I was just reading my bio on writing.ie, it is a strange thing; writing a bio. Lucky for me I know some great people, who know stuff, important stuff so I asked Life Coach extraordinaire Helen Kearney (find her on LinkedIn and Twitter) for advice, she asked me what was my USP, what made me different, what did I like to read about and what did I think about.
I am a new teacher, I use Socrates method of questioning to understand; yet I had never done this before for me. I realised that I love Irish literature, I have about 30 new books in my room, and the ones I drained are “Original Sins” and “The Quite Quarter” both from New Irish writing. This made me ask why, I mean…..I love pink, rom-coms and my favourite movie is “Mean Girls”.
I went down to where the banshee lives in our yard, and wondered around. I watch the horses play, I imagined the games my dad had played here, I pretended to see Moloneys of the past, (we have been here for generations) and I noticed how I was walking around with my hands clasped behind my back.
This is how my dad, Michael F. Moloney, use to walk around the farm. As he walked he would recite: “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” by William Butler Yeats. Right there I knew my UPS, I am a dreamer, I am nostalgic for the past and my dreamer dad opened my eyes to Irish poetry.
I remember one night, the chemo was pretty heavy and he was a tad delusional as a result. I was about 9, I watched Dallas so I was, or considered myself, mature. He got out his banjo and played to the huge crowd, saying: “did you know my middle name stands for “Famous”, and here I am playing to all of you.” It was only myself and my sister, but we let him play on and clapped and cheered in all the right places, not out of pity but because we were all dreamers – at his world debut concert.
So, I made the below. It is a photostory with the words, me reciting the poem and some cool pictures. Enjoy.
You also need to check out the man himself, WOW….http://youtu.be/hGoaQ433wnw
PS. told you that I would make you famous one day, dad.
Michelle Moloney King 
Hi Xavier,
Thank you. You know something….I love that Christy Moore cd.
I am going to watch the yt clip you wrote about.
Onwards
Michelle
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I was touched by the way you write about your father and his wonderful influence on you. The poem holds a special place in every Irish heart especially those of us who like the wild geese must dream of our beloved homeland from distant shores. Your post reminded me of when I was living in Japan and my sister sent me the Voyage by Christy Moore on a cassette tape and I cried my eyes out when I heard the following song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8pWCoqxvrA&feature=related
Thank you for another great post.
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Hi Stafford,
Thank you, that is one of my favourite poems.
Onwards
Michelle
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The poem and the reading, double delight!
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Hi Dan,
Your comment is much appreciated.
Dream on!
Michelle
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Hi Louise,
Thanks you for your comment! I like the Miss Moloney bit, brings back memories from TP.
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You paint wonderful pictures with you words, you made me dream….do you know that I come here to be inspired? Thanks for giving me a place to shut my eyes, hope and dream.
Dan
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Nice, really enjoyed it Miss Moloney!
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