Vincent Hanley
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vincenthanley.bsky.social
Vincent Hanley
@vincenthanley.bsky.social
32 followers 160 following 20 posts
Superannuated Man - I roam about; not to and from - interests include education, literature, politics, poetry, Éigse Michael Hartnett committee. I’m In thrall to Knockaderry and Limerick GAA! Twitter migrant. Website: vinhanley.wordpress.com
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The Joys of Walking

vinhanley.com/2025/12/22/t...
The Joys of Walking
I became a serious walker in 2009! For several years before that, I had been severely hampered by arthritis in my left hip. After years of being told that I was too young for a hip replacement, I h…
vinhanley.com
December 22, 2025 at 10:41 PM
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Life’s Simple Pleasures
vinhanley.com/2025/12/15/l...
Life’s Simple Pleasures
I like to spend my lazy days in the garden. When Kate and I set up home in Knockaderry in 1979, we inherited a garden and a red setter called Kelly. Then there was the recently acquired three-quart…
vinhanley.com
December 16, 2025 at 10:55 AM
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What an amazing team!

www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/ar...
Blues moon rising - Barrs’ dressing room was a glittering cast like Ocean’s Eleven
St Finbarr's glorious eighties era wasn’t distinguished by brilliance alone. At its heart was a colony of leaders and resourceful men.
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December 11, 2025 at 12:37 PM
vincenthanley.bsky.social
For all Michael Hartnett fans - some Christmas reading all together in the one place. Click in and out as you wish ….
vinhanley.com/2023/11/03/t...
The Hartnett Files
I have been posting essays and commentary here over the years on the life and poetry of Michael Hartnett.  The nature of my blog is a bit disjointed and doesn’t have a ready index, so I  have…
vinhanley.com
December 11, 2025 at 11:20 AM
vincenthanley.bsky.social
Another big scalp for SMI today.
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SMI Newcastle West power past Ballincollig to book Munster PPS U19 ‘B’ hurling quarter-final spot
The Newcastle West side recorded a 3-18 to 1-17 victory over Colaiste Choilm Ballincollig at Páirc Uí Chaoimh's 4G pitch on Wednesday
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December 10, 2025 at 8:00 PM
vincenthanley.bsky.social
The savage (and the blow-in) love their native shore!
vinhanley.com/2025/12/08/p...
Philosophical Thoughts on Glenroe and Knockaderry
This is a detail from the 1840 historic map showing the sculpted and structured gardens surrounding Knockaderry House, the birthplace of Sophie Peirce, and the nearby Chesterfield House. It was unu…
vinhanley.com
December 9, 2025 at 9:47 AM
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The Christmas Tree by Danny Barry

vinhanley.com/2023/12/05/t...
The Christmas Tree by Danny Barry
This beautiful video has been produced by Danny Barry’s grandson, Dan Barry. The poem is narrated by the poet Michael Hartnett and it is taken from a radio documentary that he did in 1979 for…
vinhanley.com
December 6, 2025 at 10:45 PM
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Michael Hartnett’s homage to the 26 working pubs mentioned in Maiden Street Ballad in 1980. How many are open today?

vinhanley.com/2019/12/18/m...
Michael Hartnett’s 26 Pubs at Christmas!
Michael Hartnett arrived back in Newcastle West after nearly fifteen years of ‘exile’, around 1975.  He then imposed a further exile on himself by deciding to settle with his wife Rosemary and his …
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December 4, 2025 at 11:14 AM
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vinhanley.com/2022/12/16/a...
A Christmas Childhood by Patrick Kavanagh
IrishCentral Staff @IrishCentral A Christmas Childhood by Patrick Kavanagh I One side of the potato-pits was white with frost –How wonderful that was, how wonderful!And when we put our ears to the …
vinhanley.com
December 3, 2025 at 3:39 PM
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Happy Christmas from Newcastle West!

vinhanley.com/2015/12/19/m...
Michael Hartnett’s ‘Christmas in Maiden Street’
This piece of incisive and insightful social commentary, written by the poet himself, describing life in Newcastle West in the 1950’s, first appeared in Magill magazine in December 1977 and l…
vinhanley.com
December 3, 2025 at 9:23 AM
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Kavanagh’s theology laid bare! Wonderful poem.
vinhanley.com/2014/11/24/a...
Advent by Patrick Kavanagh
Advent We have tested and tasted too much, lover- Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder. But here in the Advent-darkened room Where the dry black bread and the sugarless tea Of penance …
vinhanley.com
December 2, 2025 at 2:20 PM
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vinhanley.com/2025/12/01/s...
Semple Stadium Glory Days
Some like Anfield, some prefer Wembley or the Camp Nou or Santiago Bernabéu; some prefer Thomond Park or Cardiff Arms, but my favourite ‘field of dreams’ is Semple Stadium in Thurles, County Tipper…
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December 1, 2025 at 6:26 PM
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vinhanley.com/2025/11/10/b...
Brandon Creek Epiphany – and a Rant!
The title of this blog is ‘Reviews, Rants and Rambles’ and since 2015, there have been many reviews and rambles but very few rants – so here’s one:  We are living through the craziest of times.  Li…
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November 30, 2025 at 10:05 AM
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vinhanley.com/2025/11/26/s...
Some Glendarragh Poems of Michael Hartnett: Poems from the Hearth
As I have mentioned already in another post here, the decade from 1975 to 1985 in Glendarragh, Templeglantine, was arguably the most productive of Hartnett’s career.  Indeed, the output from that l…
vinhanley.com
November 28, 2025 at 11:46 AM
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vinhanley.com/2025/11/17/r...
Random Epiphanies….
An epiphany is that moment when the penny drops, when the scales fall away from your eyes; that ‘light bulb moment’ when the mystery is solved; when the poem gives up its secret; that Eureka Moment…
vinhanley.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:18 AM
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In Praise of Ryanair

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In Praise of Ryanair – Faint Praise Indeed!
For retirees like us, Ryanair has been our ticket to the sun, allowing us to travel and expand our horizons. Since its establishment in 1984, Ryanair has evolved from a small airline, operating sho…
vinhanley.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:53 PM
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The view from my front door this evening - looking out over the valley of Mágh Ghréine #Knockaderry
November 21, 2024 at 4:23 PM