Dublin-born Paddy Crosby attended St Paul’s Christian Brothers School in North Brunswick Street. Locals always called this school “Brunner”. Years later, when he had finished his studies in St Patrick’s Training College and UCD Paddy taught in St Paul’s until his retirement. Paddy was a keen hurler and handball player.
Last year marked the 700th anniversary of the death of the Italian poet Dante, an occasion celebrated throughout Italy with open-air readings, on-line conferences and the publication of books and papers. What isn’t perhaps widely known is that an inspiration for the first book of his Divine Comedy is a legend associated with the cave (since destroyed) known as St Patrick’s Purgatory, on Station Island, Lough Derg.
In the year 1607 we had the historic Flight of the Earls, an event which opened the door for the Plantation of Ulster and the sad consequences that followed. In the early 1980's the late Liam Reilly, lyricist and performer, wrote about another flight of earls. His song was a lament for the departure of our many young people who were departing these shores due to a poor economy and consequent lack of opportunity.
