Poetry and history combine in new book on Boro River area
SOME near forgotten works of poetry have been given a second lease of life recently as they were included in a new book by author Damian Cullen. ‘Where the Boro Waters Flow’ is a collection of poetry, mostly from the 1930s and 40s, along with historical tales from the areas surrounding the river going back nearly 100 years.
While the collection features work from over 20 poets, among the best known locally would be Tom O’Gorman, Johnny Waters, Colonel Tom Ryan and Laurence Harte.
‘I’d have a great interest in history and it was while working on historical things I came across these poems,’ Damian explained. ‘I would describe it as historical poetry. There’s a lot of history in it and the poems cover various events and tragedies in the area. I had about 20 of these poems and they were just going to be left in a folder on the attic, so I decided to publish them and it kind of grew from there. Then I also included some historical stories and stories about people along the river in it as well.’
The book was officially launched in the Cloch Bán in Clonroche recently and the feedback since then has been very good. ‘Where the Boro Waters Flow’ is priced at €20 and is available from Greene’s shop and Kavanagh’s forecourt in Clonroche, Kelly’s Shop in Courtnacuddy, Cullen’s Shop in Adamstown, The Kiosk Shop in Enniscorthy and Zozimus Bookshop in Gorey.