Patrick C. O'Sullivan

A standing stone in Ards Forest Park, County Donegal.  A very fine and lonely place in winter.

I like the way they do things in Galway.   No half measures.   Tied up fore and aft, grounded on the bottom, and anchored (in thought, if not deed).  Pretty decent of the captain to put out a safety cone as well, though it is a little sun-bleached.

This is the chapel at the summit of Croagh Patrick near Murrisk in County Mayo.

One fine day I met a man on the way up.  We were both struggling.  There is loose and jagged stone across one part of the path, and it gets fairly steep for a ways.  I can’t imagine doing it barefoot as some do, and if you’ve a mind to do it and aren’t a spry youngster I’d recommend a walking stick.

Neither of us had the sense to be so prepared.  My excuse was that it was my first time, and perhaps his was that it wasn’t, as he’d grown up in the area.  Neither of us were old men, but we weren’t boys, either.  I imagine as a lad he practically raced up and down the Reek like the Germans that passed us and waved twice, once on the way up, and again on the way down.

We could see his family home from a ledge where we sat and rested.  I learned that he’d spent most of his working years in Birmingham.  I don’t recall his trade, but it struck me at the time that it was something one could do in Ireland, if there was work to be had.  For a man of his generation, starting a career in the nineteen sixties, though, that wasn’t an option.

It was a bright day, and clear, and we could see forever from the summit.   The way back down was just as rugged, but we had gravity with us, and like my new friend, I knew the way by then.

I’m quite fond of the play “The Old Lady Says No!”  by Denis Johnston, in which the main character, Robert Emmet, gets into an argument with the statue of Henry Grattan on College Green (amongst other odd things).  This is not that statue; the statue in the play can be seen at this excellent post.

Anyway, this is the image of Grattan I have in my mind when reading the play.   Located in Merrion Square, Dublin.

I absolutely love the site at the link below.  It features period artwork and photography organized around the text of James Joyce’s Ulysses.  Hours of fun.  I only wish the images were bigger.

http://www.joyceimages.com/book/1/

Not a statue, but W.B Yeats grave marker.  In Drumcliff, County Sligo.

Another poet.  I don’t know how well James Mangan (later James Clarence Mangan) is known outside of Ireland.  This statue is on St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin.

It’s not every writer who gets a statue. Here’s a picture of one.  Located in Merrion Square, Dublin, Ireland.

And here’s another statue of a writer, and one of my favorites (writer and statue).  I’ve logged some seat time on that bench.  It’s located on the bank of the Grand Canal in Dublin, Ireland.