Sunday morning I went to deliver a magazine to my friend who wanted it. Eight am and the sun was already three fingers above the trees. Quiet…well, quiet from human noise. The birds were fully awake. After slipping it through her mail-slot I turned towards the river and enjoyed the crunch of gravel under my
The coming of a new year brings such a strong longing inside; I can hardly breathe. Year after year, I return to a place. It was only a few years ago that I had my first visit here, which I still remember as if it were yesterday; there really is no place like it! The
I remember my first holiday in Castlebar. I was accompanied by my great grandmother who was visiting our dear friend Cynthia. As soon as I got over the five- hour journey, the excitement of her estate and ponies, she came up with the first of many ‘Waterbody’ adventures around County Mayo. We went to Lough
The former Mission Hall is located on York Road, Ringsend, facing the river Liffey. Its beauitful facade has been kept as it was over 100 years ago, when two sisters of the famous Bewley cafe family decided to build it as a YMCA. The sisters were both very interested in helping people get a foot
From my mountain, I can see the world below – but I can’t stay here – I’ve things to be… …I am a droplet of dew on the springtime grass, a crystal in the sun-warmth, next a tear joining the gambolling stream, bouncing leaping off the stones like a child at playtime, sometimes trickling, sometimes
Sitting here in a shady spot, the sun is sparkling over the water. The Cathedral is in full view as is the weir with that wonderful curving sweep. The Salmon Weir bridge downstream has locals and tourists hanging over it, looking for elusive salmon on their way upstream. To my right, the water is quiet
Water is a liquid formed when two gases come together to form H O. The whole world would starve as nothing would grow without it. Everything would be barren like the Sahara Desert. Let us think of where water has done a lot of good and made the world a very beauitful place. My mind
When I was in high infant’s class they decided to close the school while repairs were being done. The pupils were scattered to their next nearest school. In my case I was sent across the river Glore to Shanvahera. I didn’t know anybody up there and they did not know me. The only consolaiton that
The Anglia full of fishing bags, rods, the fishing net, sandwiches in brown paper; we’d often go fishing, my Dad and I. He’d drive up the long hill from Kilmacanogue. Then, on the Calary Bog road, I was allowed to hold the steering wheel. I was about ten years old. We were on our way
Our minds weren’t on the foot cocking, that sultry July afternoon; the air as still as the breaking dawn. Tomas remarked “it will be a perfect evening for Dereken; the perch will be in shoals there”. I was so enthused by this optimism, I began to gather speed with my wooden rake. Worms were already
There is a lake in Ireland once regarded as the finest trout water on earth. Anglers came from far and wide to fish it. Fifty years ago, it was poisoned to death’s door by sewage from a nearby town. Since then, it has been slowly, lovingly, nursed back to health by those who care for
In memory of my Dad James J. Galvin CHAPTER 1 For me, it all began back in 1942 when I was 4 years old. My Dad would say to me “right hop up on the crossbar of the bike”. He would take me down to the Grand Canal and we would feed the swans, ducks