We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time… It’s almost a year now since we bid farewell to our last international group. We led a family of American visitors on our...
“Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things, feel the future dissolve in a moment Like salt in a weakened broth. What you held in your hand, what you counted and carefully saved, All this must go so you know how desolate the landscape can be between...
Christmas time has its own magical allure. The lights, the gifts, the music, the myriad of sporting spectacles beamed live to our sitting rooms, the gatherings among family and friends, the scent of the turkey roasting in the oven, the frenzied shopping, the carnival...
This is the time to be slow, Lie low to the wall Until the bitter weather passes. Try as best you can, not to let The wire brush of doubt Scrape from your heart All sense of yourself And your hesitant light. If you remain generous, Time will come good; And you will...
It has been the strangest of years for all of us. We’ve steered a gentle course over the past few months opting to take the safe route until we come out the other side. Our policy has been to work with existing ‘pods’ of people rather than create groups from...
There’s nowhere to turn when the storm picks up. The sea rages with ferocious intent as crested sails struggle to withstand the tumult. Waves crash against the brow as if to test our defiance. Out here in the wildness of the ocean, we find ourselves tossed about by...
Walking in the steps of St. Declan from Cashel in Co. Tipperary to Ardmore in Co. Waterford lingers with you long after your odyssey is complete. Here on this ancient ‘Rian Bó Padraigh’ once trodden by the saints of old, we pass castles and forts, holy wells and...
“Each of us has the right and the responsibility to assess the roads which lie ahead, and those over which we have travelled, and if the future road looms ominous and unpromising, and the roads back uninviting, then we need to gather our resolve and, carrying only the...
“You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star.” (Frederich Nietzsche) When dreams are shattered, we search for meaning in the rubble. 10 years ago this week, my hope of one day bringing a state of the art cinema to my hometown was realised. So many...
“I have a feeling that my boat has struck, down there in the depths, against a great thing. And nothing happens! Nothing… Silence… Waves… Nothing happens? Or has everything happened, and we are standing now, quietly, in this new life?” (Juan Ramon Jimenez, translated...