FATHERS AND SONS   It was New Year’s Eve, 2006.  After lunch I had gone to visit my father in the nursing home. Until recently

DOWN THE ESCALATOR   Las Palmas in Gran Canaria has 5 large shopping centres built like American Malls. One of them called, El Muelle, is

AN APOLOGY FOR IDLERS   While on a short trip to Edinburgh a few years ago I went to see the Scottish National Gallery. It

It’s ten years since this poem was published in the Galway Advertiser and on the Galway Review website. It’s written in the form of ‘Ode

THE WORLD WAS ALL BEFORE THEM   The highlight of the school year was Graduation – a ceremony to mark the end of post-primary education

ONE WORLD, ENDLESS IDEAS   Non-stop talk about the injustice and calamity of climate change could induce fatigue when what we need is action on

Music and Memory   My mother sang the following songs as she went about the house working; a chorus here, a verse there, or a

What Makes Us, Us   It’s complicated! Be it nature or nurture or some mixture of both, children are steered by their parents, family and

“Look here, Fiona, can you believe it”, said Somchai, calling her to see what appears to be a rice plant he found growing in the

ENNUI   A recent article in the British Medical Journal dealt with the findings of a Singapore-based team of researchers. The results of a survey,

With joy in heart and spring in step, we walk Down the shallow steps to take our seats. All settled in, we gladly turn to

THE IRISH CIVIL WAR IN PERSPECTIVE   Much will be written, over the coming year, about the Civil War in Ireland. There will be tales

TOURISM FOR THE DISCERNING   Slightly off the well-known Wild Atlantic Way is the ancient settlement of Tuam, or Tomb as our American friends call

Ordinary Life   I was thinking about all the changes we go through in life and how long it takes us to make the changed

Martin Joe Kearns was born in 1919 in Carraneany, Williamstown. Co. Galway, the youngest of a family of 6 and named after his father.   He

So much to learn…   As well as alleviating social isolation intergenerational groups help young people and old to abandon unconscious and conscious biases they

Your beaming smile is bright beyond compare: The sight of you makes my heart leap with glee. The softness of your skin so clear and

I saw your face and heard your name today, It threw me for a second, I’ll admit. What my main feeling was is hard to

Blooms on a tree trunk, Oh! so bright and visible,Like a traitor’s kiss.   This Haiku was my response to a poetry “challenge” on Twitter