, I got blessed. I call my …
When we were saying our goodbyes to my Uncle Tom’s house after his 1st anniversary mass, all of us cousins were invited to take a keepsake. The Tipperary farmhouse where I had spent many summer holidays was a simple home. Yet everything had a familiarity and a link not just to my father’s brother Tom, …
It’s said that you should do something every day that scares you. I have a long list of things that scare me so I’ve plenty of choice. I’m afraid of the dark, swallowing a fish bone, not being liked, blood tests, maths tests and have a whole plethora of fears when it comes to motorway …
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 …
I’ve given up on far less worthy books if they haven’t engaged me by the first 50 pages. My bookmark rest on page 22 of my 10-year-old copy of Ulysses, in fairness Nora Barnacle passed on her copy after 27 pages, so I don’t feel so bad. I’m a slow reader, in school I struggled …
Given that my youngest will soon be eligible to vote, I thought my days of guiding limbs into garments were long behind me. However, that is exactly what I find myself doing since I starting working as a home carer last year. I have a schedule of regulars who I visit, helping them get washed …
Ordinary Plenty 