Unpacking memories
I moved house and parish in September 2022 and the process of moving gets difficult as one gets older — in part because I’m a hoarder, of sorts! But why would one destroy something like this? It’s a photo I […]
Plugged out and plugging back in
The eight-year-old child put her hand up. Teacher asked what her question was. “Are you the new church guy?” she blurted out. Out of the lips of babes …! But she’s correct. I am in a whole new place since […]
Getting ready for Mass with a congregation again
We’ve almost forgotten what it is like to be in the same space as others and be able to relax and pray. From Monday June 29th, churches are permitted to have a congregation for Mass again — though the limit is […]
There’s a welcome on the gate …
Following the first phase of restrictions on churches, the Parish church at Enniskeane is open for personal prayer from 10.30 to 1pm and 5pm to 7pm, Monday to Sat. (opens at 11.30 on Sunday)Sanitiser, one way, distance and cleaning in […]
Restoring an orchard
The lawing front of the house where I live was once an orchard. Locals tell of getting bags of apples from people like the late Canon Bill Murphy. Unfortunately, one of his successors had the apple trees cut down and […]
Denis Lehane RIP – a natural kind of West Cork man
From my earliest years at home in Drimoleague my brothers and I slept under a ceiling of gloss-painted ceiling boards. That part of the house was added on in the 1950s when my father Sean was planning on getting married. […]
Religious haven’t gone away!
People who devoted their lives wholly to service of God and the church have taken something of a hammering in Irish society in recent decades. This in of the reasons they have almost become invisible. So we may think they […]
My 40 years journey since JPII
It’s 40 years since Pope John Paul II set foot in Ireland. And it’s 40 years since I first left Ireland to set foot in Spain. And it’s been some journey since! This day 40 years ago I was on […]