The sight of Dun Laoghaire in the morning
Ship approaching through undulating sea
Fresh wind on our faces in that dawning
Ireland gives welcome now to me
Quiet harbour open arms to greet us
Ireland still rising from its bed
Bacon egg toast and tea to feed us
Sugar Loaf Mountain showing us its head
Another world is this we see each summer
Like rising from the dead on Easter Day
Old Holyhead in the dark we did a runner
And slept till dawn and the brightness of the bay
Another land another place entirely
Behind us now the mills of Lancashire
Ahead a train that travels ever westward
To mammy’s land and boxty by the fire
Will heaven be like this I often wonder
A land so very different yet the same
A place of sunny days and ocean breezes
And battleships – shall we play the game?
Brian Fahy
1 June 2022
+ I crossed the Irish Sea every year for most of my life. Childhood holiday crossings were made from Holyhead in Wales to Dun Laoghaire harbour, south of Dublin. The ship sailed at 3.30am to arrive in Ireland around 8 in the morning. We boarded and left in darkness and arrived in the light of morning into a totally different world. For a child such an experience was magical. Going to Ireland, travelling west, going home to my mother’s place has been a foundational factor in my life.
Erris Poetry 