Category: Travel Writing
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The four green fields blog10: A windy afternoon in bridport
[South of Shaftesbury the gentle hills of Dorset go on and on. It was a pleasant afternoon drive. The next day proved to be very different. Photo is mine.] I’ll huff and I”ll puff and I’ll blow your house down. ~~The Big Bad Wolf The south coast of Dorset. The Jurassic Coast. The smugglers and…
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the four green fields blog9: London to bath…nearing the end
[A detail of an art exhibition in the nave of Bath Abbey. Photo is mine.] A premature victim of the Exertions of an ardent and fuperier mind. ~~From an epitaph inscribed on white marble, on the north wall of the nave of Bath Abbey. who passed on to his reward in 27 January, 1792. Aged…
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the four green fields blog6: a night in my ancestral castle
[Castle Redwood. Lorrha, Co Tipperary, Ireland. Photo source: Tipperary Tourism.] This photo is of Castle Redwood. It’s not a ‘castle’ in the popular sense, the way most are depicted in movies. It’s a Keep, intended to hold the owners in safety during an attack. Walls are nearly ten feet thick, slot windows for defending archers…
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the four green fields blog5: a poet’s grave
[A roadside flower, ready to spread it’s seed. Co Sligo, Ireland. Photo is mine.] When you are old and grey and full of sleep, And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep; ~~from When You are…
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The four green fields blog4: An old cemetery & my Irish family
[A very creaky gate leading into an old cemetery. Photo is mine.] Suaimhneas Siorai Air ~~Old Irish Epitaph “Eternal Rest be Upon Him/Her” The green and rusted rotating gate made a noise that seemed more like a stifled scream of metal against metal. It pierced my ears. The harshness of the sound, under other circumstances,…
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the four green fields blog3:the burren
[Where we were. Photo is mine.] Burren (‘b^ren0 n. A limestone area on the North Clare coast in the Irish Republic, famous for its wildflowers, caves, and dolmens. The Burren is a lot of things. It’s a place in Ireland, a route to tour, and a UNESCO Heritage Site. To me, it’s something else altogether.…
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the walking stick: father’s day 2025
I never wanted a Guinness more than the moment when I reached the bottom. ~~ Paul Egan. Upon finishing his climb of Croagh Patrick. [Paraphrased] Once upon a time, when I was a young boy, my father gave me a ‘beaver stick’. For my readers who have never had or seen a beaver stick, it…
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Peter, Lenny & pat’s big adventure
[The route. The dark blue line. Disregard the time notation. Source: Google Maps.] “I remember it was up hill all the way.” ~~ Lenny Schmidt “There is a cow outside of our tent.” ~~ Patrick Egan Oh, the exuberance of youth! The innocence of the young! The pure and wild wind in our hair and…
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below the equator IX: looking for carlos gardel and getting lost in the other cemetery.
[The Entrance Gate. Video is mine] Only in Buenos Aires can the wealthy and powerful elite keep their status after death. Argentines are a strange bunch who tend to celebrate their most honored national figures not on the date of their birth, but on the date of their death (after all, they’re nobody when they’re…
patrickjegan 