Rahara 54©2021TonyFallon1210.

 Rahara 54©2021TonyFallon1210.

In Rahara in the 60's the girls all wanted nylons
While we young fellows wanted the juniors to beat up St Johns
Those were years before iphones or any kind of computer
We all envied Willie Corcoran and his little scooter
Then we had a fine home-grown team just after the big war time
Just as the Beirnes Donnellys and Beatties were coming to prime.
Big Malachy Donnelly and Micky Murry were like blocks
And most rival forwards never got inside our goalie's box
We didn't win a county championships or other glory
For Creggs or Oran games we went in Eamon Beattie's lorry
There were no pipers or drummers ready to play marching tunes
The games and practices were held on most Sunday afternoons
On hairy legs and white arms there would be wounds scrapes and scratches
And big clumps of grass missing from Ger Egans field in patches
One cold October day a game was played in bad conditions
A replay of a drawn game one of the GAA's bad decisions
They lads all looked so confident as they marched out there in green
With so many Beirnes Beattie's and Donnelly's in the fifteen
As well as those just mentioned we had favorites of the crowd
Like Jim and Des Brennan brothers Willie Fallon and Ned Dowd
Stephen Miley and Tommy Tully made their contributions
The Champion did not mention the use of substitutions
That day we were all shivering but they had skimpy attire
Made worse by slimy under footing of water, muck and mire
In the hour Athleague scored only one point from a close in free
Rahara were the victors even though they scored only three
The referee was Barry Malloy in charge of the whistle
All thirty players behaved themselves there was no dismissal
If a line ball did go against us it did no good to plea
Either linesman was rarely overruled by the referee
It was the semifinal in the papers it was noted
In late October fifty-four a column was devoted
In a week against Eoghan Ruaghs the didn't do so well
On the final score of that Sunday alas I shall not dwell
To the all-star team none of Rahara players were voted
And since they lost the final game the team was not promoted
Some of us still alive can look back on our Rahara years
With a certain sadness in our hearts from some foreign frontiers

KevinBarry(C)2021TonyFallon1109

 KevinBarry(C)2021TonyFallon1109

The ghost of Kevin Barry still in memory lingers on

The brave lad who faced the hangman in that November dawn

 A true Irish martyr facing death in his teenage years 

While his supporters knelt in a last ditch despair and tears

Broken hearted sympathisers on the road outside Mountjoy

Not there to mourn a grown man just an eighteen year old boy

Was he driven on by madness or the desire to be free?

A brave step by an irish son in his search for liberty

A full time college student one day he missed some courses

Because he was a member of the secret armed forces

Pinned down beneath an idle lorry enemy blood was shed

And one  more British soldier on a Dublin street lay dead

A twice jammed up old rifle laid ruin to his other plans

And he did not live long enough to fight the black and tans

Thinking of Eire's freedom full of young rebel ideas

Throw off the yoke of tyranny a perfect panaceas

They would hang him on the gallows  a cruel illustration

Not realizing this would unite the entire nation

No more he'll walk in Dublin or go to Church in Westland Row

No more he'll walk family fields in Dumguin in Carlow

His brave deeds were emulated by nine more fearless young men

Buried in the jail side by side known as The Forgotten Ten

The bodies of those brave young men as well as that of Kevin

Were taken from that evil ground and now lie in Glasnevin

MySundaySnack(C)2021 TonyFallon0919

 MySundaySnack(C)2021

TonyFallon0919

I'm trying to make healthy fish and chips

Not to fry them in butter but oil

I've gone to the store already on two trips

Now I have no aluminum foil

The pan I think is too small  in size

It barely holds all of the whiting

It's too full when I add the fries

When the grease spills over it's lighting

Two hours ago I started the soup

It takes time it's New England chowder

When it bubbled I added a scoop

Of fat free milk made from powder

There is no chowder on earth like mine

I can't wait for it to thicken

Those who eat it say it's divine

That's because I add pork and chicken

The Autumn Leaves©2021TonyFallon0805

 

The Autumn Leaves©2021TonyFallon0805

No more are the leaves alive on the autumn trees

As the daily heat goes down slowly by degrees

In autumns past it happened it is now routine

The nice green summer foliage has lost its sheen

The birds who sang so sweetly as if in contest

Have since flown away and no longer use their nest

It is now seen in the branches almost unworn

Reminding us in the spring they may well return

The canopy that shielded while the female hatched

Will soon be jettisoned finally unattached

To be tossed through big fields or the valley beyond

Or join other leaves in the bottom of a pond.

DugraBog(c)2021TonyFallon0727.

 DugraBog(c)2021TonyFallon0727.

As an Irish teenager I spent many a June even'

In Dugra bog outside the little village of Kilteevan

Then the bicycle was the transportation to get about

To travel to the bog or town and mass if you were devout

It was pure hard work daily there were no plans to be discussed

If it didn't rain for days cars were followed by a cloud of dust

We came from Rahara parish and did not have our own bank

We rented yearly and had Corbooley people on each flank

Events that happened in Knockcroghery became instant news

An argument about football teams fueled by too much booze

The wheel barrow was ancient it must be made for a dragon

It would be easier to pull the turf on a child's wagon

We turned then we footed and we finally made a big stack

We often ate egg sandwiches and drank milk in Brennan's shack

The weather so unpredictable it might be a mild gale

And it being so chilly you would not be surprised with hail

After a few days of sunshine you'd have blisters on your nose

And when humidity was a bit high they'd say it was close

We would build a fire for cooking and to keep away midges

And said many bad things about them which were not religious

Sometimes when a fire was started we would have warm hard boiled eggs

And empty the tea mug until there was nothing left but dregs

The mid day meal around two was almost a social event

Grown men with hot tea in their bellies went back to work content

You could never use bog water for the taste was distorted

So every morning bottled water had to be imported

Not all empty Cidona bottles were retuned to the store

For the days in the bog my mother kept at least three or four

You would constantly watch the fire and keep it under control

And when you were going home throw the hot embers in the hole

I often left Jim Menton's donkey in Mooney's shed with hay

When I'd return in the morning he would always loudly bray

Us children got excited to see a rabbit or a hare

And I loved to listen to the skylark singing in the air

We would wander though the wild heather and get an awful fright

When a pheasant hen would suddenly rise and take off in flight

To get turf dry and saved and home there was always great pressure

The sods had to be ricked before the coming of the thresher

To fill and empty Eamon Beattie's red lorry was labor

But in our village a kindly neighbor helped us his neighbor

We didn't stop in Knockcroghery but we did in Finneran's
And satisfied our sweet teeth with some biscuits and minerals

If you worked autumn in a bog you would not be overweight

And when you got home tired you did not leave much food on your plate

Twenty years ago in the new bog it was cut by machine

God be with the good old days when the strong men used the old slean

When we were working in the Irish bogs then who could foresee?

That we'd be stopped from cutting turf by European decree

I would love to go back again and drive down the old bog road

But I have no plans to leave my new Catskill Mountain zip code

I do not think I will be going back anytime this year

So I will just write and dream and in my pillow shed a tear

Irish Arts Week© Tony Fallon071318.

 Irish Arts Week© Tony Fallon071318.

Up and down 145 in East Durham of high renown

The best Irish talent in the world was gathered in this town

It was of course the six days of the Annual Irish Arts Week

A gathering in America which is truly unique

On the pipes or banjo you can learn a brand new technique

Or a few focals of Gaelic language you can learn to speak

Some people came up for four days of quiet vacation

Any many are here for some musical education

The parents have instilled some inquiring motivation

And teachers pass on our traditions to the next generation

I was in McGraths last night, the pipes many people were playing

There was a big crowd there all night no one was straying

Mattie Connolly was in his glory his fingers were hopping

Jigs Reels one after the other of him there was no stopping

He was not the only one there whose fingers seemed to glide

Deirdre Corrigan's were so fast I thought they would collide

For months we will talk about legends like Bergin,Madden and Fee

And instructors like Margie and Donny and Annemarie

There will be people who danced so much they will have blisters

We'll talk about the Coen brothers and the Casey sisters

If we had a piper named John or Michael Regan

I could have teamed him up with the singer Patrick Egan

There is such great talent here yet so many were omitted

They didn't rhyme with anyone when they were submitted

The names of most the teachers this year were not very phonetic

So I had a hard time with rhyming names and being poetic

But where else is a better place to make new or meet an old friend

Than the Irish arts week in East Durham I wish it would never end

I don't think i ever posted this before

ALONE(c)2021TonyFallon0615.

 ALONE(c)2021TonyFallon0615

I'm not a young lad anymore but free of infections

I didn't catch the Covid and I have both my injections

I'm up by nine each morning I'm as fit as a fiddle

I do not have fat behind and little in the middle

In the last forty years I have not gained or lost a pound

My heart beat is sixty two my doctor says that is sound

No high Cholesterol to worry and low blood pressure

And the food I eat could not be healthier or fresher

The only thing he's snippy about and we disagree

Is me staying up watching movies until two or three

He is a great believer in at least eight hours slumber

And he wants me to do that nightly winter and summer

My hair is shoulder length I have been growing it for years

I'm the envy of girls but Geraldine wants to use shears

I have a beard like Santa Clause for years I have not shaved

I haven't been to the barber so much money I have saved

I don't drink any alcohol and I'm not a smoker

I do not go to OTB but I like a game of poker

I'm a happy go lucky man I seldom am uptight

But there is no one here to say good morning or good night