Newry Journal

Yesterday evening my wife and I attended Julie’s superb concert in Rosemary St First Presbyterian Church, which featured also her husband Eamon Doorley AND John McIntyre and Zoe Conway – who are also husband and wife. I’d highly recommend you buy their new CD ‘Alt.’ Julie is my favourite singer in all the world!

My lovely daughter Emma, for my recent birthday, presented me with an anthology of Yeats’ verse, pieces selected by that other Irish master Seamus Heaney (once a teaching colleague of mine!). [Faber & Faber ; 978 – 0 – 571 – 24732 – 9] Already I have enjoyed hours of delight for this selection includes […]

Now Boris was starting to warm to his task He considered his team, and who he might ask – First, scores to be settled, he’d ring Donald Tusk To tell him he stinks like the wild deer musk – That back-stabbing Gove, who betrayed him last time He’d make Brexit chief and post him off […]

The streets behind the Cathedral were in former times known as The Back of the Dam.  What is now the Cathedral gardens was once the site of a huge flour mill.  Water from the Clanrye River was diverted north of the town into a mill race and the energy of the falling water used to […]

The Classical Greek Come sit down a while, and I’ll tell you a story Recall famous glories and honour the dead And hope that a smile will crack all of your faces And cares and all worries go out of your head. I’ll sing of some lads with exceptional qualities All of them geniuses, truly […]