Stand in the busy street
And you don’t count at all
There are thousands there just like you
Crushed beside a wall
The noise is ever deafening
Would destroy your soul
And traffic always traffic
Seeking out its goal
But look at where you came from
A world just there for you
Mountains in the distance
Achill near to view
Doona Castle Fahy
Where the Spanish came
And Blacksod Bay beside you
Our own little Spanish main
Today they will lay you down to rest
In busy New York town
A place that never sleeps they say
That would get me down
But Erris will call out to you
Its beauty will provide
The kindness of your nature
You learned down Erris side
Brian Fahy
24 February 2023
A lady of Dooriel, Ballycroy, Anne McGuire has died in New York. The visual contrast of the Bronx and Dooriel could not be greater and that prompted me to write about that – St Brendan’s Church in the Bronx and the landscape of Dooriel. Then I began to read the messages of condolence on the Midwest Radio Website and discovered that this lady was deeply, deeply loved by all who knew her.
The people of Erris had to leave that wild and wonderful place to find work and so make a living. There was a time when they would never be able to return. It is good that those days are over.
Erris Poetry 