Sean Walsh

‘Past the inn with ne’er a vacancy,  the raucous revelry, receding…   Around the back to the stables… straw… manure. Animals breathing warmth in the still, cold air.   Aloft, a fluttering of wings.   In a makeshift crib, under a thousand stars, a new-born babe… gentled to her breast by a young Jewess…   And by their side a...

“How can we fail to realise the need to stop this rat race and to recover the personal space needed to carry on a heartfelt dialogue with God?..”   Pope Francis. Gaudete et Exsultate.   (Para 29)

Father Richard mentioned her passing at the 11 mass in Gardiner street on Sunday last (Oct 4) but the penny didn’t drop until Ann reminded me. Yes, of course! Mags! The wee woman always in blue. Many and many a Tuesday at 1 pm Mass, she would be there at my elbow, ready to share as a Minister of the...

I was not at all happy with certain parts and passages of Mark One. So I got down to make amends – to you, the reader and to my own ego, doubtless – about mid summer. I’ve been at it, on and off, ever since. Edits, rewrites, add-on’s… Moving a blog here, another there… Lifting a passage from one part...

The Friary, Killarney. October 1950. Dear Michael, Yes, they are, too! Well, how would you like to walk ten miles in open sandals?! Eh-hh?.. To fill you in: last Thursday we set out from the Friary – twenty of us, walking two by two. With the open road in front – and the Novice Master behind – we walked to...