Sean Walsh

I live in Dublin, Ireland. Sometimes. Most times I live in my head, quite unaware of my surroundings – if you know what I mean… If you succeed in tracking Sean Walsh, please let me know, ok? I've been searching for him for years…

Wee Intruder!

Published on Friday 9th February 2024 by Sean Walsh

Oh, and one night there during the week when you were away, Dad, didn’t I walk into the front room over the pub, thinking it was empty.   And what do y’know, Mammy and Maggie sittin’ behind the lace curtains at one of the windows, looking down at the crowds going up and down Park Street and across at the...

Read the full article

The Innkeeper’s Story

Published on Thursday 7th December 2023 by Sean Walsh

One Yes?!. A, a bed for the – ? You haven’t a hope! I’ve never seen such crowds in Bethlehem!.. You, your wife is?.. Oh… Is she – due?.. Oh-hh… Well look, round the back – the stables. Ye’ll be in out of the weather, that at self.   Two She’s like that, my missus – always the good turn…...

Read the full article

In Transit Ann Walsh

Published on Friday 2nd June 2023 by Sean Walsh

Saint Francis Hospice… A room en suite soon to be a Departure Lounge.   At her bedside, Wee Four: Siobhan and Joanna, daughters, a sister, Patricia… mise…   ‘Reaching… touching cold hands, limp on bedding. ‘A beaker of water to dry lips, ‘sipping… declining. ‘Distraught at our very helplessness: her shallow breathing… straying words. Relieved, betimes, by morphine. My  voice...

Read the full article

de profundis

Published on Monday 28th November 2022 by Sean Walsh

Dear God Enlighten what is dark in me Strengthen what is weak in me Mend what is broken in me Bind what is bruised in me Heal what is sick in me and lastly, Revive whatever peace and love has died in me…

Read the full article

Travels with my Dad

Published on Monday 28th November 2022 by Sean Walsh

My Latest! Travels with my Dad. Amazon: ebook and Paperback “Just wonderful – and full of wondering!.. I wallowed in it with smiles and joy and admiration…” – Bernard Farrell. Scribe.

Read the full article

Close Thing!

Published on Wednesday 19th October 2022 by Sean Walsh

Oh, and one night there during the week when you were away, didn’t I walk into the front room thinking it was empty.   And what do y’know, Mammy and Maggie sittin’ behind the lace curtains at one of the windows looking down at the crowds going past in Park Street and across at the neighbours…   And when I...

Read the full article

En Route

Published on Wednesday 12th October 2022 by Sean Walsh

EN ROUTE   Nearing the end of a long life I begin to live – a bit… Away with the countless, half-lived Yesterdays! Trudging the Wastelands, soured by my very discontent. Not knowing… unaware… of Him… No going back! No, nor looking back! Now! Now is all that – ‘Aware I am on a direct line – forward at a...

Read the full article

Jenny One Two Three. Mark Two.

Published on Sunday 7th August 2022 by Sean Walsh

august 7. ’22. At last! After weeks of trial and error… edits… inserts… rewrites… it is ready to put “out there…” Tomorrow I go back over the file one last time… from start to finish… before pressing Publish… Then, all going well, I will begin to promote my wares… this time in earnest. Selling a must… otherwise it just disappears...

Read the full article

Lightly!

Published on Sunday 31st July 2022 by Sean Walsh

"Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly - even though you're feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them. I was so preposterously serious in those days... Lightly, lightly - it's the best advice ever given to me. To throw away your baggage and go forward... Lightly, my darling." – Aldous Huxley....

Read the full article

2021 A Dawning…

Published on Saturday 30th July 2022 by Sean Walsh

Lockdown turned out to be something of a blessing in disguise for me. Church building locked, ongoing: no Mass, no sacraments, no shared Word… I began to withdraw from the all too familiar… dwell instead on the concept of an ever present God. I turned anew to Matthew 6.6 “… but you, when you pray, go into your room, close the...

Read the full article

Easter Greetings ’22

Published on Sunday 17th April 2022 by Sean Walsh

EASTER BLESSINGS “On this Easter morning, let us look again at the lives we have been so generously given and let us let fall away the useless baggage that we carry — old pains, old habits, old ways of seeing and feeling – and let us have the courage to begin again. Life is very short, and we are no...

Read the full article

Lights, Camera, Action!

Published on Tuesday 2nd November 2021 by Sean Walsh

On impulse, I lately began to video myself, using my iPad. There I was on screen, warts and all! Rough, you might say. Quite lacking  the finesse of a professional photographer/studio. Agreed. But still… Maybe, I reckoned, the vocal would compensate fot the visual?! And so, over the last week or so, I came to record some of my choice...

Read the full article

Celine… wee recall.

Published on Thursday 21st October 2021 by Sean Walsh

Fifty years a religious, Sister C. ‘Calls for a celebration, no? My wife and I among the favoured few. Several days before the event the good lady handed me a page or two of typescript. Would I read it aloud in place of the communion verse at the celebration Mass? Of course I would. . . ‘Read it… mulled over...

Read the full article

WOW!

Published on Tuesday 19th October 2021 by Sean Walsh

I climb the stairway to the attic – clear day, dimlit night – into an empty room full of Might Have Been…   ‘Cross to the slanted ceiling, lever open the window, look out across slated roofs, dull bricked chimneys, towards Dublin Bay, the  Migrant Way…

Read the full article

He who hesitates…

Published on Friday 15th October 2021 by Sean Walsh

Me. Like an old Ford, rusted Volkswagen… Starting, stopping… coughing… breaking down ever so often… thinking – about writing, creating on paper, striking chords, in a language (Hiberno English) that Everyman might readily understand… This Sean Walsh who lives – and dreams – in Dublin, Ireland, has many irons in the fire, some hotter than others… And there’s the rub:...

Read the full article

A Poster – Wee Nudge…

Published on Thursday 24th June 2021 by Sean Walsh

Click and click again – you now have a POSTER! When I finished work on the text – it didn’t just happen, I had to make it happen! – I posted it to Andrew Brown and he returned the finished product, as above. Leave it as it is and move on, or do as I have done – first to...

Read the full article

Signals from a Distant Planet

Published on Tuesday 20th April 2021 by Sean Walsh

‘Tells a wonderful story through a series of well-crafted, beautifully written and humorous letters, which will draw in all who read them. You will find here the odyssey of a soul that will call forth fellow travelers. His letters to ‘Michael’ are addressed to us all. The work has the vibrancy of great letter writing. Take and read. – Fr...

Read the full article

Wee Nudge… now a poster.

Published on Saturday 27th March 2021 by Sean Walsh

Read the full article

Now Here’s the Thing!

Published on Monday 18th January 2021 by Sean Walsh

  CLICK TO EXPAND… “Go into your room… close the door… and be with your Father…” “Social distancing does not cut ice with Jesus Christ. No way!”

Read the full article

No Vacancies

Published on Saturday 19th December 2020 by Sean Walsh

The Innkeeper to the Carpenter: “What? A bed for the night? You haven’t a hope! We’re full, booked out!.. What?.. Your wife is..? Oh. Oh, dear… Well, look – round the back – the stables… At least ye’ll be in out of the weather…” dfw-sw-christmas_poetry2.pdf

Read the full article

Noel

Published on Wednesday 9th December 2020 by Sean Walsh

December, 1950. Franciscan Novitiate. The Friary, Killarney.  Christ Mass  Dear Michael, The chap who wagered that I would be back in civvies before Christmas has lost his bet. ‘Verging on the New Year and I am still here! Stronger than ever, at that. In my resolve, determination… The “old Man” has ceased to complain about the strict life, I am...

Read the full article

Now Here’s the Thing!

Published on Thursday 3rd December 2020 by Sean Walsh

Here’s the Thing! I began to put words on paper during lock down… to veer away from Church as building, liturgy, religious rites – become more and more attracted to the idea of Presence… of the Divine with us wherever, whenever… Draft after draft followed… as I strove to get it as ‘right’ as I could. When, eventually, I published...

Read the full article

I’m Outa Here!

Published on Tuesday 1st December 2020 by Sean Walsh

When she took off I gave her a month, ‘month at the outside… She’ll be back, I’ll take bets on it. Down at the mouth, sure, but glad to be home for all that: safe, secure, shelter… Oh yeah, London’ll cure her cough.   Oh, Jenny, Jenny!.. What are you at, a tall a tall, daughter mine?.. I didn’t give...

Read the full article

All About Veil

Published on Thursday 19th November 2020 by Sean Walsh

Read the full article

The McMaster Piece

Published on Tuesday 17th November 2020 by Sean Walsh

Written and spoken by Sean Walsh… 1587 hits on You Tube – so far! Just over 5 mins. Have a listen, see for yourself…      

Read the full article

Unto Us

Published on Thursday 12th November 2020 by Sean Walsh

dfw-sw-christmas_podfw-sw-christmas_poetry2etry2

Read the full article

Unto Us

Published on Sunday 18th October 2020 by Sean Walsh

‘Past the inn with ne’er a vacancy, raucous revelry, receding…   Around the back to the stables. Animals stirring… breathing warmth in cold night air.   Aloft, a movement of wings.   In a makeshift crib on a bed of straw under a thousand stars, a new-born babe…   Gentled to her breast by a young Jewess…   And by...

Read the full article

Plea…

Published on Thursday 8th October 2020 by Sean Walsh

“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)

Read the full article

Mags

Published on Tuesday 6th October 2020 by Sean Walsh

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...

Read the full article

“Jenny One Two Three” Mark 2

Published on Tuesday 22nd September 2020 by Sean Walsh

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...

Read the full article

My Feet are Killing Me!

Published on Monday 21st September 2020 by Sean Walsh

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...

Read the full article

Ave Maria

Published on Friday 11th September 2020 by Sean Walsh

Hail Mary… Hi…  Hello…    Are you there – or are you on your travels? ‘Above – or beyond in Yugoslavia?   I, I’m never too sure when I have you, to be honest. But then, you’re a female. So I don’t find it all that surprising…   There was this shrine, as I recall. Oh, well known it was,...

Read the full article

Birthday Boy!

Published on Sunday 6th September 2020 by Sean Walsh

The Friary. Killarney. Dear Michael, Here I am – in the Novitiate, in brown and in the best, oh the very best, of form. This morning, at the end of an eight-day Retreat, we were received – all twenty of us – into the Franciscan family. But I am way ahead of myself and so much has happened during the...

Read the full article

Midnight Novice

Published on Saturday 22nd August 2020 by Sean Walsh

The Friary, Killarney, winter, 1950. Dear Michael,  Many thanks for your letter. It was good to hear from you. So how do you find Pre-Med? “Doctor Michael …” It sounds well. Oh, by the way, if you come across a cure for sleepiness in your studies let me know without delay, won’t you? Even as I write I have an...

Read the full article

Here’s the Thing!

Published on Sunday 28th June 2020 by Sean Walsh

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.” (Matt 6: 6) Unseen - but there for all that... Stay in, stay safe. Wash your hands - the all-too-familiar diktats of the Pandemic. Now here’s a thing: social distancing does not cut ice with Jesus Christ!.. He is having none...

Read the full article

Jenny One Two Three. First reviews.

Published on Tuesday 26th May 2020 by Sean Walsh

Once started I could not stop… It is an amazing piece of work that defies classification. It is so many things in so many wonderful ways, in so many creative forms, with so many challenging time-shifts, emotional-shifts, narrative shifts – all explored, developed and drawn together in a sweep of literary magic. The writing is at times poetic, ever beautiful...

Read the full article

Newsflash!

Published on Sunday 3rd May 2020 by Sean Walsh

Flash being the operative word! Back to the Future Mark Two. A return to the Gospel narrative signals the way forward… If you read nothing else today… reflect on this: https://international.la-croix.com/news/closed-churches-are-foretaste-of-the-future-warns-tomas-halik/12290 Do… please. Ad Excelsior! Sean.

Read the full article

Free – De Nada…

Published on Friday 24th April 2020 by Sean Walsh

Centre Circle, Asunder, Three for Calvary, Dead Man Talking, Playback, The Dreamers, Pilate Under Pressure, Veil My ebooks on Smashwords.com FREE download to your device from now until the end of May. Get one, get ’em all! Binge! You could do worse!

Read the full article

Jenny One Two Three…

Published on Wednesday 8th April 2020 by Sean Walsh

Fresh from Design for Writers.com (Andrew Brown), the cover of my new ebook soon to be published “out there.” Soon now, soon… the finishing touches to the text… interior… I sense success beyond measure… Climbing mountains that have never before been climbed…

Read the full article

Another Time, Another Place

Published on Thursday 26th March 2020 by Sean Walsh

Collegio Sant Isidoro, Via degli Artisti, 41, Roma 2. Dear Michael, An assurance has settled upon me since last I wrote – the assurance that I have arrived, made it, got there.  Realising that I am a priest is not at all as easy as I had imagined: for days on end after ordination I found myself coming up with...

Read the full article

Conclave

Published on Friday 13th March 2020 by Sean Walsh

CONCLAVE, the new, shorter, tighter, faster-moving version is now available on Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk Smashwords.com etc. And all the better for my editing during the past several weeks – even if I say so myself! Set against the backdrop of the first Good Friday, the storyline is uncannily familiar – and relevant: the High Priest, Caiaphas, and his Inner Circle meet behind closed doors to...

Read the full article

Carlo Carretto: Ode to the Church

Published on Monday 2nd March 2020 by Sean Walsh

(Carlo Carretto, an Italian monk who died in 1988. For many years, he lived as a hermit in the Sahara Desert.) How much I must criticize you, my church and yet how much I love you! How you have made me suffer much and yet owe much to you. I should like to see you destroyed and yet I need...

Read the full article

Master Class

Published on Sunday 1st March 2020 by Sean Walsh

 So long ago?.. ‘Seems like yesterday. Even now I close my eyes and re-live, re-call the noise, bustle. clamour, the sights, sounds, aromas, the stunning coloratura of Rome in the mid fifties…   Rome.  Ah, yes. The Eternal City. Citadel of Pius the Twelfth, Pontefex Maximus. Rome of the Latin Ritual and the Strict Observance, of sanctity and sin, devotion...

Read the full article

To Barcelona with Love…

Published on Saturday 29th February 2020 by Sean Walsh

Las Ramblas was something else! A never ending boulevard of shops, cafes, bars, restaurants, caged birds, floral displays… A brilliant violinist backed by a throbbing orchestra… Row upon row of vendors, noisy locals, incessant smokers… ‘Finishing line at the harbour.  To Montserrat – by vertical bus!  Up, up and up again!   Don’t look out, Ann! Down! Beware vertigo!..  ...

Read the full article

A Black Comedy

Published on Wednesday 19th February 2020 by Sean Walsh

Re THE CIRCUS, my four-hander which has now happily morphed into a six-hander, 125 Valium Valley: The late Bill Morrison, an accomplished playwright in his own right and – for a time – Drama producer, BBC Northern Ireland, read the script and enthused about it. So much so that when he settled in Liverpool to join Chris Bond, Willy Russell and...

Read the full article

Notes 0n Notes

Published on Sunday 16th February 2020 by Sean Walsh

I’m asking myself how do I write to a man who is so gifted with words? Your book, Notes on the Past Imperfect, spoke right to my heart. I cried a lot reading it but also smiled at parts. The one thing that came across powerfully to me was your deep love for Jenny and her love for you –...

Read the full article

The Search: insights

Published on Friday 7th February 2020 by Sean Walsh

IN FRATERNITATE… Paris. Circa 2010. In a bistro near Notre Dame, Jim and I meet up: pasta, wine, coffee – and talk, talk!.. And when I mentioned – shyly, reluctantly – an idea for a drama that was, as yet, very much in embryo his eyes lit up and he became an instant fan! Then questions, questions! And in striving to...

Read the full article

The R C Church continues to implode…

Published on Thursday 6th February 2020 by Sean Walsh

By Robert Mickens. Some five years ago I was invited to speak at the City Club of Cleveland, Ohio. * The topic of my talk was the Vatican implosion and, as a result, the long and gradual collapse of the Catholic Church’s monarchical structure of governance and ministry. I argued that as the last absolute monarchy in the West (and...

Read the full article

The Following.

Published on Tuesday 4th February 2020 by Sean Walsh

They stared at him a long moment, then one of them said, Where do you live? He tilted his head, gesturing – Come and see… So they left their nets and followed him…   Jesus. The Galilean. The Nazarene.  The one who ate and drank and broke bread with sinners…  relished every greasy moment of the communal dish.   Looking...

Read the full article

B A C K

Published on Sunday 2nd February 2020 by Sean Walsh

A four-letter word – with a punch! Reviewing Veil a final time before Publishing, it suddenly came to me: see how this word occurs from time to time, Sean…   At the end of the very first scene, Azarias cries out to Yahweh: “Give me back my son!.. Give me back my son!..” And at the very close of the...

Read the full article

Molly at three years old…

Published on Sunday 20th October 2019 by Sean Walsh

MOLLY UPDATE   After the initial shock, Siobhan and Benny faced up to the crisis very well – I formed this impression after speaking to Benny yesterday by phone and likewise with Siobhan (more than once.) She is now coping very well, considering… They have a camper bed in Molly’s room and take it in turn to spend alternative nights...

Read the full article

Ad Excelsior!

Published on Sunday 13th October 2019 by Sean Walsh

"A long walk down a short corridor into a circle of strangers... Emma across from me, strangest of them all..."

Read the full article

A Terrible Disease… Clericalism

Published on Sunday 29th September 2019 by Sean Walsh

Tackle Clericalism first – then reform the priesthood. Peter Daly.  If the priesthood is to be reformed, we must tackle the disease of clericalism. It won’t be easy. Clericalism is so deeply ingrained in our structures and way of thinking that we almost can’t imagine how things could be otherwise. In his 2018 “Letter to the People of God,” Pope...

Read the full article

Stop Calling me Father!

Published on Tuesday 20th August 2019 by Sean Walsh

Many Catholics are overwhelmed, shocked, appalled, traumatized by the sex abuse crisis that is tainting their Church. And so am I. But what can we do? Above all, we must express our compassion and empathy for the victims, whose suffering is much greater than ours. This crisis demands that we transform the Church, which is made up of us all....

Read the full article

Home Alone

Published on Thursday 1st August 2019 by Sean Walsh

The weekend we took off for a break, leaving her in charge… Butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth and her promising she’d lock up, switch on the alarm, share with Ciara in Carsons until we got back? Sure we were hardly gone – treading Friday afternoon traffic – when she was on the phone, ringing round, spreading the word: Jenny’s...

Read the full article

Memo to Mary

Published on Sunday 30th June 2019 by Sean Walsh

There was this shrine, as I recall. Oh, well known it was, locally… We walked the three miles, there and back. Out the country. ‘Summer’s day… Me still in short trousers, ‘boots that needed mending. Six miles in all. A killer…   ‘Knelt for the Rosary. Nudging, gawking around, stifling a giggle… Every bead a penance…   ‘Grass trodden underfoot...

Read the full article

Departing…

Published on Friday 21st June 2019 by Sean Walsh

May 1980. A phone call from Tom Walsh, my nephew, to say my mother was poorly and would I like to share the journey with him to Ennis to visit her. Oh yes, of course! He planned to leave Balbriggan, his domicile north of Dublin, on the morrow and would pick me up in Dublin at a specified time and...

Read the full article

Ave Maria

Published on Thursday 23rd May 2019 by Sean Walsh

Back row, centre aisle.   A tangible stillness in an almost empty Church… Elders moving slowly – genuflecting, kneeling, standing – making their way to Calvary, treading their very own, plaster statued, Via Dolorosa…   Re-living the Greatest Story Ever Told in reparation for their own sins and the sins of the whole world.     Jesus is condemned… the...

Read the full article

Gone Daughter

Published on Monday 29th April 2019 by Sean Walsh

I climb the stairs to the attic – ‘clear day – moonlit night – to an empty room full of Might Have Been… ‘Cross the floor to a slanting ceiling, lever open the Velox window, look out across Joycean rooftops towards Dublin Bay and London… so far away…        

Read the full article

VEIL – The Launch introduced by Father Martin Hogan

Published on Saturday 30th March 2019 by Sean Walsh

I doubt you will come across an angle on the story of Jesus’ passion and death which even remotely reflects what is to be found in this play. It is truly sui generis, one of a kind.

Read the full article

Akin to Catharsis, no?..

Published on Friday 22nd February 2019 by Sean Walsh

“For me the true gift of theatre, the real benediction of all art is the ringing bell which reverberates quietly and persistently in the head long after the curtain has come down… That sacred song is the only momentary stay we have against confusion…” – Brian Friel.   January 29, 1929 – Oct 9, 2015  

Read the full article

Insightful…

Published on Friday 11th January 2019 by Sean Walsh

This from a Face book friend who lives in Canada when I posted about Pilate Under Pressure… He describes himself as self educated, works with his hands, and has not only read P U P but also my other scripts set against the backdrop of the first Good Friday: Three for Calvary… Veil… Conclave.  (All on Amazon.)  – S W...

Read the full article

Master Class

Published on Thursday 10th January 2019 by Sean Walsh

So long ago?.. Seems like yesterday. Even now I close my eyes… re-call, re-live the noise, bustle, clamour, the sights, sounds, aromas, the stunning coloratura of Rome in the mid fifties…   Rome. Ah, yes. The Eternal City. Citadel of Pius the Twelfth, Pontefex Maximus. Rome of the Latin Ritual and the Strict Observance, of sanctity and sin, devotion and...

Read the full article

A Multy Memory

Published on Saturday 20th October 2018 by Sean Walsh

Autumn, 1949. Franciscan (open) college, Multyfarnham, Co Westmeath. Me in sixth year. The start of my first – and last – year as a boarder… A few weeks later work began in earnest on the annual Christmas play; as it happened, the friar in charge of production, Father Arthur Jordan (gone to God), had decided on an abridged version of...

Read the full article

BACK

Published on Thursday 18th October 2018 by Sean Walsh

B A C K A four-letter word – but with quite a punch! Reviewing Veil, Mark Two, getting it ready for publication – finally – it suddenly came to me: see how this word occurs from time to time, Sean… At the end of the very first scene, Azarias cries out to Yahweh: “Give me back my son!.. Give me...

Read the full article

Wee Nudge – Comments…

Published on Friday 21st September 2018 by Sean Walsh

At the lake shore, calling men who would deny and desert him... to be fishers of men... At a marriage feast in Galilee, his mother giving him the elbow - "They have no wine..."

Read the full article

Before Biro

Published on Sunday 2nd September 2018 by Sean Walsh

Sifting through the bits and pieces of a long-ago past I came across a letter from my Dad, recognised immediately his unmistakable hand and noted the date, 30/9/1951. So long ago! My first year as a student – Arts and Philosophy – at Galway University.   I had barely settled in when Dad wrote me; a few paragraphs in and I knew...

Read the full article

VEIL Mark 2

Published on Tuesday 28th August 2018 by Sean Walsh

"There is someone - something - in there but it is not our Misach!.." "Who are you?.." "We are... the Cold..." "He speaks - but not with the voice of my son -" "We speak with many voices - we are many..."

Read the full article

The Launch!

Published on Wednesday 20th June 2018 by Sean Walsh

   INVITE:  To the launch of my book, Notes on the Past Imperfect, at the Writers’ Centre, Parnell square, on Wednesday, May 16. at 6.30 p m. A taste of wine, drop o’ water, bit o’ craic and a signed copy if you’re good – good at forking out… Sean. www.sean-walsh.me   “I was really struck by the sheer originality…...

Read the full article

Departing…

Published on Sunday 3rd June 2018 by Sean Walsh

  May 1980. A phone call from Tom Walsh, my nephew, to say my mother was poorly and would I like to share the journey with him to Ennis to visit her. Oh yes, but of course! He planned to leave Balbriggan, his domicile north of Dublin, on the morrow and would pick me up in Dublin at a specified...

Read the full article

Jenny Legging It…

Published on Wednesday 25th April 2018 by Sean Walsh

‘month at the outside… She’ll be back, nothing surer. Head hanging, glad to be home, safe shelter. Oh yeah, London’ll cure her cough…   Oh, Jenny, Jenny!.. What are you at, a tall a tall, daughter mine?.. I didn’t give you a hope – how could I?..   Sure I knew the time would come when you’d want to fly...

Read the full article

Another Kind of Abuse…

Published on Sunday 15th April 2018 by Sean Walsh

Clerical Bullying… The appalling behaviour of the institutional church has been responsible for creating the darkest possible cloud which now overshadows every-thing else about our Catholic Church… And another ingredient should be added to the destructive mix that has so diminished our Irish Catholic Church – the bullying of the people by some clergy played a greater role in Catholic...

Read the full article

A New Take on an Old Story…

Published on Monday 12th March 2018 by Sean Walsh

"He speaks - but not with the voice of my son!" We speak with many voices - we are many..." "Who are you? "We are - the cold..."

Read the full article

Jenny Walsh nee Byrne… my Mum.

Published on Friday 2nd March 2018 by Sean Walsh

"Lord Lord! We didn't know! Aye, well yis know now!.."

Read the full article

The Uncertain Future of Catholic Ireland.

Published on Sunday 25th February 2018 by Sean Walsh

The College Chapel at St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, has 454 carved oak stalls for seminarians and priests. They run in serried ranks down the length of its nave, making it the largest choir chapel in the world. The church itself is a masterpiece of Gothic Revival, and the ceiling of the church offers a kind of visual catechism, taking worshippers...

Read the full article

Paris: My First Visit

Published on Monday 29th January 2018 by Sean Walsh

Taken by a young Parisienne, passing by. I caught her eye, offering my camera and she duly obliged. Lovely. I was about to, to… when her boy friend appeared from nowhere. She frowned – I swear she frowned – shrugged… turned away… I followed her with my eyes as she walked beside him – noting poise, balance, curvature… Then turned...

Read the full article

Finding My Way…

Published on Sunday 14th January 2018 by Sean Walsh

Pilate:: "Do I hear you aright? They want me to send soldiers under my command to guard a tomb? A tomb! Why, I would be the laughing stock of the Empire..." "Thank you for your play - It was so different..."

Read the full article

The Search for Xavier: Reviews

Published on Saturday 6th January 2018 by Sean Walsh

A glimpse of hidden turmoil that historians will need By Sean O’Conaill:  25 October 2015 Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase This play shows why art is needed – to go where history cannot: in this case into the internal impact of a ‘defection’ from the fortress church of Irish Catholicism in the 1960s. Xavier, a monk, has disappeared, but why – and what will...

Read the full article

Conclave – Mark 2.

Published on Sunday 19th November 2017 by Sean Walsh

CONCLAVE, the new, shorter, tighter, faster-moving version is now available on Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk Smashwords.com etc. And all the better for my editing during the past several weeks – even if I say so myself! Set against the backdrop of the first Good Friday, the storyline is uncannily familiar – and relevant: the High Priest, Caiaphas, and his Inner Circle meet behind closed doors...

Read the full article

Catch Up

Published on Thursday 2nd November 2017 by Sean Walsh

Years ago when I worked in RTE as a Drama producer, a young and very shy Corkonian, Kieran Slyne, had just begun to work as a Sound Effects man in Studio 9. (Drama suite.)  I sensed his insecurity… softly, softly… we got on well…   Some time later he transferred to TV and we lost contact, went our different ways....

Read the full article

Judas Relents

Published on Tuesday 31st October 2017 by Sean Walsh

At the start of the year, Pope Francis on clericalism. Celebrating Mass in Santa Marta… He cited the return of the sorrowful Judas to the Sanhedrin – and the coldness with which they received him… No good shepherds, they… Their attitude the very antithesis of the Lord’s ever forgiving… Their preoccupation with minutiae, the precepts of the law, in sharp...

Read the full article

Intro to Notes…

Published on Thursday 26th October 2017 by Sean Walsh

Ireland of the late 70’s, early 80’s, recalled…   A man looks back, re-lives his boyhood years – not so much A Voyage Round my Father as Travels with my Dad… memories elicited by a psychiatrist to whom he submits as part of an attempt to extricate himself from the debris of a sundered marriage…   And in the frame,...

Read the full article

Travels with My Dad.

Published on Wednesday 25th October 2017 by Sean Walsh

Me warm and secure and proud as Punch, beside him in the Standard, chugging along at forty, knowing he’d get us there and home again, safely… Out by Ravensdale and Riverstown to Carlingford of the Norman castles. Lemonade and biscuits in O’Hare’s pub, me on a high stool… The Railway hotel in Greenore; herrings and mash in O’Meath…   And...

Read the full article

Notes on the Past Imperfect/How it came to pass…

Published on Tuesday 24th October 2017 by Sean Walsh

I worked in RTE’s Drama Department for some 16 years in the ’70’s,’80’s – directing, producing, scripting, editing. During that period I wrote and produced some of my own plays – well received and reviewed for the most part, they were subsequently broadcast by the BBC and, in translation, on European networks. Later… some years into my (early) retirement… it...

Read the full article

Jenny Legging it…

Published on Wednesday 2nd August 2017 by Sean Walsh

When she took off I gave her a month, ‘month at the outside… She’ll be back, nothing surer. Head hanging, down at the mouth, sure – but glad to be home, for all that: safe, secure, sheltered. Oh yeah, London’ll cure her cough…   Oh, Jenny, Jenny!.. What are you at, a tall a tall, daughter mine?.. I didn’t give...

Read the full article

Cover Front…

Published on Sunday 9th July 2017 by Sean Walsh

Read the full article

My Wee Gems on YouTube…

Published on Friday 7th July 2017 by Sean Walsh

All 4: The MacMaster Piece. Wee Nudge. Pen Pal. New Leaf. COMMENTS: “I just watched “Pen Pal,” “New Leaf,” “Wee Nudge” and “The McMaster Piece,” and I really think they are amazing. Moving and engrossing. I could listen to you for hours tell stories. The filming, production, and delivery are first-class, really really impressive. “The McMaster Piece” is especially poignant...

Read the full article

Conclave by Sean Walsh.

Published on Sunday 16th April 2017 by Sean Walsh

  Here is a play that while set in the context of the passion of Jesus belongs to any and every age. A group of men used to power work to ensure that they remain in power and that an individual who threatens their power is eliminated. They are so committed to their own version of the truth that they...

Read the full article

A Gem of a Nudge!

Published on Tuesday 21st February 2017 by Sean Walsh

Read the full article

The McMaster Piece – My Very First Video…

Published on Sunday 19th February 2017 by Sean Walsh

"Many a time and oft on the Rialto..." I kept at it until I had it be heart. Though I didn't know it at the time, it was a way of trying to stretch to the far ends of the earth, keep him in mind... I could do a fair take on him as Shylock...

Read the full article

Wee Nudge – Comments

Published on Friday 3rd February 2017 by Sean Walsh

Awesome… In the real sense of the word… How very nicely you have touched on Christ’s humanity, and the centre of the Gospel message. Thanks for sharing your heart. You sound as though you have experienced much loving kindness… – Dave Armishaw. (Canada.)   “I have just had the most unexpected, brief, immersive encounter with language and storytelling that I’ve...

Read the full article

Pope Francis on Clericalism

Published on Sunday 27th November 2016 by Sean Walsh

http://www.lastampa.it/2016/11/24/vaticaninsider/eng/the-vatican/if-clericalism-isnt-rich-in-terms-of-money-then-it-is-in-terms-of-pride-n4fdpDRamYSyc3cQilqLUM/pagina.html The jesuit Pope speaking to (fellow) jesuits… Love it… If I get a chance I will copy, edit, highlight… Manna!

Read the full article

Unputdownable!

Published on Wednesday 23rd November 2016 by Sean Walsh

CAIAPHAS Yes?.. What is it? JUDAS I, I come to return your bribe. I - I have sinned in betraying the blood of an innocent man... CAIAPHAS What is that to us? It concerns you only. JUDAS You will take back the money you paid me. CAIAPHAS No, we will not! JUDAS But you must... CAIAPHAS To what purpose? Alleviate...

Read the full article

Conclave Mark 2

Published on Sunday 20th November 2016 by Sean Walsh

CONCLAVE, my new, shorter, tighter, faster-moving version is now available: Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk etc. And all the better for my editing during the past several weeks – even if I say so myself! Set against the backdrop of the first Good Friday, the storyline is uncannily familiar – and relevant: the High Priest, Caiaphas, and his Inner Circle meet behind closed...

Read the full article

Conclave Revisited

Published on Thursday 27th October 2016 by Sean Walsh

Mark One published, 2014. The third in my trilogy: the Passion from a Jewish perspective… I then moved on to other ideas, writing projects. Fast forward to Autumn, 2016. I had forgotten Conclave to the point where I was able to look at it anew, objectively… Much of it was still to my liking but I quickly decided there was...

Read the full article

Within the Gates

Published on Saturday 15th October 2016 by Sean Walsh

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/6239/0/cardinal-sarah-presents-counter-vision-to-francis-as-he-launches-new-book Well worth a read. Pope Francis has his critics… The reference to silence caught my eye… Indeed… Even a pause ever so often during celebration would be a step in the right direction, no?    

Read the full article

Heaney on VEIL…

Published on Friday 19th August 2016 by Sean Walsh

Department of English, Queen’s University, Belfast. 1966. “The idea of approaching the significance of the Passion obliquely, through the experiences of those who might be regarded as enemies, is good theatre; and the actual denouement is all the more dramatic for not taking place in the presence of the Saviour. In fact, the reality of the Incarnation seems to me...

Read the full article

125Valium Valley

Published on Wednesday 25th May 2016 by Sean Walsh

A terrific script in search of an audience! Amazon paperback and Kindle.    

Read the full article

This Tremendous Lover

Published on Wednesday 25th May 2016 by Sean Walsh

‘When Jesus ate and drank with tax collectors and prostitutes, it was not a duty. It was utter delight in their company, in their very being. When he touched the untouchable, it was not a clinical gesture, but a hug of joy. So it belongs to us as priests that we rejoice in the very existence of people, with all...

Read the full article

A Black Comedy!

Published on Saturday 21st May 2016 by Sean Walsh

Into the final stretch – 125 Valium Valley re-visited, revised… A bigger typeface for one thing, better layout. I have never been really happy with the Amazon paperback, Mark One. Hopefully this new, updated version will hit the bull’s eye… Even as I worked on the script – a four-hander morphing into a six-hander – THE CIRCUS becoming 125 VALIUM...

Read the full article

125 Valium Valley

Published on Wednesday 18th May 2016 by Sean Walsh

I was pressed to write a comedy so I did – albeit a black comedy!.. In two acts. Much about it in the Introduction – how it came to pass, how a four-hander morphed into a six-hander. Not for me to say it is quite hilarious, especially in the second act! Suffice to say that when I was writing, re-writing...

Read the full article

The Search for Xavier

Published on Saturday 4th April 2015 by Sean Walsh

Behold! A terrible beauty is born! Last year (’14) what I thought was a stage play in the making – title – THE RECKONING – has now this year (’15) become a film/TV Drama script – title – The Search for Xavier. Not without pain, searching, editing, cutting back, re-writing… trying to hear and see – not just hear. (As in...

Read the full article

Trilogy, Back Cover.

Published on Wednesday 11th March 2015 by Sean Walsh

My suggestion, working closely with Andrew Brown (Design for Writers): miniature covers of all four publications on Amazon with relevant quotes from each… Click to enlarge. Striking, don’t you think?  

Read the full article

Good Friday Revisited

Published on Sunday 8th March 2015 by Sean Walsh

My trilogy of plays set against the backdrop of the first Good Friday. Now on Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk et al. Only came to me gradually… The three plays, each set against the backdrop of the first Good Friday, as an entity, a paperback trilogy… Quite an undertaking. I worked at it right the way through Autumn, ’14 into Winter, ’15… finally published...

Read the full article

Conclave

Published on Saturday 13th December 2014 by Sean Walsh

Out Next Week! Drama set against the backdrop of the first Good Friday. Jerusalem. At the house of the Hugh Priest. Behind closed doors. The Inner Circle – chosen members of the Sanhedrin – gather round their leader, the High Priest, Caiaphas, to plot and plan a strategy – how to protect their power base, defend their security, destroy the...

Read the full article

Penny for Your Travels (2)

Published on Wednesday 3rd December 2014 by Sean Walsh

PENNY FOR YOUR TRAVELS ‘Available on Amazon Kindle. Amazon.com   Amazon.co.uk Also on Smashwords.com Also, the fifth chapter, Notes on the Past Imperfect. Paperback, Amazon. ‘Caused quite a stir when broadcast on RTE Radio One in the early 90’s. ‘Carried by Clive Geraghty. What a performance! I couldn’t have asked for better! Got the local accent to a T. And his...

Read the full article

Long Ago Winter

Published on Wednesday 26th November 2014 by Sean Walsh

Dad?.. Can we go home now, Dad?.. I’m frozen!..  Said I… easing a cold hand into a pocket of his overcoat…  Here, boy! Here, Rusty!.. Come on, fella!.. Rusty?!.. Ah, that a boy!.. Back into town, downhill. Passing traffic. Anglias and Austins, Standards and Morris Minors… The occasional pony and trap. By the Railway station, the terraced, red-bricked houses forming...

Read the full article

The Reckoning. 3

Published on Sunday 16th November 2014 by Sean Walsh

Drama in 2 acts, parts. A play for Yesterday and Today… Set in a Dublin friary more than half a century ago… “What a play! What a play!..” Why the 60’s? A modern audience will be able to look back/look into the Church as it was at that time; the strict regime of “the old days” had only just begun...

Read the full article

Caiaphas Lays It on the Line…

Published on Saturday 15th November 2014 by Sean Walsh

“Oh, what kind of man do we hold in chains! What manner of Messiah is this?!.. Look you: this, this pretender consorts with whores, publicans, sinners. One of his so-called Twelve is a tax collector, in the pay of Rome. Another sells him out for thirty pieces of silver – the price of a slave. All flee from Gethsemani even...

Read the full article

The Reckoning 2

Published on Friday 14th November 2014 by Sean Walsh

“DECLAN I’m sorry for calling you out of Choir, Father – MARK     What is it, Brother? DECLAN     Well, like, Father Xavier’s down for to say the seven. MARK        I know that. DECLAN It’s just that when I went to call him – well, he’s not in his room. MARK Oh? DECLAN ‘No answer...

Read the full article

The Reckoning

Published on Friday 14th November 2014 by Sean Walsh

A PLAY IN TWO ACTS/PARTS: An insider piece: set in a friary in Dublin, Ireland, in the late 60’s. A play centred on friars living in community – in poverty, chastity and obedience – in the immediate aftermath of Vatican Two but before the effects of that Council have really begun to take effect… Inside the cloister, behind closed doors....

Read the full article

Love is a Temporary Madness

Published on Sunday 20th July 2014 by Sean Walsh

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. A so-so movie that had its moments. One scene in particular made me sit up: the Greek doctor (John Hurt) and his daughter (Penelope Cruz). She speaks not a word, acts with her eyes, facial expressions, listening to his advice, taking in  his words of wisdom. Because she is wordless all the more reason for the viewer...

Read the full article

VEIL

Published on Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Sean Walsh

A family unit in Jerusalem 2000 plus years ago… Mum, Dad, son, daughter… Into this sunny household, a dark cloud… Cold… Misach, the son, is suddenly possessed. The family now confused, disturbed, torn apart… Then a ray of hope: Veronica, the daughter, gets wind of a prophet from the North who has come to Jerusalem – a man of prayer...

Read the full article

Fixtures

Published on Thursday 6th March 2014 by Sean Walsh

At the Praetorium... A play in one act set against the backdrop of the first Good Friday… written by Sean Walsh…  Will be performed by the local drama group in the parish church, Maynooth, on the evening of Palm Sunday (8 pm), April 13. Directed by Gabriel Martin. Veil... Drama stemming from the legend of Veronica… written by Sean Walsh…...

Read the full article

Birth Soon –

Published on Monday 10th February 2014 by Sean Walsh

And I didn’t even know I was pregnant!.. VEIL now available on Amazon – Kindle and paperback… So?.. Gestation time… I began to mull over the trilogy of one-act plays I had previously published on Amazon: AT THE PRAETORIUM… The third play is simply a marriage between the first two – a happy and lasting union, as it happened! Then...

Read the full article

Pen Pal

Published on Friday 20th December 2013 by Sean Walsh

I lived a lot in my head, as a lad. Like, I was the last in the – brothers and sisters well ahead of me. They were stretching their wings while I was still in the nest – if y’know what I mean…   I didn’t know them. Not really… And my Dad was away a lot and my mother...

Read the full article

The Play’s the Thing!

Published on Wednesday 27th November 2013 by Sean Walsh

What better way of reliving the first Good Friday than by Drama? And yet I recoiled from the conventional Passion plays I had come across from time to time over the years. I wanted something else. Different. Down to earth. And new, hopefully original. A fresh look at an old story… Good Friday revisited? Indeed…  I set myself the task...

Read the full article

The Dreamers

Published on Monday 4th November 2013 by Sean Walsh

A two-hander in one act by Sean Walsh. Set in a grotty bedsitter in the London of the late 60’s, early 70’s, THE DREAMERS centres on two Irish immigrant labourers, Shay and Liam: the former a maturing tree, the latter a mere sapling…  They have much in common, little in common… Both are dreamers of dreams: as the piece progresses...

Read the full article

A Gathering…

Published on Sunday 3rd November 2013 by Sean Walsh

On pay night, a pub. Pint of bitter your only man – only man I could afford at the time (late 60’s). West Kensington, Wandsworth Common – wherever my local happened to be… The public bar. A cheaper pint. A dart board. Dominoes. An open fire keeping body and soul together. And Irish, dozens of Irish. Paddies from the west...

Read the full article

Irish Independent Review.

Published on Thursday 31st October 2013 by Sean Walsh

At the Praetorium by Sean Walsh Amazon: paperback and Kindle. We know the Good Friday story all too well – or do we? In “At the Praetorium” Walsh views the trial and crucifixion of Christ through another prism – the eyes and feelings of the “minor” characters in the story, thieves, servants, soldiers, Pilate’s wife. In doing so, he moves...

Read the full article

Veil. A press review.

Published on Sunday 27th October 2013 by Sean Walsh

Mary Lappin. Her radio column in the Irish Press, May 8, 1982: (The home station: RTE One.) I had the foresight to ensure that I wouldn’t let slip what I adjudged would be the major broadcasting event of the period: the first airing of Veil, a play written and produced by Sean Walsh. (You’ll remember that his Assault on a...

Read the full article

Rich Soil, Good Seed…

Published on Monday 21st October 2013 by Sean Walsh

Beginnings… Early plays… London sojourn… And on pay night, a pub. Pint of bitter your only man – only man I could afford at the time (late 60’s). West Kensington, Wandsworth Common, wherever my local happened to be… The public bar. A cheaper pint. A dart board. Maybe dominos. And Irish, dozens of Irish. Paddies from the west and south...

Read the full article

The Dreamers

Published on Saturday 19th October 2013 by Sean Walsh

Set in a grotty bedsitter in the London of the late 60’s, early 70’s, THE DREAMERS centres on two Irish immigrant labourers, Shay and Liam: the former a maturing tree, the latter a mere sapling…  They have much in common, little in common… Both are dreamers of dreams: as the piece progresses we come to realise that their foremost dream...

Read the full article

Memorare

Published on Friday 27th September 2013 by Sean Walsh

  Back row, centre aisle. A tangible stillness in an almost empty Church… Elders moving slowly – genuflecting, kneeling, standing – making their way to Calvary, treading their very own, plaster statued, Via Dolorosa… re-living the Greatest Story Ever Told in reparation for their own sins and the sins of the world.   Jesus is condemned… the weeping women… Falls...

Read the full article

Ars Longa, Vita Brevis

Published on Friday 13th September 2013 by Sean Walsh

ARS LONGA, VITA BREVIS I’ve worked and lived in communications all my life: journalist, subeditor, editor, actor, director, producer, preacher – here in Ireland and abroad. I fell in love with Hiberno-English a long time ago – English as it is spoken and written in my country – and have been in love with it ever since. My scripts have...

Read the full article

For Christ’s Sake!

Published on Thursday 12th September 2013 by Sean Walsh

Published on National Catholic Reporter Bishop diagnoses the institutional disease.  Review by Tom Roberts. Jun. 19, 2013   FOR CHRIST’S SAKE: END SEXUAL ABUSE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH … FOR GOOD. By Bishop Geoffrey Robinson Published by Garratt Publishing, AU$t7.95 The title might lead one reasonably to expect a kind of pamphleteering campaign against abusers and a tick list of...

Read the full article

Wee Wet Blue Eyes

Published on Tuesday 3rd September 2013 by Sean Walsh

God, but she was a gorgeous child… I can just see her!.. Pig tails flying in the wind, freckles framing a ha’penny nose as she hop-hop-hop scotched with the other children, safe on a tarmacadam road, secure in a quiet cul-de-sac in snug suburbia… I eased into second gear, swung round the corner, pulled up at our semi… I was...

Read the full article

Seamus Heaney: Wee Memory

Published on Saturday 31st August 2013 by Sean Walsh

1974. I started work in RTE as a Producer, Radio. One of my first assignments was a series of half-hour programmes called Personal Choice scheduled for Sunday night listening. Guests were invited to choose their personal likes in music, poetry, prose. One such was Seamus Heaney: a young man who had recently come to live in a Wicklow cottage with...

Read the full article

Jenny Emigrant

Published on Tuesday 27th August 2013 by Sean Walsh

When she took off I gave her a month, ‘month at the outside… She’ll be back, nothing surer. Head hanging, glad to be home, safe shelter. Oh yeah, London’ll cure her cough…   Oh, Jenny, Jenny!.. What are you at, a tall a tall, daughter mine?.. I didn’t give you a hope – how could I?..  Sure I knew the...

Read the full article

New Leaf

Published on Friday 23rd August 2013 by Sean Walsh

                                        C B S                                                Dundalk, Co Louth, Ireland.                      ...

Read the full article

Wee Bit from Penny for Your Travels.

Published on Sunday 4th August 2013 by Sean Walsh

“And to tell you the truth, Dad, I know it’s a lovely piano but I’d sooner be out with the lads and I dread Missus Glass going over me scales with me and The Robin’s Return gives me the pip – there’s times I could drown him, the same robin! And anyway, Mister Van Dessel says I’m not too musical...

Read the full article

In Labour… Birth Soon.

Published on Thursday 20th June 2013 by Sean Walsh

Out of rich soil many healthy shoots spring up – Ancient Celtic proverb. Well, no, actually. I’ve just made it up!  Where rubies and diamonds go to make up a priceless crown, there also will be clustered rarest gems and pearls – Ancient Oriental Proverb. Well, no, not quite. That one’s mine, too. By way of an Intro to what is...

Read the full article

At the Praetorium: Intro

Published on Saturday 15th June 2013 by Sean Walsh

Good Friday revisited? Indeed… I set myself the task of telling it from the prisoners’ point of view… and as the Colonizer might have viewed it… No Jesus, no disciples, no saints or angels, no pharisees… ‘Can be performed on a conventional stage or In the Round, in modern dress or as costume drama… The parallels with today’s world would...

Read the full article

I’ll Go On…

Published on Wednesday 12th June 2013 by Sean Walsh

Some years ago when my eldest daughter, Siobhan, was in her second year at Dublin’s Trinity College (Theatre Studies) she came home one evening and presented me with a framed photo/card: in the far distance, an old man, stooped and wearing a bowler hat on bowed head, struggles with baggage; while near at hand a man with protruding ears sits...

Read the full article

Editor Goes Walkabout

Published on Monday 10th June 2013 by Sean Walsh

Noon. Tuesday, October 23… I clear out the contents of the drawer in the Sacristy marked ‘Newsletter’ and move back into a Church that is now a haven. The peace is almost tangible. Muted music enhances the tranquility. Fresh flowers adorn the newly-dressed altars. Candles flame and splutter. All is swept, clean, polished… A lone suppliant stands before the statue...

Read the full article

Notes on the Past Imperfect: Review

Published on Tuesday 4th June 2013 by Sean Walsh

Heart wrenching to read, assuredly difficult to write, the author has fashioned an extraordinary story from his imperfect past with great courage and honesty. An amazing achievement to forge a unity from the six stories and to do it while remaining true to the monologue/dialogue format with such consistency. I found Penny for Your Travels particularly moving and beautifully told....

Read the full article

The Bottom Line

Published on Friday 17th May 2013 by Sean Walsh

When you’ve written something, you haven’t – you’ve written only the first draft. THEN the work begins in earnest. Writing, re-writing… draft after draft… editing, shaping, deleting… Whenever I give a Creative Writing workshop I begin with this basic tenet, repeat it, end by repeating it a final time. I am always amazed at the numbers who look askance at...

Read the full article

Ave Maria

Published on Friday 10th May 2013 by Sean Walsh

Blessed art thou amongst… Are you there – or are you on your travels? Above – or beyond in Yugoslavia? I, I’m never too sure when I have you, to be honest. But then, you’re a female. So I don’t find it all that surprising… My mother was always there and me growing up. When I got home from school...

Read the full article

The MacMaster Piece

Published on Friday 10th May 2013 by Sean Walsh

Sean Walsh. 480 words.  I was into plays and all like that at school. ‘Won a medal once for Debating. And the Brothers knew it. One day Brother O’Toole walked in – I was in Fifth Year, taking it easy – and called me out. I was sure I was in for it but it wasn’t that at all. There...

Read the full article

Storm Trooper

Published on Friday 10th May 2013 by Sean Walsh

Ah, years ago, now. The doctor passed me on to a specialist and he said – “We’ll have you as good as new in jig time…” Oh, nothing major. Still, a general anaesthetic is a – well, it is! I checked into an inner city hospital: Gaunt, red-bricked, Victorian. Creaking all the way from Main Entrance to X Ray, Reception...

Read the full article

At the Praetorium Press Conference

Published on Tuesday 30th April 2013 by Sean Walsh

ON THE NIGHT OF March 27 at All Hollows, Dublin 9, the curtain came down on the third and last performance of At the Praetorium. (Last but hopefully not final!) Later, Sean Walsh reluctantly agreed to a Press Conference. (He is quite shy, really, hates beating his own drum…) So there he was, on the rostrum, mineral water to hand,...

Read the full article

Breath of Friendship

Published on Wednesday 3rd April 2013 by seanwalsh

“But Oh! The blessing it is to have a friend to whom one can speak fearlessly on any subject; with whom one’s deepest – as well as one’s most foolish thoughts – come out simply and safely. Oh, the comfort – the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person – having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but...

Read the full article

I’ll go on…

Published on Wednesday 3rd April 2013 by Sean Walsh

Some years ago when my eldest daughter, Siobhan, was in her second year at Dublin’s Trinity College (Theatre Studies) she came home one evening and presented me with a framed photo/card: in the far distance, an old man, stooped and wearing a bowler hat on bowed head, struggles with baggage; while near at hand a man with protruding ears sits...

Read the full article

Copyright © 2024 Sean Walsh

Lovingly crafted by Design for Writers