John Anthony Brennan's Blog (131)

Ask Not Why

'My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.' -- JFK

For JFK

May 29, 1917 - Nov…

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Added by John Anthony Brennan on November 21, 2016 at 12:00am — 13 Comments

'Don't Die with Regrets: Ireland and the Lessons My Father Taught Me'

Delighted and Honored to have my first book recognized.…

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Added by John Anthony Brennan on October 29, 2016 at 3:30pm — 3 Comments

Chancing One's Arm

In 1492, the same year that Christopher Columbus purportedly discovered the New World, an incident, with far reaching effects, took place in a chapter house attached to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. The incident ended a long running and bloody feud between two of Ireland’s most powerful dynasties, the FitzGeralds…

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Added by John Anthony Brennan on October 10, 2016 at 7:00pm — 8 Comments

Enter the Vikings: The Assault of Lambay Island

*note

Toward the end of the 8th Century A.D., Ireland was almost completely Gaelic and Christian. It was a rural society, with no towns or cities, and the only large settlements were hamlets that grew up around monasteries. The…

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Added by John Anthony Brennan on September 19, 2016 at 1:30pm — 14 Comments

The Destruction of the Kingdom of Brega

Ask most people who they believe were the first group of foreigners to launch highly organized, violent raids in Ireland, and more often than not, they will say it was the Vikings, who raided Lambay Island in 795 A.D. What many people are not aware of is the fact that a century before the emergence of the Vikings, an…

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Added by John Anthony Brennan on September 14, 2016 at 7:30pm — 6 Comments

The Rock

It looked sad and forlorn sitting by the side of the Creamery road as though it knew that it had long been abandoned. I first noticed it one rainy afternoon when I was almost seven years old and I can still vividly recall the sweet scent of wild honeysuckle, hanging heavily on the air that…

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Added by John Anthony Brennan on August 31, 2016 at 9:00pm — 2 Comments

The Belfastman Who Challenged Einstein

I was lying on the couch one lazy Sunday evening ‘channel surfing,and doing my utmost to avoid the news channels. I find that watching the news these days only deepens my brooding sense of melancholia and re-awakens the primal urge to run away, wrap myself in animal skins and take up…

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Added by John Anthony Brennan on August 28, 2016 at 5:00pm — 3 Comments

She: A Dedication to the Muse

Within the written she resides 

in quiet assurance of her place. 

Lithe and languid, with regal mien, 

she glides from the page bearing gifts.

The mantle, flowing through the ages,

envelops her in verity profound.

Gently musing all the while, 

in soft tones of…

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Added by John Anthony Brennan on August 26, 2016 at 8:30pm — 8 Comments

The Journey: A Nomad Reflects

Press Release - Oct 22, 2015 15:36 EDT

Author John A. Brennan's Psalms of a Traveling Man

Author John A. Brennan has just penned his latest poetry collection entitled "The Journey:…

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Added by John Anthony Brennan on August 16, 2016 at 2:30pm — 4 Comments

Can You Hear me Now: A Trans-Atlantic Connection.

The next time you make a trans-Atlantic phone call, raise a glass, smile and tip your hat to an ingenious Irishman; a man that Charles Darwin once described as being “like an odious specter.” This man had incurred the wrath of Darwin for daring to oppose…

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Added by John Anthony Brennan on August 15, 2016 at 9:30pm — No Comments

The Meadow Ballet

 

The scythe was invented in about 500 BC and first appeared in Europe during the 12th and 13th centuries. It was used mostly for mowing hay, and replaced the sickle for reaping crops by the 16th century as it was more efficient. As a farming tool, it remained in use for many years, even after the…

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Added by John Anthony Brennan on August 12, 2016 at 10:00pm — No Comments

The Poet's Glen and Creggan Vale

Three of Ireland’s well-loved 18th century Gaelic poets lie at rest in the graveyard of Creggan Church, near to my hometown of Crossmaglen, County Armagh. The poets, Filid Art Mc Cooey, Padraig MacAliondain and the rapparee poet Seamus mor MacMurphy sleep under the oaks and elms in the company…

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Added by John Anthony Brennan on August 7, 2016 at 5:00pm — 2 Comments

Gullion: Mountain of Steep Slopes

Photo of Gullion courtesy of Colin Boyle.

I am Gullion, old as time itself, older than the pre-dawn of life, forged in the crucible of a ring of fire, before man existed. Up here the air is pure and fresh and crisp as the frost of winter’s breath. I’ve seen it all from up here, here by the bottomless lake, here beside…

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Added by John Anthony Brennan on August 6, 2016 at 10:30pm — 10 Comments

Mars, Bars and Scars

Have you ever been to Mars?” I was asked one morning at 2am as I made my way up east 81st. street in Manhattan. I was returning home from a night out at Manny’s Car Wash, a favorite blues bar on 2nd avenue. I stopped and heard it again, louder this time, “Have you ever been to Mars?” Looking around I couldn’t see anyone and…

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Added by John Anthony Brennan on March 30, 2016 at 10:30pm — 7 Comments

The Rise and Fall of Ireland's Hiring Fairs

Above, this map shows the spread of the 'Black Death.'

A silent, unseen killer, born on the arid plains of Central Asia, attached itself to the rampaging Mongol armies, and traveled with them purposefully, along the Silk Road, arriving in the Crimea in 1343. The killer then boarded the myriad of…

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Added by John Anthony Brennan on November 17, 2015 at 9:00pm — 8 Comments

Dubliner Samuel Geoghegan: Guinness Brewery Engineer

Picture courtesy of Guinness Archives: Left to right, back row J. Brigden, S. Geoghegan, F.West, J.Parr, L.Witz, P. Fleisher, G.H.Sayer, Swanson, G.S. Green.

Doctor Arthur Price, Archbishop of…

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Added by John Anthony Brennan on October 22, 2015 at 5:30am — 9 Comments

Louis Brennan: Inventor of the Guided Missile

On March 21 1879, 143 years ago, the worlds first working guided missile was successfully tested in Hobsons bay, Melbourne, Australia by Irish inventor Louis Brennan from Co. Mayo, Ireland.…

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Added by John Anthony Brennan on October 10, 2015 at 7:00pm — 7 Comments

Dubliner Alexander Mitchell: The Blind Engineer

In 1798, influenced by the American and French revolutions, the Irish people, unable and unwilling to endure oppressive British rule any longer, once again answered the call to arms and rose up in armed defiance. Led by Dublin-born Theobald Wolfe Tone, this event became known as the ‘Rebellion of ’98.’ During this…

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Added by John Anthony Brennan on October 4, 2015 at 8:30pm — 2 Comments

The Irishman Who Graces The 'Orange Fiver'

If you look closely at the portrait on the front face of the old Irish 5-pound note, known colloquially as the ‘orange’ fiver, you will observe a rather austere looking gentleman, gazing. soft eyed, toward some point off in the distance. His taciturn mien does not divulge much about him at first glance, but on closer inspection…

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Added by John Anthony Brennan on October 1, 2015 at 2:30am — 14 Comments

The Irishman, The Inca and The Jaguar

The Inca civilization arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in the early 13th century. Unfortunately, their last stronghold was conquered by the Spanish in 1572. From 1438 to 1533, they used a variety of methods that included conquest and peaceful assimilation to incorporate a large portion of western…

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Added by John Anthony Brennan on August 16, 2015 at 9:30pm — 10 Comments

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