All roads lead to Rathangan parish this weekend (11th – 13th August) for the final 1798 Commemoration, in this the 225th year since the rebellion. A weekend of activities, entitled Comóradh 225 is planned, including a storytelling house on Friday,11th from 7.30 p.m. to 9.00 p.m. ish!!! taking place in McCall’s Community Centre, Rathangan (Y35 YH92). An invitation is extended to all singers, musicians, poets, jokers, dancers or just lovers of these talents to join the event.
It’s a fine spring day in Wexford town’s St Peter’s Square. In this quiet quad of lightly flaking buildings is Red Books, literary retail’s rising star. Sun beams through its large windows and the doorway is crammed with treasures a paper amuse bouche, if you will. A motley crew in knitwear surrounds the wooden till area, and Wally O’Neill, the proprietor. These are all regulars, friends and family, just hanging out. Minutes later, O’Neill and I stroll through the buzzing town to Frank’s Place, where we chat over French toast.
A new chapter for independent bookshops in north Wexford commenced as Red Books Gorey marked their establishment with an open mic night at their new Rafter Street shop.
Bookshops like Book Upstairs in Dublin and Shakespeare and Company in Paris have provided great writers and thinkers with a space to discuss ideas and share their work with the world.
A south Wexford farmer has just published his first collection of poetry ‘Through a Farmer’s Eyes’.
Mattie White, who farms
80ac along the coastline, mainly beef, with sucklers and some sheep, started writing in order to battle some of the mental health demons plaguing him.
He always had an interest in English and writing transformed his life, he said. He bares his heart and soul in this absorbing collection of poems and photography.
Mattie said that he realised that to be tough also meant to stand up for his own feelings and emotions and that there was nothing wrong with admitting that he needed help to deal with his difficulties.