I still go back in memory
And sit beside the fire
And watch the turf fire burning
The sods make it go higher
Nanna’s bed adjacent
The crocheted quilt across
The matriarch of Erris
We knew she was the boss
Warmth and light emitting
The fire drew us in
Cold and dark outside
The rain setting in
But here beside the fire
The happiness of home
The cosiness and comfort
You’d never want to roam
But roam they had to faraway
Away across a sea
To England and to Manchester
A life to find you see
Then coming back with children
Once more within that fold
They came back to their mother
And all their stories told
Brian Fahy
8 February 2023
+ My Nan had eight children, six girls and two boys. Four of those girls, Katie, Bridget, Sheila and Ellen went to Manchester and settled there with their families. They made annual trips home to see their mother, who was a widow for forty-two years. Nan died in 1962, aged 87 years.
Erris Poetry 