We are in the centre of Boyle now at the historic crossroads, to our right is Green Street leading up to the Curlews and the road took by poor old Conyers Clifford in 1599 when he met his end along with a lot of his soldiers, Straight ahead is the […]
Boyle
Historic Boyle Part 5
So we return up the street to where the Bank of Ireland is today. In 1911 it was the premises of the National Bank. In No 10 lived Aris Manning and his wife Tempe. He was 56 and she was 35. They had two children Dorothy and Norah and a […]
Historic Boyle Part 4
We are well into the town of Boyle on our walking tour of the history of this beautiful place. 7. Main Street We are on Main Street with the main gates of King House behind us. An impressive street acting as the main approach to King House or the Barracks […]
Historic Boyle Part 3
We are still heading into the town of Boyle showing Ma Femme the historic wonders of this small town I adopted many years ago. Ma Femme is quietly amazed at its riches as we trundle along Military Road and past the Garda Barracks, a new construction built about 30 years […]
Historic Boyle Part 2
On my walk into town from our abode at the Wooden Bridge we have come to Shilling Hill, in the townland of Knocknashee, a reasonably modern area, with Boyle Abbey and Abbeytown Bridge on our left. This road and roundabout area was reconstructed about 30 years or more ago when […]
Historic Boyle Part 1
One of the problems of coming from the colonial world is that white people have no history except for the native history of the indigenous people they pushed to one side. That history has no real place in the European mind so they hunt farther afield. They yearn for the […]
The Glorious Days Of Late Spring
Well the panic station weeks of April are thankfully now over and Helen is recovering well at home under my immaculate and dutiful nursing skills. The District Nurse now sees her every other day to tend the massive wound which became infected after the angiogram procedure and had to be […]
Two Weeks Of Trauma – Part 2
Tuesday April 12th After a night of disturbed reflective sleep, I was up early at 6.00am. The management of the hotel had given us a splendid suite of rooms, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room and a fully equipped kitchen. All night long I was pondering on the resuscitation […]
Gallipoli Galloped
Last week I had the doubtful pleasure of taking 20 people to Gallipoli for an eight day tour of the battlefields and a chance to follow in the footsteps of the 5th Battalion Connaught Rangers. I say doubtful because of the awful behaviour of three members of the party which […]
The Road To Morocco – My Diary, Part 7
Having left the party early, 30 minutes after sunset, I was up before sunrise and in the watery paleness before dawn I am writing this while the bull frogs sleep and the peacocks are bristling their feathers. The dogs are alert waiting for their next adventure and the cats are […]