I was privileged to be in the company of Willie Willoughby, that intrepid doyen of Gorey history, and forty more historical society members and friends on a walking tour of Gorey on Wednesday June 29th, 2022. We met at the Gáirdín Draíochta, that lovely tidy towns project opposite the Bridge Bar, because that was where Gorey started next to the river. People came to the little river here to wash out their milk cans. There was a pre-Norman church half a mile up the Clonattin R

Photography by Mick O Callaghan Spring 2026 I give you the opening lines of the poem Cill Aodáin : Anois teacht an earraigh Beidh an lá ag dul chun síneadh ’S tar éis na Féile Bríde Árdóidh mé mo sheol Ó chuir mé i mo cheann é Ní stopfaidh mé choíche Go seasfaidh mé síos i lár Chontae Mhaigh Eo. This poem was composed by Antaine Ó Raiftearaí, Anthony Raftery (1799–1835), a wandering poet who was born in Killedan, near Kiltimagh, Co. Mayo. I think most people of an older gener

The Cormorant or Black Shag photograghed in Ounavarragh River by Mick O Callaghan I was walking home along the Burrow Road in Courtown when all at once I was stopped in my tracks by the sight of a Broigheall or cormorant, neck held high and with wings fully stretched. It was such a striking posture  I come from a seaside village and spent a lot of my youth in Blennerville, Derrymore and Fenit pier and island. We did a lot of fishing and watching the comings and goings of bird

'Fungal Magic' at Spike Bridge , Courtown Woods. Photo by Mick O Callaghan I went for my daily stroll early this morning while the weather was fine. I parked in the main Courtown carpark and proceeded along the forest path between the canal and the Active Tribe complex. As I entered the woods I noted a motto attributed to John Muir (1838–1914) who was a  Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and environmental philosopher known as the " father of the National Parks " .