Killevy Churches

Killevy Churches

St Moninna founded the convent of Killevy near the end of the 5th century. It survived as a house for nuns until it was dissolved in 1542. The Vikings from Carlingford Lough plundered it in 923.

The building in the photograph is two churches joined together. The west church (left hand side of photograph) is the only surviving pre-Norman church in County Armagh and one of only six or seven in the whole of Northern Ireland.

A pictorial map of 1609 shows that Killevy once had a round tower but it was blown down by a gale in about 1768.

Labhras O'Ceallach, Captain Redmond O'Hanlon's harper, wrote a lament for it:

'O steeple of Killevy

My grief to have thee down

If the two Redmonds were living

Thy top would not be broken.'

Camlough Lake

Camlough Lake

This is a view of Camlough lake, County Armagh, from Ballintemple Viewpoint

Beech Tree

Beech Tree Sky

"That thou, light-wingèd Dryad of the trees,
In some melodious plot
Of beechen green, and shadows numberless,
Singest of summer in full-throated ease."

John Keats 'Ode to a Nightingale'

“Under yonder beech-tree single on the greensward,

Couched with her arms behind her golden head,

Knees and tresses folded to slip and ripple idly,

Lies my young love sleeping in the shade.”

George Meredith (1828-1909)

Mourne Mountains

Getting away from it all in the Mournes

A Pint of Plain is Your Only Man

A Pint of Plain is Your Only Man

By Flann O'Brien (Brian O'Nolan)

Recession Blues?

Read the words, then enjoy Eamon Morrissey reciting

'A Pint of Plain is Your Only Man'

When things go wrong and will not come right,
Though you do the best you can,
When life looks black as the hour of night -
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.

When money's tight and is hard to get
And your horse has also ran,
When all you have is a heap of debt -
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.

When health is bad and your heart feels strange,
And your face is pale and wan,
When doctors say you need a change,
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.

When food is scarce and your larder bare
And no rashers grease your pan,
When hunger grows as your meals are rare -
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.

In time of trouble and lousy strife,
You have still got a darlint plan
You still can turn to a brighter ,life -
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.

Flann O'Brien - 'At Swim-Two-Birds'

Eamon Morrissey's recites
A Pint of Plain is Your Only Man

Nancy's Pub, Ardara, County Donegal

Nancy's Pub, Ardara, County Donegal

This famous Irish pub is celebrated for its pint of Guinness, its great food and its lively music. Step into the shadows and step into delight.

"Sure, wouldn't you just know from lookin' at it?"

___________________

"We both sat down at a little table

We looked at each other a little while

We both sat down at a little table

And Nancy's whiskey it did beguile."

From 'Nancy's Whiskey' sung by Andy Irvine

'The Third Policeman' - Bicycle

The Third Policeman - Bicycle

In his comic novel 'The Third Policeman', Flann O'Brien reveals De Selby's 'atomic theory' of how a bicycle and its owner gradually become part of one another.

"The gross and net result of it is that people who spend most of their natural lives riding iron bicycles over the rocky roadsteads of this parish get their personalities mixed up with the personalities of their bicycle as a result of the interchanging of the atoms of each of them and you would be surprised at the number of people in these parts who nearly are half people and half bicycles."