Category Archives: Grief

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Ballymurphy

Forty-five years ago today the Parachute Regimen of the British Army was sent to Belfast to take part in Operation Demetrius, the fancy codename the government used for internment. They were to detain and arrest anyone who they thought was either involved in or supporting the Provisional IRA, but sending the Paras in to do this was rather like setting off a grenade to stop a fist fight. Over the next few days in the Ballymurphy area alone, eleven civilians were killed. Many who were killed were just trying to get away from the trouble and some were shot while helping others.

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O’Connor Family Mystery

On June 30th, 1890 a horrible tragedy struck the O’Connor family in County Dublin. John O’Connor  was a well-known journalist and Nationalist politician. He was the M.P. of West Wicklow and a family man who had a loving wife and five young children. This seemingly adoring family was torn apart when almost all of them were fatally poisoned. Only John O’Connor and one of his daughters survived.

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We are Orlando — lightandthunder

It’s not that I haven’t been writing. It’s that I haven’t been able to write about anything until this came out. It’s not about Ireland. It’s about humanity and ‘Merica. It had to happen before I returned to my regularly scheduled program.

My heart has been pretty heavy since the news hit about yet another massacre in the States. I have been quiet and reflective; not sure I was going to say much of anything publicly. After all, I did not know any of the victims and we all already know that it’s a horrible tragedy. However, […]

via We are Orlando — lightandthunder

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Nothing Compares 2 U

Sinead O’Connor is a polarizing artist. She imploded her own rising career by tearing up a picture of the pope in 1992 and has never been able to reclaim it entirely. She is known for being a bit crazy, somewhat suicidal, and incredibly volatile. She involves herself in meaningless Twitter feuds, and makes wild accusations. She rewrote the Irish National Anthem, and has written numerous incendiary letters to the Irish government. Most recently she is collecting lawsuits after accusing Arsenio Hall of being Prince’s drug dealer. She’s kooky and cantankerous, and I still love her. She’s also missing. Continue reading →

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Mother of the Revolution

In honor of Margaret Pearse who died 84 years ago today I thought I’d share the bit I wrote about her in my book, Petticoats, Patriots, and Partition. Many women suffered incredible loss during Ireland’s revolutionary period, but Margaret had a special kind of pain, losing both of her only sons. We are days away from their commemoration times and remembrances, so I thought Margaret should have hers too.

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Back Home In Derry

I arrived in Derry during a downpour, even though the sun was still peeking through the gathering storm clouds. By the end of the trip, I felt like the weather was a perfect metaphor for the city itself. Derry is rare. It is dark, but light pierces through it. It is grey but full of color. It is gathering and ready, but still and waiting. It is tragic and beautiful. Derry is a very special place.

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Apologies and news

I apologize dear readers, it has been some time since I’ve posted here. It is not for lack of will – I get an immense amount of joy from this blog, but life has gotten in the way for a minute. Or rather, death has.

I’ve been hit with a double dose of tragedy over the last couple of weeks and it has taken a toll on my brain and my free time. I promise to return to my regularly scheduled program as soon as I’m able to stop and think for a minute. There’s a post or five brewing in my head I promise – and I look forward to getting them out soon.

In the meantime, I will tease you with a little news – there’s a book coming. It’s a silly little thing that I’m self-publishing but it brings me a lot of joy. It’s a trade paperback with about 150 pages and is full of some expanded and favorite posts, quirky facts, Irish travel gems, and more. It features a lot of women and some of the lesser known players in Irish History and has a wonderful title too – but it’s going to be about a month before I can get it finished and released. I just wanted you to know that I haven’t been completely idle in these trying times.

More history posts and current tidbits soon I promise.

Squeeze your loved ones a lot and keep them close.

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The ___________ 12th

It’s a fill in the blank title, predominantly because almost any adjective in the world could be used to describe the 12th of July in Ireland, depending on where you come from. That said, my own fill in the blank words would include Ridiculous, Divisive, Uncontrolled, and Tragic, just to start with. There are plenty more but I think those are my choices to sum up a whole lot of inflamed feelings, a huge cultural problem, and the profound lack of leadership witnessed all over the North of Ireland and beyond for the last few days.

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Berkeley

It’s rare that I get to post anything that is located close to me in this blog. Being so far away from what I usually write about means that while I’ve visited most of the places I feature, they are quite far away by the time I get to write about them. This one is close to home in many ways, and I am saddened to write about it at all. You see, I live very close to Berkeley, California, and I worked there for years so the recent tragedy there is very close to my heart.

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