Turlough
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I have 169 stories published in
7 collections on the site.
My stories have been read 384886 times
and 230 of my stories have been cherry picked.
705 of my 2,646 comments have been voted Great Feedback with a total of 738 votes
Terence Mullan
The toothless old widow who sits beneath the pomegranate tree in the square confided in me, ‘Snow and ice in April will hurt the tender shoots of our hostas but they’ll return even stronger under the Balkan sunshine’s healing rays.’ The old man sitting beside her with a cigarette lodged neatly in one of the gaps in his front teeth casually added, ‘Hosta la vista, baby!’
My collections
My stories
Island of Dreams
One day my wanderlust will take me to Great Yarmouth, but in the meantime here’s the Gulf of Kissamou.
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- 15 comments
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- 161 reads
Clochán an Aifir (The Giant’s Causeway)
Not too far from where I once lived, this place has mesmerised me since I was six.
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- 17 comments
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- 188 reads
Introducing Turlough Ó Maoláin, Performance Poet
My April, the second of two parts, and restricted to 100 words per day because less is more, and I am the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe of village gossip.
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- 19 comments
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- 256 reads
The Fish on the Hill
My April, the first of two parts, and restricted to 100 words per day so that I can’t be accused of banging on about it.
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- 18 comments
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- 432 reads
When Life Gives You Flags
Part Four of the Flour of Sri Lanka series. Kavinda’s proudest moment.
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- 374 reads
Fireflies and frogs
Posted on Sat, 21 Sep 2024
A couple of times in our garden, after a summer evening rainshower, I've seen small frogs that have swallowed fireflies. I only know this because I've seen the dull flashing from inside their throats.
This is a lovely poem Jenny. I really...
Read full commentPosted in Enchanted insects
Bernard Manning
Posted on Tue, 09 Jul 2024
The former existence of Bernard Manning pours doubt on the possibility that there has ever been a supreme being that's made us in their image.
Read full commentPosted in Imperfect Beauty
Kind words, Di. Thank you.
Posted on Fri, 21 Jul 2023
Kind words, Di. Thank you.
If it helps you keep the giggling under control I'll read something about my involvement with the bubonic plague on 12 August.
Read full commentPosted in Our Man in Golubac
Johnson's Finger
Posted on Mon, 14 Apr 2025
It takes a very skilled writer to make me laugh at something that contains the words 'Boris' and 'Johnson'. In fact you've cheered me up immensely as I try to imagine that, despite everything that's going on in the world today, it would all be an...
Read full commentPosted in Boris and the Art of the Deal
Germany
Posted on Mon, 31 Mar 2025
Apart from cherry cake and dirndln, football is probably my favourite thing about Germany. It's just so different to anywhere else I've watched it so I can well imagine the atmosphere at your second tier Hertha game. The last time I was in...
Read full commentPosted in Steelie 14
Suffering children
Posted on Fri, 17 Jan 2025
It is said that the cries of the suffering children can be heard echoing late into most nights.
That's what our neighbours used to say when we lived in York in the mid 1960s but it turned out they were talking about me and my...
Read full commentPosted in The Golden Fleece (Ghost Walk) Part Two of Two
Those women
Posted on Sat, 21 Dec 2024
I really like your line... Their songs like wire in no man's land
Some of the roughest times in history were passed down the years in song. Always thought provoking and haunting, as your poem is. Good on those women!
Read full commentPosted in The Border Ballads
Leeches
Posted on Wed, 18 Dec 2024
The effects of war, pollution, drought, disease and starvation inflict much more harm on the world and its population than potentially life-saving vaccines do, but many governments and the people who vote for them seem to be able to overlook that...
Read full commentPosted in Why I'm a consistent and unabashed 'anti-vaxxer'
Righto Di...
Posted on Mon, 16 Dec 2024
Righto Di, thank you.
It was the memory of Julia that brought me to ABC but that memory is the most difficult thing I have ever attempted to write about, especially when taking into consideration the awful circumstances of her unnecessary...
Read full commentPosted in Velvet Goldmine
The Balkans
Posted on Wed, 13 Nov 2024
There are several sides to this story CM. In the past I've spoken to Croats and Bosnians about those wars but this was the first time I'd had a conversation with a Serb. None of them have ever had anything to say on the subject that wasn't...
Read full commentPosted in Boško’s Clouds
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