Hello Christy,
Im so sorry that some parts of your and Pat’s school lives were so terrifying. I went to a Church of England girl’s grammar school. There were a few predators – the English teacher who sat on our desks during poetry lessons – the games mistress who spent too much time watching us in the showers. Most of it was good though, like it sounds as if much of yours was, from your previous post. I learnt some useful things. How to tell if an egg is off without cracking it. How to use a sewing machine – a girl in the year above me made a massive burger out of fabric and left it in the sewing room. We did an experiment in the chemistry lab that released far too much chlorine and we had to evacuate.
Rebecca
Christy's reply
I really must balance the scales…
some of my happiest time were in those three schools
winning the Under 12 School league
winning the Kildare u14 Schools C.Ship
singing in various school choirs
singing Kevin Barry as a boy soprano
realising the beauty of four part harmony
singing Tit Willow in The Mikado
experiencing duende 50 years before I knew what it meant
friendships made that last to this day
scoring a try in the Leinster Schools Junior Cup in 1959 (tbc p94)
In Mountjoy jail one monday morning, (exactly 100 years ago today) ,high upon the gallows tree, Kevin Barry gave his young life…..
Folks can i suggest you play this song tonight, and take a deep breath and think how people could do to have a few ounces, for what you feel is truly important, of the committment Barry had to his cause.
Rory
Christy's reply
We sang it here..and listened to Paul Robeson’s version..and Leonard Cohen’s
Well Magic Haggis, we have permission from the boss to land the Dreamers on a suitable cloud…. Drop me an email patdarcyis@gmail.com
Christy! Our kitchens were very similar. Mammy lit the stove in the morning, but I had to keep it going. A shovel of coal, and a lock of damp slack would do for a few hours. Every time I lifted the plate to shovel the coal in, I was staring down into Father McDonald’s burning pit of Hell! You’ve fairly brought the shivers of fear back to me now!
Christy's reply
I must remember that many delights came from those ranges of old…the smell of fresh brow bread, curney cake, casseroles, the long toasting fork and the toasted batch loaf, rashers and fried mushrooms, apple tarts like no others,brown stew, white stew, fridays were a bit of a disaster with the dreaded whiting or the burnt fried eggs
Hi All. It’s great in these times to be looking forward to another Lockdown session and of course to Fri 13th Nov for the new releases, in so many formats and all so reasonably priced, like your ticket prices when we could go to gigs ! Well done to yourself and Leagues O ‘Toole for the excellent informative article in the Sunday Business Post today, with it’s focus on Family and The Work, a great piece to accompany those much anticipated releases, help to shorten the Winter ! Beir bua agus beannacht go deo. H
Christy's reply
I got locked up after stumbling, locked, out of a lock-in (in a pub called “The Seventh Lock”)…released after 12 hours only to find myself locked out….despite all that, twas easier on the system then this feckin lock down….
Fill us two more pints there Phyllis and take something yourself
This appears on eBay but at a very high price not available as much these days. The odd record shop may have copies on the shlelf.
I have a second copy but as of yet I can’t locate it. I will keep looking if I find it IL make contact here again and would be happy to post it to you.
Regards
Adam
Christy's reply
hang on to your spare Adam…Pat from Rheinbach is sorting it..fair play to the pair of ye
Well now Magic haggis, maybe the dreamers DVD could land on a cloud near you if Christy approves….
BTW Christy, stirred and a bit troubled by the Civil War History teaching riddle. Did the Irish Civil War get a mention along your history learning schooling? I remember Professor Cardinal Tom Fee Lord rest him trying to make sense of Irish and Spanish civil wars during my Uni historical studies, and I struggled to make sense of them to my students in CBS Dundalk for years, always aware that I was negotiating an emotional minefield of strongly conflicting family beliefs.
I remember also breaking up a fight between two big lads whose families suffered on opposing sides of the IRA in Belfast in the 80s.
Ah history….
But thanks for the education, through song, for this latter day learner.
Roll on the Release of the new collection. And great that you are going to entertain us again with a new look lockdown session. Where do you get the energy from? Taking lessons from 48 hour a day man Dave?
Christy's reply
I approves Pat !! all I suggest is a donation from magic haggis to any homeless agency in Oban…but its only a suggestion !
what they taught me more then anything else was that concept of the everlasting furnace of a burning hell….I remember, as a small boy, looking into the white hot coals of our kitchen range thinking of (Patrician)Brother Raymond’s promise of eternal damnation…
Hello Christy,
Have you ever found a space to perform the stuff without the sugar coating? It would need to be a very special place I think.
I listened to Poor old earth. It was on YouTube. Right after it was a woman saying, “Brush your teeth in 10 seconds.”
The folk club at the grove gave my version of dalesman’s litany a floor spot on Friday. I didn’t think it was too bad.
Rebecca
Christy's reply
I do indeed have those very thoughts frequently…it might be time to get it done….a cat’s flux
Dear Christy, dipping this morning into the pink disc ( it would have been the green if Ireland had won) , it is a much underrated colour.
Here i find Poor Old Earth, intrigued by a working of music and words that i have listened to dozens of times ,i finally decided to rake out the booklet that accompanies the box set.
Well i never knew it was a Samuel Beckett poem until now. Fascinating, i think he would have approved.
Words alone , the poet’s voice can be a stark, thought provoking sensation. Music alone can perform tricks with the mind, carrying one off to magical places.
So words and music together is often the very dab.
Good stuff from Poor Old Earth.
Cheers
Rory
Christy's reply
I’ll never forget the making of that recording.. a an extremely cold winters night in County Kilkenny….a very basic recording studio in a shed in a frozen farmyard…my good comrade (the late)Tim Martin was at the desk… I sang “Love is Pleasing” for a while with the Companeros….when they had a head of steam going I began to read Beckett’s text….I first heard it as spoken by Jack MacGowran…. the consumptive postman gets me every time
Hi Christy, we have missed your visits to God’s country. My wife gave our copy of ‘Come all you dreamers’ dvd to our son who has moved to Stirling, 90 miles away and a different lockdown area. Tried tracking another copy down but not available anywhere. Recorded in Glasgow, but can’t get it in the whole world. Any chance you can push for a re-issue? Alba gu brath! 💚
Hi Christy, Hope you and Val and all the family are keeping well. I got a bit of a shock after reading about the decision to lock up the files of Mother and Baby Homes for 30 years. I would love to know what they are hiding by doing so. I would like to share with you and your guestbook Song for Irelands Lost Children.
Song for Irelands Lost Children.
When will we ever know?
Where you may be
And leave behind uncertainty
When will we ever know?
When will we find?
The secrets of that golden chime
When will we ever know?
When will we sing?
The song you sing we long to sing
When will we ever know?
When will we find?
And settle in on peace of mind
A songbird up among the leaves
Spilling her little heart with ease
A rusty nail a cold stone wall
A silent witness to it all
When will we ever know?
When will we dream?
The dream you dream we long to dream
When will we ever know?
When will we find?
And leave uncertainty behind
A songbird up among the leaves
Spilling her little heart with ease
A rusty nail a cold stone wall
A silent witness to it all
When will we ever know?
Well Christy, bungling Boris has just been on the TV and just to make it clear to all the whole country is now due to enter tier 4 of the new 3 tier system. I knew as soon as captain cockup and his cabinet got into power it would all end in ‘tears’ but even I didnt expect this level of incompetence. Your latest lockdown session can’t come a day to soon
My knowledge of the Spanish civil war was from reading Hemingway and Orwell, that was due to the people I mixed with, nothing to do with my education at Bury convent! Pam
Hello Christy,
Oh goody! I was wondering when we’d get to hear you again.
The Spanish civil war didn’t get a single mention during my education either. The first I heard about it was from your song. I asked my Mum about it. She didn’t know anything about it either.
I was really pleased to see those two benches outside Halifax Town Hall. I wandered past one day and there they were. They were moved there from less prominent places in 2019.
I was reading about Jarama the other day… impossible to imagine the conditions and bravery of all involved. Via the search box under ‘memorials’ on the website, there are some great entries for Frank Conroy. The silence about the worthy causes becomes an issue when the school pupil becomes an adult. In my case, years of schooling a few miles South of Manchester city centre and ne’er a mention of Peterloo – less than a 1/2 hour bus ride!
Brilliant news about the imminent lockdown session – can’t wait!
Thanks to you and Andy for the very enjoyable lockdown sessions
I thought a highlight of the sessions was the great tributes you paid to Christy Hennessy and Hamish imlach
Your delivery of them tributes was very special
Best wishes
Orbe
Christy's reply
We have another episode ready to go….a bit different this time….due out in the next week or so..
During Oliver Stone’s ‘Untold History of US’ he reveals Roosevelt regretted not supporting fight against Franco as big mistake. Same series makes clear he would have been battling our oligarchs in doing so.
“Duffy’s blue shirt crew” What terrible power in coercion and propaganda.
Christy's reply
School days still linger large in my old memory.Mostly happy happy days with not much harm done.It began with Sister Philomena in Baby Infant school with nuns of The Holy Family.After 4 years I crossed the road into The Patrician Brothers School where Bros Raymond, Brendan,Alphonsus,Aiden and Lazerian continued my education.Then over the Liffey Bridge and down to The College where Dominican Fathers took up the job for the last 5 of those wonderful years. Across those 14 years I recieved diverse instruction in a broad range of disciplines.Never once did those Sisters,Brothers or holy Fathers consider it appropriate to mention the Spainish Civil War.
Young Frank Conroy lived 5 miles away in Kilcullen. 5 MILES AWAY.A young man, working in O’Connells Bakery,He left County Kildare and travelled to Spain where he died fighting Franco’s Fascists. His name was never mentioned once during the 14 years I spent (happily) with those Nuns,Brothers and Priests.
A total conspiracy of SILENCE
ps if fellow readers want a short cut through the International Brigade website, the search box comes up (with lots of info) via the ‘memorials’ section D
Hello Christy,
Im so sorry that some parts of your and Pat’s school lives were so terrifying. I went to a Church of England girl’s grammar school. There were a few predators – the English teacher who sat on our desks during poetry lessons – the games mistress who spent too much time watching us in the showers. Most of it was good though, like it sounds as if much of yours was, from your previous post. I learnt some useful things. How to tell if an egg is off without cracking it. How to use a sewing machine – a girl in the year above me made a massive burger out of fabric and left it in the sewing room. We did an experiment in the chemistry lab that released far too much chlorine and we had to evacuate.
Rebecca
I really must balance the scales…
some of my happiest time were in those three schools
winning the Under 12 School league
winning the Kildare u14 Schools C.Ship
singing in various school choirs
singing Kevin Barry as a boy soprano
realising the beauty of four part harmony
singing Tit Willow in The Mikado
experiencing duende 50 years before I knew what it meant
friendships made that last to this day
scoring a try in the Leinster Schools Junior Cup in 1959 (tbc p94)
i walk the roads of kerry but its easier going than going back slan go foil
O the load road goes from Killorglin
all the way to Annascaul
sez I to myself what a pity to see
such a fine strappin lad footin turf near Tralee
In Mountjoy jail one monday morning, (exactly 100 years ago today) ,high upon the gallows tree, Kevin Barry gave his young life…..
Folks can i suggest you play this song tonight, and take a deep breath and think how people could do to have a few ounces, for what you feel is truly important, of the committment Barry had to his cause.
Rory
We sang it here..and listened to Paul Robeson’s version..and Leonard Cohen’s
Well Magic Haggis, we have permission from the boss to land the Dreamers on a suitable cloud…. Drop me an email patdarcyis@gmail.com
Christy! Our kitchens were very similar. Mammy lit the stove in the morning, but I had to keep it going. A shovel of coal, and a lock of damp slack would do for a few hours. Every time I lifted the plate to shovel the coal in, I was staring down into Father McDonald’s burning pit of Hell! You’ve fairly brought the shivers of fear back to me now!
I must remember that many delights came from those ranges of old…the smell of fresh brow bread, curney cake, casseroles, the long toasting fork and the toasted batch loaf, rashers and fried mushrooms, apple tarts like no others,brown stew, white stew, fridays were a bit of a disaster with the dreaded whiting or the burnt fried eggs
Hi All. It’s great in these times to be looking forward to another Lockdown session and of course to Fri 13th Nov for the new releases, in so many formats and all so reasonably priced, like your ticket prices when we could go to gigs ! Well done to yourself and Leagues O ‘Toole for the excellent informative article in the Sunday Business Post today, with it’s focus on Family and The Work, a great piece to accompany those much anticipated releases, help to shorten the Winter ! Beir bua agus beannacht go deo. H
I got locked up after stumbling, locked, out of a lock-in (in a pub called “The Seventh Lock”)…released after 12 hours only to find myself locked out….despite all that, twas easier on the system then this feckin lock down….
Fill us two more pints there Phyllis and take something yourself
Re Magichaggis post re barrow lands dvd
This appears on eBay but at a very high price not available as much these days. The odd record shop may have copies on the shlelf.
I have a second copy but as of yet I can’t locate it. I will keep looking if I find it IL make contact here again and would be happy to post it to you.
Regards
Adam
hang on to your spare Adam…Pat from Rheinbach is sorting it..fair play to the pair of ye
Well now Magic haggis, maybe the dreamers DVD could land on a cloud near you if Christy approves….
BTW Christy, stirred and a bit troubled by the Civil War History teaching riddle. Did the Irish Civil War get a mention along your history learning schooling? I remember Professor Cardinal Tom Fee Lord rest him trying to make sense of Irish and Spanish civil wars during my Uni historical studies, and I struggled to make sense of them to my students in CBS Dundalk for years, always aware that I was negotiating an emotional minefield of strongly conflicting family beliefs.
I remember also breaking up a fight between two big lads whose families suffered on opposing sides of the IRA in Belfast in the 80s.
Ah history….
But thanks for the education, through song, for this latter day learner.
Roll on the Release of the new collection. And great that you are going to entertain us again with a new look lockdown session. Where do you get the energy from? Taking lessons from 48 hour a day man Dave?
I approves Pat !! all I suggest is a donation from magic haggis to any homeless agency in Oban…but its only a suggestion !
what they taught me more then anything else was that concept of the everlasting furnace of a burning hell….I remember, as a small boy, looking into the white hot coals of our kitchen range thinking of (Patrician)Brother Raymond’s promise of eternal damnation…
Hello Christy,
Have you ever found a space to perform the stuff without the sugar coating? It would need to be a very special place I think.
I listened to Poor old earth. It was on YouTube. Right after it was a woman saying, “Brush your teeth in 10 seconds.”
The folk club at the grove gave my version of dalesman’s litany a floor spot on Friday. I didn’t think it was too bad.
Rebecca
I do indeed have those very thoughts frequently…it might be time to get it done….a cat’s flux
Dear Christy, dipping this morning into the pink disc ( it would have been the green if Ireland had won) , it is a much underrated colour.
Here i find Poor Old Earth, intrigued by a working of music and words that i have listened to dozens of times ,i finally decided to rake out the booklet that accompanies the box set.
Well i never knew it was a Samuel Beckett poem until now. Fascinating, i think he would have approved.
Words alone , the poet’s voice can be a stark, thought provoking sensation. Music alone can perform tricks with the mind, carrying one off to magical places.
So words and music together is often the very dab.
Good stuff from Poor Old Earth.
Cheers
Rory
I’ll never forget the making of that recording.. a an extremely cold winters night in County Kilkenny….a very basic recording studio in a shed in a frozen farmyard…my good comrade (the late)Tim Martin was at the desk… I sang “Love is Pleasing” for a while with the Companeros….when they had a head of steam going I began to read Beckett’s text….I first heard it as spoken by Jack MacGowran…. the consumptive postman gets me every time
Hi Christy, we have missed your visits to God’s country. My wife gave our copy of ‘Come all you dreamers’ dvd to our son who has moved to Stirling, 90 miles away and a different lockdown area. Tried tracking another copy down but not available anywhere. Recorded in Glasgow, but can’t get it in the whole world. Any chance you can push for a re-issue? Alba gu brath! 💚
couple of offers coming your way
Hi Christy, Hope you and Val and all the family are keeping well. I got a bit of a shock after reading about the decision to lock up the files of Mother and Baby Homes for 30 years. I would love to know what they are hiding by doing so. I would like to share with you and your guestbook Song for Irelands Lost Children.
Song for Irelands Lost Children.
When will we ever know?
Where you may be
And leave behind uncertainty
When will we ever know?
When will we find?
The secrets of that golden chime
When will we ever know?
When will we sing?
The song you sing we long to sing
When will we ever know?
When will we find?
And settle in on peace of mind
A songbird up among the leaves
Spilling her little heart with ease
A rusty nail a cold stone wall
A silent witness to it all
When will we ever know?
When will we dream?
The dream you dream we long to dream
When will we ever know?
When will we find?
And leave uncertainty behind
A songbird up among the leaves
Spilling her little heart with ease
A rusty nail a cold stone wall
A silent witness to it all
When will we ever know?
Where you may be
And leave behind uncertainty
When will we ever know?
When will we find?
The secrets of that golden chime
Thanks for sharing John…..keep coming back
Come on Ireland, 6 nations or bust.
Rory
bust
Well Christy, bungling Boris has just been on the TV and just to make it clear to all the whole country is now due to enter tier 4 of the new 3 tier system. I knew as soon as captain cockup and his cabinet got into power it would all end in ‘tears’ but even I didnt expect this level of incompetence. Your latest lockdown session can’t come a day to soon
My knowledge of the Spanish civil war was from reading Hemingway and Orwell, that was due to the people I mixed with, nothing to do with my education at Bury convent! Pam
Hello Christy,
Oh goody! I was wondering when we’d get to hear you again.
The Spanish civil war didn’t get a single mention during my education either. The first I heard about it was from your song. I asked my Mum about it. She didn’t know anything about it either.
I was really pleased to see those two benches outside Halifax Town Hall. I wandered past one day and there they were. They were moved there from less prominent places in 2019.
Rebecca
ps I just read about Brigadista Michael Lehane from Kerry. Unbelievable courage and determination in Spain and World War 2. RIP D
Mornin’ Christy
I was reading about Jarama the other day… impossible to imagine the conditions and bravery of all involved. Via the search box under ‘memorials’ on the website, there are some great entries for Frank Conroy. The silence about the worthy causes becomes an issue when the school pupil becomes an adult. In my case, years of schooling a few miles South of Manchester city centre and ne’er a mention of Peterloo – less than a 1/2 hour bus ride!
Brilliant news about the imminent lockdown session – can’t wait!
Enjoy the day
Dave
Hi Christy
Thanks to you and Andy for the very enjoyable lockdown sessions
I thought a highlight of the sessions was the great tributes you paid to Christy Hennessy and Hamish imlach
Your delivery of them tributes was very special
Best wishes
Orbe
We have another episode ready to go….a bit different this time….due out in the next week or so..
During Oliver Stone’s ‘Untold History of US’ he reveals Roosevelt regretted not supporting fight against Franco as big mistake. Same series makes clear he would have been battling our oligarchs in doing so.
“Duffy’s blue shirt crew” What terrible power in coercion and propaganda.
School days still linger large in my old memory.Mostly happy happy days with not much harm done.It began with Sister Philomena in Baby Infant school with nuns of The Holy Family.After 4 years I crossed the road into The Patrician Brothers School where Bros Raymond, Brendan,Alphonsus,Aiden and Lazerian continued my education.Then over the Liffey Bridge and down to The College where Dominican Fathers took up the job for the last 5 of those wonderful years. Across those 14 years I recieved diverse instruction in a broad range of disciplines.Never once did those Sisters,Brothers or holy Fathers consider it appropriate to mention the Spainish Civil War.
Young Frank Conroy lived 5 miles away in Kilcullen. 5 MILES AWAY.A young man, working in O’Connells Bakery,He left County Kildare and travelled to Spain where he died fighting Franco’s Fascists. His name was never mentioned once during the 14 years I spent (happily) with those Nuns,Brothers and Priests.
A total conspiracy of SILENCE
ps if fellow readers want a short cut through the International Brigade website, the search box comes up (with lots of info) via the ‘memorials’ section D
there’s a Valley in Spain called Jarama