Seamus Heaney Poet April 1939- August 2013

 The Skunk by Seamus Heaney


Up, black, striped and damasked like the chasuble
At a funeral mass, the skunk’s tail
Paraded the skunk. Night after night
I expected her like a visitor.
The refrigerator whinnied into silence.
My desk light softened beyond the veranda.
Small oranges loomed in the orange tree.
I began to be tense as a voyeur.
After eleven years i was composing
Love-letters again, broaching the ‘wife’
Like a stored cask, as if its slender vowel
Had mutated into the night earth and air
Of California. The beautiful, useless
Tang of eucalyptus spelt your absence.
The aftermath of a mouthful of wine
Was like inhaling you off a cold pillow.
And there she was, the intent and glamorous,
Ordinary, mysterious skunk,
Mythologized, demythologized,
Snuffing the boards five feet beyond me.
It all came back to me last night, stirred
By the soot fall of your things at bedtime,
Your head-down, tail-up hunt in a bottom drawer
For the black plunge-line nightdress


Skunk is a poem by Seamus Heaney about his married life. The poem is a
tribute to his wife – how living away from home has caused him to miss
his married life. Exiled from his wife, Heaney  recalls the skunk
which reminds him of his wife.There are two settings in this poem. The first five stanzas are based
on memories of California nights, and the last stanza is a recent
memory of waiting in bed for his wife as she changed into her
nightdress.





World-renowned poet and playwright Seamus Heaney has died at the age of 74.He was born to a farming family at Mossbawn near Bellaghy in Co Derry on 13 April 1939.Mr Heaney was educated at the St Columb's College Catholic boarding school in Derry.His upbringing often played out in the poetry he wrote in later years
He was awarded numerous prizes over the years and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995.
Among the academic posts he held were professorships at Harvard and Oxford universities.
He was an honorary fellow at Trinity College Dublin and last year was bestowed with the Seamus Heaney Professorship in Irish Writing at the university, which he described as a great honour.















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Magic Road near Mahon Falls Waterford : Bothar Draiochta

There is a magic road at the Mahon Falls in Co Waterford. Folklore has it  that during the last war the local council built a road through a fairy glen in order to harvest turf (peat). The fairies cursed the place and made everything appear to go backwards. It is also worth noting that the turf harvested from this area was part of the consignment that caused the collapse of the Jail wall in Waterford resulting in the loss of life.Drivers claim that even when their car engines are switched off cars still roll uphill at a section of road in the Comeragh Mountains

Bog Bodies

The mummified remains of a body found in a Laois bog two years ago have been found to date back to 2,000BC, making it the oldest “bog body” discovered anywhere in the world.

He is believed to have met a violent death.“All the indications are that the human remains from Cashel Bog tell of the fate of a young king who, through folly or misadventure, was deemed to have failed to appease the goddess on whose benevolence his people depended, and who paid the ultimate price,” 

The chemical composition of bogs can preserve human bodies for thousands of years.

Archaeologists have discovered more than 100 ancient bodies in Irish bogs but few as well-preserved as “Cashel man”.

West Cork tonight

Paul Cunningham's photo

The Feminine in Irish Mythology

In early Irish mythology and legend, the feminine is quite dominant in the otherworld as well as on earth. The land of Ireland and features of its landscape such as mountains, rivers and lakes were frequently associated with goddesses and other supernatural females.In mythology, it was Ériu who gave her name to Ireland but the names of her two sister goddesses Banba and Fodla were also used.The Hill of Tara commemorates the name of a queen called Téa The list is endless
 One, much more frightening and morbid, but arguably more interesting creature of legend is the banshee. These ghost-women appeared in many Irish folktales
A banshee, or Bean Sidhe, is a fairy from Irish folklore whose scream was an omen of death. Her thin scream is referred to as “caoine,” which translates to “keening.” It is said that a banshee’s cry predicts the death of a member of one of Ireland’s five major families: the O’Grady’s, the O’Neills, the O’Briens, the O’Connors or the Kavanaghs. Over time as families blended, it was said that most Irish families had their own banshee. It is also said that the banshees followed their families as they emigrated from Ireland to other places across the globe, though some stayed behind to grieve at the original family estate.
Various versions of the banshee have been described, from a woman with long, red hair and very pale skin to an older woman with stringy, gray hair, rotten teeth and fiery red eyes. She is often depicted with a comb in her hair and this has led to an Irish superstition that finding a comb on the ground is considered bad luck. It is believed that a single banshee can take on any of these forms and shift between them, much like the goddesses of Celtic folklore

It is unknown precisely when stories of the banshee first were told, but they can be traced back as far as the early eighth century. It is believed they were based on an old Irish tradition where women would sing a lament to signify one’s passing. This too was referred to as keening

It is said that if a banshee becomes aware of a human’s presence watching her, she will disappear into a cloud of mist. When she does, it is accompanied by a fluttering sound like a bird flapping its wings. The Irish do not believe the banshee causes death, but merely warns of it. Although during the Middle Ages it was said that the banshee would also protect the souls of those of good heart and deed after they had passed on.

There is a list of Irish surnames who are known to have a Banshee keen for them My mother's maiden name was Brennan which is one of the names included, I've been reassured the Banshee will cry for me on my passing. If your name is not on the list don’t fret about it. Your family may be one touched by the fairy music instead

Irish Funerals: Caoiners

"The Irish have been always remarkable for their funeral lamentations
 "The body of the deceased, dressed in grave clothes, and ornamented with flowers, was placed on a bier, or some elevated spot. The relations and caoiners (singing mourners) then arranged themselves in two divisions, one at the head, the other at the foot of the corpse.
Until about the middle of the last century, the custom was very generally adhered to in Ireland, and many of the elegiac poems, composed on such occasions, have come down to us,Usually, this role was for a woman who sat in the next room until the funeral Professional mourners wore long red skirts and black shawls

This is an example of such a lament

 "Lament of Morian Shehone for Miss Mary Bourke," which is literally translated from the original Irish.


"Silence prevails; it is an awful silence. The voice of Mary is heard no longer in the valley.
"Yes, thou art gone, O Mary! but Morian Shehone will raise the song of woe, and bewail thy fate.
"Snow white was thy virtue; the youths gazed on thee with rapture; and old age listened with pleasure to the soft music of thy tongue.
"Thy beauty was brighter than the sun which shone around thee, O Mary! but thy sun is set, and has left the soul of thy friend in darkness.
"Sorrow for thee is dumb, save the wailings of Morian Shehone; and grief has not yet tears to shed for Mary.
"I have cried over the rich man; but when the stone was laid upon his grave, my grief was at an end. Not so with my heart's darling; the grave cannot hide Mary from the view of Morian Shehone.
"I see her in the four corners of her habitation, which was once gilded by her presence.
"Thou didst not fall off like a withered leaf, which hangs trembling and insecure: no, it was a rude blast which brought thee to the dust, O Mary!
"Hadst thou not friends? Hadst thou not bread to eat, and raiment to put on? Hadst thou not youth and beauty, Mary? Then mightest thou not have been happy?
"But the spoiler came, and disordered my peace: the grim tyrant has taken away my only support in Mary!
"In thy state of probation, thou wert  kind hearted to all, and none envied thee thy good fortune. Oh! that the lamentations of thy friends—Oh! that the burning tears of Morian Shehone could bring back from the grave the peerless Mary!
"But alas! this cannot be: then twice in every year, while the virgins of the valley celebrate the birth and death of Mary, under the wide spreading elm, let her spirit hover round them, and teach them to emulate her virtues.
"So falls into the depth of silence the lament of Morian Shehone."


Take the time to listen to Iarla O Lionaird   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JEiuM_eHuw

Ormonde Castle Carrick on Suir

Ormonde Castle in Carrick on Suir, County Tipperary was acquired by the Butler Family in 1315
Ormond Castle is the best example of an Elizabethan manor house in Ireland. It was built by Thomas, the 10th Earl of Ormond in the 1560s. Closely integrated into the manor house are two 15th century towers. It is the country's only major unfortified dwelling from that turbulent period
Following the death of James Butler in the late 17th Century the house remained empty until the middle of the 20th century. In 1947 the house was taken over by the state who undertook a programme of restoration.





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Ormonde Castle is part tower house with a built-on Manor House. The original castle  fell into ruin. You can see how two of the four original Irish castle towers are incorporated in the Tudor  manor house. . The murder holes and guardrooms were not included in the manor house plans, as  defence was replaced by style.

Irish Dancers Flash Mob

Visitors to Dublin Airport were treated and surprised with an incredible 'flashmob' from the cast of 'Take The Floor 2013'."Take the Floor 2013" is an Irish dance show like no other. The 60 dancers along with  musical accompaniment from Beoga, are creating the entire show in just 10 days.

This is a taste of what the show has to offer


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ff_uLoEBEo