Ecopsychology

  I have been investigating the geology of East Galway and the so called boring part of Ireland’s landscape, the central lowlands. Some 300 to 340 million years ago this area was a shallow tropical sea, i.e. it was located in the tropics and only much later drifted north. The carboniferous limestone that forms its…

Jenny exploring The Peak District

Jenny, my niece, has been an active participant in “Discovery Quest” for 2 years; she is now part of their client mentor programme. Towards the end of her first year, as a client on Discovery Quest, Jenny was leading walks she had planned and showed great interest in pursuing this further. During her second year…

James Ellis 1931-2014

JIMMY ELLIS 1931-2014 Jimmy Ellis was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1931 and died a few days ago. He was an actor best known for his role as Birt Lynch in Z Cars, (right) a BBC TV series that ran from 1962-1978, among many other roles he also appeared as Norman Martin in a trilogy…

The Anchorhold

The Anchorhold The “Anchorhold” is the name of the house where my partner and I live: “an anchorhold” is a small “cell” often built into the defensive walls of medieval cities and occupied by a solitary hermit, or anchorite, renowned locally for their wisdom and good counsel. There was usually a small barred window at…

Moment of Grace

Moment of Grace Between gulps of coffee and groans About the fuckup with the keys last night My eye catches Through the small cottage window The struggling form of something. All around the garden Bits of debris, molded leaf, Some shredded particle of Turkish straw From the repaired thatch-ridge, Or small feather that lined A…

Accepting our Union with the Cosmos

Veni, Creator Spiritus The awesome act of accepting our union with the Cosmos.   (A Response To: “Saint Patrick and the New Evangelization: Why Mission Matters” by Fr. Billy Swan, Director of Formation, Pontifical Irish College Seminary, Rome)     “The Apostolic concern leading Us to carefully survey the signs of the times and to…

HAMLET IS THE MALE ELECTRA

I just wanted to comment on this statement that I heard at the discussion with Frank McGuinness after the performance of Sophocles’ “Electra” at NUIG last Monday. Between the 5th. Century B.C. and the time of Shakespeare, Western culture had been transformed not least by the Copernican Revolution and the “Oration” of Pico de Mirandela;…