"Hey boy, who am I going to leave these hands to when I’m gone?”

A long silence…then the words were repeated, louder and more animated.

“I say, who will I leave them to, eh? I think I’ll leave them to science.”

Again, the words fell on deaf ears and were greeted with total silence…

Those immortal words were uttered by my father, Mal, as he…

I was thrilled to hear that long departed Brendan Behan, one of my fellow Irish storytellers, has finally been resurrected. “Brendan at the Chelsea Hotel,” a new play about his time in NYC has recently opened off Broadway to tumultuous reviews and much ribaldry, women chasin’ and bar hoppin’. Behan, a rebel, carouser, drinkin’ man’s drinkin’ man, racounteur and above all a writer, taught us that you can be both a fighter and a writer.

I have here in my possession a letter written to…

'Don't Die With Regrets: Ireland and the Lessons my Father Taught me.'

Winner of the 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.

Award presented at the Harvard Club. Manhattan…

In A.D. 451, the new Byzantine Emperor Marcian, an orthodox Christian, ordered a new Ecumenical council be convened to establish once and for all, the belief that Christ was and is both God and Man. Pope Leo 1 called for it to be held in Italy but Marcian insisted it be…

Europe, in the middle of the 5^th century A.D., was in darkness and fear was dominant. The Master (the druid) sensed fundamental change. The Roman legions were advancing rapidly and had already crossed the Rhine. A new religion was upon him and his people.

In the…

One day I watched my father from high up in the branches of the old Rowan tree that grew close to our house. He was walking down the creamery road, his brown felt hat pushed back on…

Many thanks once again to the ‘Creggan Historical Society', its curator Mr. Michael McShane and local historian Mr. Kevin McMahon, for their vast knowledge, brilliant minds and tireless efforts toward ensuring that the history of South Armagh be kept alive and kicking for…

My mother, Ellen Brennan (O'Connor.) passed on Friday, December 20th, 2014 at her home in Crossmaglen, County Armagh.

"She is not dead, she doth sleep.

 'tis death is dead. Weep not for Ellen." 

(Apologies to PB Shelley for the name change.) 

Ellen.

"Sure, God help them, the poor crathurs." was her oft used expression.

Ellen was a…

During my research phase for information, I've relied heavily on the writings of Michael O'Cleary, a Franciscan monk, who, with three other scholars, compiled what has collectively become known as the "Annals of The Four Masters." They were…

A lesson on hard work. 

To the left of our house in Urker was a wilderness covered with boulders, and thorny gorse bushes. It was no more than a quarter acre, but to me, at seven years old it looked like a vast, forbidding jungle. It…

We were expecting her unwelcome visit thanks to the ingenious invention of Radar, which had been developed during the dark, frightful years of World War II. All we could do was prepare for her inevitable onslaught. She was conceived and born on the African continent…

It was Samhain, the night when the veil between worlds was parted, the night when the spirits would come back to earth and commune with earthly mortals. As a child, he had often heard the tales told around the fireside but as he grew older, he dismissed them as harmless ghost stories…

The…

The bard of Avon, William Shakespeare, once said:                                                                              

"All the world's a stage and each must play his part."

How right he was! He knew, and tried to forewarn us, that…

I must stress upon the reader the fact that no animals were harmed in any way during the writing and re-telling of this story. It is true though, that the star of the tale was definitely shocked, awed and mesmerized not to mention puzzled, bewildered and befuddled. As you read, I am sure you will agree that the unruly canine brought it upon himself with his dogged actions towards my hapless father.…

Thanks for all of the inspiration Mal.

"Son."

"Yes dad."

"Whatever you do, Don't die with Regrets."

"Don't worry dad, I wont'"

Geneticists at Trinity College, Dublin have recently discovered that the Irish gene pool is the least diluted in all of Europe if not indeed, the world. They have also discovered that the Irish traveling people (tinkers) are purely…

This was written in a prison cell by a fellow Irishman, kindred spirit, poet, soldier and a far braver man than I. Bobby Sands, adhering to the ancient Brehon Law of fasting, died while on hunger strike in Long Kesh prison camp for his political beliefs on 5/5/’81.

The Rhythm of Time

There’s an inner thing in every man do you know this thing my friend?

It has withstood the blows of a million years and will do so to the end.

It was born when time did not exist and…

Oh! to return to that time, place and space of yesterday's papers. Back when I was young, undaunted and sure of nothing, stronger than an oak, spellbound in innocence. Back when being seventeen was wide-eyed and ‘rarin to go, driven by the magical, heady arrogance of youth. Back to that time of transitional transmissions when the curtain was torn down, rent…

The dealing man can still be found in every market square and bazzar in towns and villages around the world. Their nationalities and languages may be different but the art of dealing always follows the same ancient ways. Dealing men were expected to look the part at all times and had a common mode of dress with only slight…