Hi, it is the boy from Barrystown, charming and charismatic, erudite, scholarly, historian supreme, superb florist, an intelligence greater by far than Einstein, marathon runner, a right boyo, blessed among the women,  and above,  all else, the most devious and wily of them all—that wily boy from beside the mine pits. In a previous Blog, I wrote that my former teacher Professor Patrick O’Farrell of Sydney wrote that nobody preached against railways; I think that he referred to the Irish situation but the observation if applied to a wider context than that, was not absolutely correct. Pope Gregory XVI (1831—1846), a most conservative minded Churchman, banned all railways from the Papal States; I presume that his successor reversed this eccentric rule. One could still confidently assert that the Catholic Church leaders were not opposed to the advent of the railways. From The People October 26, 1864:– “Bannow—The Irish Herculaneum

Hi, it is the boy from Barrystown, charming and charismatic; blessed among women, an intelligence higher than Einstein, a right boyo, moves and talks with panache and above all else, the most devious and wily of them all…that wily boy from beside the mine pits. I was thinking lately that it would be extremely difficult to plagiarise my writings: my style is a unique mix of the highest intellect and limitless erudition, blended with wit and impossible to replicate stylistic effects. It is not given to other mortals to write history like that. The dogs in the street and the birds of the trees would laugh raucously at anyone seeking to replicate the writings of the boy from Barrystown! The birds will always sing my praises, anyway, as I feed them regularly, albeit on the cheap loaves! In my last Blog—in a rare omission—I did not properly identify the

Hi, it is the boy from Barrystown, charming and charismatic, the most remarkable man of this era, an intelligence greater that that of Einstein, erudite, scholarly, historian supreme, a right boyo, super florist and especially expert at cultivating sunflowers, marathon runner, moves and talks with panache, blessed among the women and, above all else, the most devious and wily of them all—that wily boy from beside the mine pits. Contrary to Tom Boyse’s pessimistic expectations, a statue of Tom Moore, the poet, was erected in Dublin in 1857. From The Free Press the 5th of January 1924:– “Deaths Cleary—On December 29th 1923, at her residence, Maxboley, Ballymitty, Mrs Ellen Cleary, in 83rd year of her life. Interred in Kilcaven Cemetery. R. I. P.” From The People the 4th of January 1913:– “Sodality of The Sacred Heart The usual monthly meeting of the Sodality of the Sacred Heart was held

Hi, it is the boy from Barrystown, charming and charismatic, historian supreme, a right boyo, an intelligence greater that Einstein, eloquent, blessed among the women, moves and talks with panache, a crafted raconteur, a unique scholar, erudite, a florist and a marathon runner. I am, as somebody used to say, the most devious and wily of them all, that wily boy from beside the mine pits. The weather this early June has been abominable and without many precedents: the summer of 1959 started badly and morphed into a wonderful summer but the conditions in 1958 were quite alike to this sickening early summer and developed to one of the wettest summers ever. 1960 was weirdly cold but the fields were not flooded as in 1958. According to The Wexford Independent on the 12th of December 1838, Dan O’Connell, the Liberator, on Wednesday the 3rd of December—“reached the new bridge

Hi, it is the boy from Barrystown, charming and charismatic, historian supreme, an intelligence in excess of Einstein, a right boyo, erudite, scholarly, original, inspired and inspiring and above all else, the most wily and devious of them all—that wily boy from beside the mine pits. I left Barrystown in the month of May and this May the symbols have been particularly positive for me. I was, as I told the meeting, gratified that so many new members came to the A. G. M. of the Bannow Historical Society on last Monday night: the irrepressible impression was of renewal, of fresh growth—a May and early summer symbolism of surging beauty. Before the meeting, I walked back from Wellingtonbridge towards Barrystown and was surprised by the number of beautiful new houses now constructed along that piece of road. It is, perhaps, the most alluring and beautiful place on this earth.

Hi, it is the boy from Barrystown, charming, charismatic, erudite, scholarly, eloquent, moves and talks with panache, historian supreme, a right boyo, modest, self-effacing, original, innovative, inspired and inspiring, a marathon runner, trainor of hurling teams, a superb florist, expert at cultivating sunflowers—a man without equal and not ever to be emulated; above all else, the most devious and wily of them all, that wily boy from beside the mine-pits. You could write a million books about me and still not adequately describe my greatness. On the 1st of May 1850, the Wexford Independent carried a letter sent by Tom Boyse of Bannow to Mr Conway, the editor of the Dublin Evening Post. Mr Boyse addressed the editor, a special friend of his, as “Conway”: it was a convention of that era to address a distinguished public person by his surname in public discourse. The theme of Tom Boyse’s

Hi, it is the boy from Barrystown, the most wily and devious of them all, a genius with intelligence greater than Einstein, erudite, eloquent, moves and talks with panache, scholarly, inspired and inspiring, historian supreme, a right boyo, a trainor of hurling teams, a marathon runner, blah, blah….One could write a thousand books, of a thousand pages each, and only be at the beginning of the challenge of describing my greatness. You could say the same about Tom Boyse, the two Toms etc as they shouted out when the Bard of Erin, Tom Moore, came to Bannow. Or is that three Toms or what?! From The Echo, the 6th of May 1950:– “New pastor of Bannow Father John O’Brien Most Rev. Dr Staunton, Bishop of Ferns, has appointed Rev. John O’Brien C. C., Gorey, to the pastoral charge of Bannow, vacant through the death of Very Rev. Matthew Keating.

Hi, it is the boy from Barrystown, erudite, scholarly, eloquent, moves, acts and talks with panache, without equal, historian supreme, an intelligence far in excess of that of Einstein; a superb florist, a possessor of a poetic touch, an athlete and above all else, the most wily and devious of them all, that wily boy from beside the mine-pits. A wet and windy May will fill the haggard full of hay. I think that the Rev. James Graves ministered in the Fethard district, at some time or other; he was a scholarly man but tended to use one hundred ornate words where one simple one would suffice. He was inherently courteous and on October 5th 1850 The Wexford Independent published his response to a letter previously published in the newspaper, written—almost invariably—by John C. Tuomy:– “Sir—Having received, by your courtesy a copy of the Wexford Independent of the 25th

Hi, it is the boy from Barrystown, charming, charismatic, scholarly, erudite, historian supreme, a right boyo, a sheer genius, an intelligence in excess of Einstein, walks and talks with panache and this year especially enlivened by the brightness of early summer—the darkness of winter is lifting both in reality and in metaphor! Has any man or woman been so regularly reminded of their genius? The people seem to talk to me about little else. There will never be another like that wily boy from beside the mine pits, the most devious and wily of them all. The People on the 6th of March 1937 published an apology to young Mervyn Boyse, the 23 year old heir to the Bannow estate; his father had died well before his time a few weeks earlier. This is the opening part of The People’s retraction (maybe that is too severe a word):– “Boyse

Hi, it is the boy from Barrystown, charming, charismatic, ebullient, moves and talks with panache, historian supreme, a right boyo, a genius, an intelligence greater than ever Einstein had, a whiz at Latin and at legal complexities, an orator; a man born to read, write and speak history; plus a creative genius with flowers. Will there be any sowing season for the flowers this year? Or shall we have to wait until next year? What is another year to wait for a season to sow the flowers? Rev. Andrew V. Cleary was born at Maxboley in 1776 and died on the 4th of August 1829 at Placentia, Newfoundland. He is buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery, Placentia, Newfoundland. Dr Lambert came to Newfoundland from the Franciscan seminary in Wexford and was 55 years of age when consecrated Bishop. Fr. Andrew Cleary and Fr Denis Kelly and a Mr James Sinnott