South Sligo and Scottish links in special book of poetry
A recent sunny evening in Mullaghmore as the round balers complete the silage harvest.
TEMPERATURES across Sligo will range from 22 to 26 degrees over the next four days, Thursday to Sunday, as the country basks in welcome, if rare clear blue skies and very hot temperatures.
This Saturday will be the hottest day of all locally.
Today, Thursday, through to Sunday will see temperatures range from 22 degrees (today) to 25 degrees on Friday and Sunday, with Saturday forecast by Met Éireann to hit 26 degrees. Temperatures next Monday won’t be too far off, at 21 degrees, but rain is then being flagged by the national forecaster.
Ireland will experience a hot spell developing from tomorrow, Friday, and continuing through
A NEW book of poetry by authors with roots in Sligo and Scotland has been released online.
Co-authored by Sinéad McClure who lives in Ballymote and Cáit O’Neill McCullagh from Ross, in the Scottish Highlands, ‘The songs I sing are sisters’ is a book of poems and a winner of the Dreich Press Classic Chapbook in April 2022. The book grew from a creative partnership that started when these writers met at an online poetry event during the Covid19 pandemic.
Sinéad describes their coming together: “This collaboration happened organically. Conversations in poetry quickly found a shared quality.
“We didn’t realise all the commonalities we shared, tales of migration, love of nature, and even distant family coincidences.”
Cáit adds: “These intimate perspectives opened up a kind of shared heritage, including family stories of migrations, displacements, and new becomings, connecting us with each other, and also with all life on this earth across time and space.”
They have yet to meet in person. This is due a combination of pandemic times and Cáit’s diagnosis of cancer which happened just as they were putting the finishing touches to their book.
Cáit added: “This diagnosis has become an extra lockdown for me.
“My family live in Ireland and I spent part of my childhood there and lived in Northern Ireland in my 20s, so writing with Sinéad has also been a kind of unlocking too.
“This writing has returned me to the place that has always been ‘home beside home’.”
The pair entered their book in the Dreich Classic Chapbook competition in March 2022, where it was among three other collections to be offered a publishing deal.
The book has attracted much acclaim and endorsements from renowned poets on both sides of the rest of the weekend.
Nationally, daytime temperatures will widely reach the mid to high 20s and it will remain uncomfortably warm overnight, too.
In high temperatures the Road Safety Authority is advising road users, particularly drivers, to be aware of the dangers posed by ‘sun glare’ and wear sunglasses to reduce it.
Road users should have adequate supplies of the Irish Sea.
Scottish poet John Glenday has said: “The power of this uplifting collaboration lies in the sheer honesty and clarity of the poetry which demonstrates that no matter how isolated we might feel, language can bring us together.”
Mayo poet and dramatist, Terry McDonagh, praised this new work: “It’s as if nature had decided that these two finely-tuned poets, from different backgrounds, should come together when the time was right.
“They feel like daughters of the same mother earth with their intense lyrical moments and spiritual experiences in tandem.”
‘The songs I sing are sisters’ launched to great acclaim online earlier this month, on August 2, on one of the online spaces where Sinéad and Cáit found their shared alliance, Lime Square Poets.
‘The Songs I Sing Are Sisters’ can be purchased online from www.hybriddreich.co.uk. water, any delays to journeys could result in motorists being stuck in traffic for a period of time in hot conditions.
Children, elderly and pets are particularly at risk during these hot spells of weather. Pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists are also advised to be aware of the dangers that sun glare can cause, especially when crossing the road and at junctions.