The Harp That Once Through Tara’s Halls
The soul of music shed, Now hangs as mute on Tara’s walls As if that soul were fled. So sleeps the pride of former days, So glory’s thrill is o’er, And hearts that once beat high for praise, Now feel that pulse no more! No more to chiefs and ladies bright The harp of Tara swells; The chord alone that breaks at night, Its tale of ruin tells. Thus Freedom now so seldom wakes, The only throb she gives Is when some heart indignant breaks, To show that still she lives. (poem by Irish poet Thomas Moore 1779-1852) (for more info: http://www.knowth.com/tara.htm) © Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me, 2011-2012.
In the blink of an eye…
© Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me, 2011-2012. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
The dark underbelly of Ireland’s society (part 3)
This is part 3, and hopefully the last part, in what I consider my idea of what is wrong in Ireland’s society today. There is old and new heartache in its consumer culture of drugs, alcohol and having a great time. Alcohol is used and abused, but new ways of having fun have emerged with drugs like heroin, cocaine, meth and marijuana.
The dark underbelly of Ireland’s society (part 2)
(Original blog post The dark underbelly of Ireland’s society) Sadly I was not able to find the half-dressed homeless man in town this morning, so the attempt to give him some clothes and food failed. The bag with clothes is still standing here, and hopefully, I will be able to help him someday. This is the street where I have seen him beg before (Henry Street, Dublin) © Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me, 2011-2012. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me with appropriate and specific direction to the…
Living in Ireland: a life less ordinary
When I moved from Belgium to Ireland in 2002, I was on top of the world. I thought knew all I had to know about Ireland and sure, I’d adapt very quickly to living life a little bit slower than I was used to. Of course I had traveled to Ireland before actually moving over here, and had fallen in love with it even harder than I ever thought I would. Dublin was a small disappointment at first because the truth is, Dublin is just like any other European capital. But the people, they were and still are the ones that would have me ending up in a stitch, or leave me wondering about their sanity on more than one occasion. A wise man once said: “This is one race…
The Celtic Tree of Life… sort of!
Ever hugged a tree? No? Okay… Maybe you’ve thought about hugging a tree, or something that looked like a tree? The ancient Celts – there are very few real ones left in Ireland -adored and believed fairies lived in trees, assigning them special powers. I love trees myself, often strong and unwilling to move whatever goes against them, rejuvenating themselves year after year. Ireland was tree-paradise, but once the English set foot on our shores, and saw that Irish trees would make for better ships, their naval fleet happily sang chop-ahoy-chop-chop-them- oaks. In short: aside from having to sacrifice land, language, music, traditions, and food, Ireland had to offer their sacred trees to the enemies of the day. Now, all that aside, I love to think I have some Celtic…