‘They pumped shame into the air
And we all breathed it in’
Marian Keyes on Ireland
Catholicism and sin
I recognise I recognise
That mood that atmosphere
The Church’s domination
Held everyone in fear
Then about depression
That I am all alone
I recognise I recognise
My heart is as a stone
She has that Irish gift for words
She discovered that she could
If you’re going to tell a story
By God you’d better be good
The gospel is the purest grace
But we often preach it wrong
Artists help us get it right
When good writers come along
Brian Fahy
8 February 2022
+ Watched a programme about the Irish writer, Marian Keyes. Her experiences of the catholic Ireland of her youth, her sojourn in London, her descent into alcoholism, her recovery, her discovering of her ability to write, her falling into depression and recovery – all have found their way into her stories of life.
The Church is entrusted, by the Lord with the preaching of the Gospel, yet our recent history gives many examples of how people in the Church have misunderstood the spirit of the Lord. Ireland holds great examples of this. We are only earthen vessels and we often get it wrong.
Erris Poetry 