Dreaming Big
  • Home
    • Staff
    • Members Only
  • Contact
  • Our Books
    • Non Fiction
    • Fiction
    • Poetry
    • Children's Books
    • Audio Books
  • Coming Soon
  • Blog
  • Opportunities
    • Call For Submissions
    • Submissions Guidelines
    • FAQ
  • Gifts and More

'A Tale of a Family Tree' by Donal Mahoney

11/17/2016

0 Comments

 
​A Tale of a Family Tree
 
They buried Colleen Garrity today
a woman 95 few people thought
would ever die and what a lovely
eulogy her cousin Paddy gave.
 
Paddy must be 80 if a day yet he
told well the tale of a family tree
and about the day he was born
in the family farmhouse where
Molly the midwife was in charge.
 
Before she died Colleen told Paddy
how during his mother’s labor
his father stayed downstairs
playing cards at the kitchen table
as was the custom in rural Ireland 
when a miracle took place upstairs.
 
Colleen remembered how the card game
stopped when Molly the midwife brought
Paddy bundled up downstairs
declared his weight and then
paraded him and his bushy hair
around for all the farmers to see.
 
His father roared and grabbed
his concertina and played a reel
called “Toss the Feathers” while
another man joined him on the flute
and a third came in on an ancient fiddle.
Back then farmers played raucous
reels and jigs whenever a baby
was born pink and bawling.
 
Paddy’s granny lived in town
and the day of Paddy’s birth she
went house to house with a tambourine
banging on doors and shouting
the news that Paddy had arrived
better than any newspaper
and she didn’t charge a cent.
 
 
Donal Mahoney
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Challenge Participant
    Parajunkee Design
    I review for BookLook Bloggers
    Professional Reader
    Book Reviewer Sign Up

    1888PressRelease
    YA Bound Book Tours

Services

Ask A Therapist
Blog
Our Books
Coming Soon

Company

About Us
Staff
​

Support

Contact
FAQ

Find and follow us on social media 
© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.