In Listowel on the case of the mysterious disappearing writerDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I SPENT LAST week in Listowel at Writers’ Week, trying to improve my conversation skillsFri Jun 05 2009 - 01:00
A quiet man from Seattle plays his cards close to the chestDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: IT’S HARD TO believe that there was life before psychotherapy; a time when people didn’t share their…Fri May 22 2009 - 01:00
Taking the voters' pulse with a Tweedledum from WonderlandDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: WALKING AROUND Mullingar can raise the blood pressure sometimes, especially if one gazes too long at…Fri May 15 2009 - 01:00
In a draughty old house near Birr, with one sock in my pocketDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I WAS TAUGHT philosophy by an old professor who was bald, and smoked Dunhill cigarettes, and lived in…Fri May 08 2009 - 01:00
Stick to rashers and sausages - fish plays tricks on the heartDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: THERE’S A NEW fish shop in Mullingar which sells fresh fish, so last week I decided to give up meat. …Fri May 01 2009 - 01:00
Tattoo tapestryDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: IF I WAS a truck driver in Wyoming, I could talk to myself all day, because I’d be so high above the…Fri Apr 24 2009 - 01:00
The truth is, I cannot live without a catDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I SPENT Easter Sunday afternoon minding the cat in the front room, and watching EastEnders, as my mother…Fri Apr 17 2009 - 01:00
In the end, everlasting life is nothing to boast aboutDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: WHEN THE PLAY was over in Tralee, on Sunday night, there was an eerie silence in the theatreFri Apr 10 2009 - 01:00
A stroll in the shadow of weeping menDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: LAST WEEK I walked on Banna strand with an old friend. We were like twigs on a vast sheet of skyFri Apr 03 2009 - 01:00
Staring at the water, staring at the wallDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I WAS IN a nursing home on Friday; a clean building, with squeaky floors, and radiators humming with…Fri Mar 20 2009 - 00:00
Remembering the cruel things we did to foolish-looking frogsDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: ALL ACROSS WESTMEATH there are abandoned building sites, muddy trenches, half-made foundations, roofless…Fri Mar 13 2009 - 00:00
Picking out odd words instead of shouting at the radioDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I WAS LISTENING to the Tánaiste talking to Cathal Mac Coille on the radioFri Mar 06 2009 - 00:00
Peeling the onion of ideas inspired by a turtleDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I HAVE MOVED againFri Feb 27 2009 - 00:00
Nowhere to chuck out the bitter crusts of lost romanceDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: ONE NIGHT a young singer was strumming her guitar as we waited for pizzasFri Feb 13 2009 - 00:00
In the company of ghostsDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: LAST WEEK I was looking out at the rain and thinking of my granny, who died when I was nineFri Feb 06 2009 - 00:00
A flippant attempt to turn the tables on an angry leprechaunDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: A BIG MAN poked his finger in my arm at the ATM and said: “I have a bone to pluck with you, sir!” I …Fri Jan 30 2009 - 00:00
General reflections on barbers, psychiatrists and holy menDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: LAST WEEKEND I was at a ball in the Park Hotel organised by Showjumping IrelandFri Jan 16 2009 - 00:00
A toast to Joe, and some raddle on the cheeks in the fading lightMISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I LIKE TO celebrate New Year’s Eve in the afternoonFri Jan 02 2009 - 00:00
Caught up in the tears of rage and sorrow shed by outcastsDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I STAY IN most nights. I gaze at the world through the television screenFri Dec 12 2008 - 00:00
Baking buns to forget the dwindling pennies in my piggy bankDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: BEING EXCESSIVELY happy is a mixed blessingFri Dec 05 2008 - 00:00
Lessons from a chance meeting with a young woman in a cafeDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I WAS OUT early one morning, and I found a small cafe that still serves breakfast rolls to the early…Fri Nov 21 2008 - 00:00
Kind words from Bangalore, and a truck to pick up an iPodDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: LAST WEEK MY iPod just stopped workingFri Nov 07 2008 - 00:00
Crimes and misdemeanours on the city streetsDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I'M STILL a little nervous of the English police ever since a night in London years ago, when I could…Fri Oct 31 2008 - 00:00
Fame at last, of the only kind that matters to a Cavan manDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I MAY BE old and grey but I have finally made it, to the front page of the Anglo-Celt arts supplement…Fri Oct 24 2008 - 01:00
As the global financial crisis sinks all boats, Westmeath sails onDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: MY PARANOIA IS on the increase again. It hasn't been so bad since I lived in Co FermanaghFri Oct 17 2008 - 01:00
Letting the grass grow under the Lady's FingersDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I WAS ADMIRING an apple tree last week, with a farmer just south of MullingarFri Oct 03 2008 - 01:00
Life lessons learnt from pigs and horsesDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: LAST MONDAY morning, the sky was blue, so I abandoned the breakfast dishes on the kitchen table, the…Fri Sept 19 2008 - 01:00
When small talk about the spuds wasn't small potatoesDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I WAS ATTRACTED to the sound of bells as a boy, and to the smell of incense in the early mornings, when…Fri Sept 12 2008 - 01:00
A traditional tune to drive away the monsoon bluesDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I WENT TO the Fleadh in Tullamore to round off the summerFri Sept 05 2008 - 01:00
Grim memories of Radovan Karadzic come back to haunt meDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: MY HOLIDAY ENDED in the Ice House in Ballina; a big glass-windowed world overlooking the MoyFri Aug 01 2008 - 01:00
After a lifetime of togetherness, we all end up in separate boxesDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: JUST BEFORE I got married in 1993, I lived in east Galway, in a small bungalow surrounded by flat fields…Fri Jul 25 2008 - 01:00
Ireland may be my nation, but English is still my languageDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I WAS IN LONDON last weekFri Jul 18 2008 - 01:00
Take me back to squandered days on the riverbanks of LeitrimDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I WAS IN the cafe at the Mall, standing in the queue behind two African women who were laughing and …Fri Jul 11 2008 - 01:00
A view of the Lisbon Treaty, through a wine glass darklyDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I WAS INVITED to dinner on midsummer's eveFri Jun 27 2008 - 01:00
Lost in translation in Dingle, the town with two namesDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: THERE WAS A BIG man standing outside the Centra shop in the middle of Dingle, with the Sunday newspapers…Fri Jun 20 2008 - 01:00
Looking back in angerDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I PRESUME I'M not the only person in the world who talks out loud when no one else is present, heaping…Fri Jun 13 2008 - 01:00
A feast of stories about a woman who lived through the FamineDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I WAS SITTING behind two old gentlemen in the AE last weekFri Jun 06 2008 - 01:00
Summertime, when a man's thoughts turn to boogie-woogieDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I WAS AT A SHOW last Sunday; a field of horse lorries, chipper vans, portaloos, stalls selling straw…Fri May 23 2008 - 01:00
No matter how uneven the day, Paxman is a great consolationDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I know there are people who get stuck in the same chair looking out the same window, day in day out, …Fri May 09 2008 - 01:00
If it wasn't for American Pie, my life might have unfolded differentlyDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: IT'S NOT THE scariest of witches that's keeping me awake at night, it's the ghost of missed opportunities…Fri Apr 11 2008 - 01:00
Buttons can be the undoing of us, as Pushkin found out to his costDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: AMONG THE HIDDEN treasures of Mullingar are the flowers that grow on the banks of the Royal Canal; a…Fri Mar 28 2008 - 00:00
Homesick for Leitrim while time flies like a Westmeath duckDISPLACED IN MULLINGAR: I was in the bathroom one morning, and as I looked out the window I realised that a small hurricane …Fri Mar 21 2008 - 00:00
The spectre of other livesDisplaced in Mullingar: In a smug society that's easily spooked, the Other World is always nearby and the poor are the unruly…Fri Feb 09 2007 - 00:00
Romantic Ireland's dead and goneDisplaced in Mullingar: Solitude is said to be a doorway to the heart, but it's proving difficult to find in January, writes …Fri Jan 19 2007 - 00:00
So how did you get over the Christmas?Displaced in Mullingar: The carvery lunches were flying in all directions. Countrymen with paws around tumblers of whiskeyFri Dec 29 2006 - 00:00
Friendly exchange while out on the townDisplaced in Mullingar: The Christmas rush hasn't quite begun, but even now, there's an awful lot of people shopping in Mullingar…Sat Nov 18 2006 - 00:00
Friendly exchange while out on the townDisplaced in Mullingar: The Christmas rush hasn't quite begun, but even now, there's an awful lot of people shopping in Mullingar…Fri Nov 17 2006 - 00:00
