Category Archives: Ireland

Shortlisted! Littlewoods Ireland Blog Awards 2016

Posted on August 17, 2016 by sarthure

Update 31 August 2016: I’m through to the finals! Thank you readers for the votes, and thank you judges for the judgement.  I was very happy this morning to open my emails and see that Don’t Forget Your Shovel has been shortlisted … Continue reading →

Posted in Ireland | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

The henhouse

Posted on July 7, 2016 by sarthure

‘Very poor people, in the past, were wont to keep their little stock of hens or ducks in a small pen made from an old box in the kitchen …’ (O Danachair 1964). This was a custom in Irish rural houses in the nineteenth and … Continue reading →

Posted in Folk traditions, Ireland, South Australia | Tagged , | 2 Comments

100 words a day in Lent, and a potato ritual

Posted on February 16, 2016 by sarthure

During Lent, my micro-challenge to myself is to write 100 words a day on my thesis, with a target of 4000 words by Holy Thursday. I’ve set down some rules. First, the word count is cumulative, so if I do … Continue reading →

Posted in Folk traditions, Ireland, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Nollaig na mBan 2016

Posted on January 17, 2016 by sarthure

When I was growing up in Ireland, my only experience of Nollaig na mBan (Women’s Christmas) was through Seán Ó Ríordáin’s poem, which I remember learning in Irish for the Inter Cert when I was about twelve. I was sure there … Continue reading →

Posted in Folk traditions, Ireland, South Australia | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

In search of a clachan, and Fr Ted’s house

Posted on September 28, 2015 by sarthure

During my wanderings in Co. Clare recently, I was studying a map and saw a reference to a Deserted Village. Well, that was enough to pique my interest, and I determined to try and find it the next day. I worked out my … Continue reading →

Posted in Baker's Flat, Clachans, Folk traditions, Ireland, Kapunda, Settlement systems | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments