On the Banks

Alannah Hopkin has lived in Kinsale since 1982. She has published two novels, and several works of non-fiction, including West Cork: The People and the Place which was recently reissued. She has written guides to Ireland for Fodor's, Insight and Berlitz, and regularly reviews books for national newspapers. She runs workshops for Poetry Ireland's Writers in Schools scheme, and has a lifelong love of poetry.

Praise for the Editor: 'A warm and engaging guide.' The Irish Times; 'A very fresh and original eye.' Books Ireland; 'Meticulously researched and beautifully written.' Irish Examiner

• 1. The River Lee'On the Banks of My Own Lovely Lee' - Anonymous 21'The Spreading Lee' - Edmund Spenser 23'My Father Spoke with Swans' - Patrick Galvin 24'After the Storm' - Derek Mahon 26'Lee Song' - John Montague 29'Little Island Reverie' - Gerry Murphy 30'Wet Wet Cork' - Patrick Cotter 31'By the Lough' - John Mee 33'Heron' - Eugene O'Connell 34'In Lee Fields: This and That' - Dean Browne 35'She was not Faithful' - Sean O Riordain 36'An Otter' - Billy Ramsell 38'Drama Queen' - Eugene O'Connell 40'Marsh' - Michael Ray 41'Breath' - Billy Ramsell 43'Frogman' - Matthew Sweeney 47'The Golden Mile' - Augustus Young 49'The Regatta' - John Fitzgerald, The Bard of the Lee 512. Beautiful City - Landmarks of Cork'Beautiful City' - John Fitzgerald, The Bard of the Lee 55'My Cork' - James N. Healy 57'A Cork from out a Bottle' - Dan Hobbs 58'Shandon Steeple' - Anonymous 59'Inscriptions on the Bells of Shandon' - Anonymous 60'The Bells of Shandon' - Francis Sylvester Mahony 61'The Shandon Welcome' - Cliff Wedgbury 63'Blair's Castle' - Anonymous 65'Ballad of Sister Mary' - Patrick Galvin 66'Marsh' - Paul Casey 68'Finbarr and the Serpent of Gougane Barra' - James Harpur 69'A Nocturne for Blackpool' - Theo Dorgan 70'The Monument' - Patrick Cottter 73'The Singing City' - Gerard Smyth 75'On John Butts' A View of Cork' - Graham Allen 76'A Memory of Meat on the Last Day of Lent' - Emily Davis-Fletcher 77'Men of the South' - Rosemary Canavan 79'Harry Clarke's Gobnait' - Catherine Phil MacCarthy 81'The Dying Synagogue at South Terrace' - Thomas McCarthy 82'Balloon over Cork, 1784' - Matthew Geden 85'My Stolen City' (extract) - George Harding 86'On Dunkettle Bridge' - Gerry Murphy 89'Cork is the Eden for You, Love, and Me' - John Fitzgerald, The Bard of the Lee 903. Cork City Characters'The Boys of Fairhill' - Anonymous 95'To Frederick Douglas, The Celebrated Fugitive Slave' - Daniel Casey 97'Father Mathew' - Thomas Condon 99'Mr Thackeray on Cork' (extract) - Augustus Young 102'Lola Montez' - Daniel Casey 103'The Communion of Saints' - George Boole 105'Elegy' - John Fitzgerald, The Bard of the Lee 107'Leaving Lichfield' - George Harding 108'The Madwoman of Cork' - Patrick Galvin 110'Shandon Bridge' - Derek Mahon 113'The Lady with the Dog' - Robert Nye 115'Meals on Wheels, Hollyhill' - Doireann Ni Ghriofa 116'The View' - Patrick Cotter 117'A Million Tanks in Cork' - Adam Wyeth 119'Tap Tap' - Chuck Kruger 120'The Habit' - Catherine Phil McCarthy 122'Seamus Murphy' - Sean Lucy 123'Seamus Murphy, Died 2 October, 1975' - Eilean Ni Chuilleanain 125'For Daniel Corkery' - Sean O Riordain 126'Shadow Play' - Gregory O'Donoghue 128'The Two Seans' - John Montague 130'Sean O Riordain's Photograph' - George Harding 133'Sean O Riada' - Tomas O Canainn 134'John O'Donoghue, 1932-1995' - Gregory O'Donoghue 135'Last Words in the Hi-B' - Liz O'Donoghue 137'Farewell to a Pagan' - Gerry Murphy 138'The Poem You've Been Waiting For' - Matthew Sweeney 140'The Langer Song' - Tim O'Riordan 1424. Courting in Cork'The Banks of the Lee' - Anonymous 147'Amoretti LXXV: One Day I wrote her Name' - Edmund Spenser 149'Amoretti LXVII: Like as a Huntsman' - Edmund Spenser 150from 'Epithalamion' - Edmund Spenser 151from 'Sonnets to a Tudor Poet' 5 - Sean Lysaght 154'Edmund Spenser's Amoretti' - Gregory O'Donoghue 155'A Cork Prothalamium' - Greg Delanty 156'He Thinks of the Meaning of Constant Happiness, 1807' - Thomas McCarthy 158'The Sheltered Nest' - Sean Dunne 159'Bessboro' - Eilean Ni Chuilleanain 161'My Flirtation with International Socialism' - Gerry Murphy 163'Sullivan's Quay' - Michele Vassal 164'Toast' - Thomas McCarthy 165'December, Cork City' - Roisin Kelly 167'Heatwave' - Catherine Phil McCarthy 169'Summer '89- - Liz O'Donoghue 170'Clarke's Bridge Vignette' - Gerry Murphy 171'New Year's Day' - Mary Noonan 172'Passage West' - John Spillane 1745. Sporting and Playing'Bold Thady Quill' - Johnny Tom Gleeson 179'The Boys of Fair Hill' - Anonymous 182'A Song for Christy Ring' - Bryan MacMahon 184'The Armoured Car' - Sean O'Callaghan 186'The Match Down the Park' - Theo Dorgan 188'St Patrick's Purgatory' - Bernard O'Donoghue 191'The Town of Passage' - Francis Sylvester Mahony 192'Cissy Young's' - Paul Durcan 195'Passing the Evergreen Bar' - Greg Delanty 197'AWOL' - Aidan Murphy 198'I Remember a Night in the Long Valley' - Theo Dorgan 199'Long Valley Revisited' - Gerry Murphy 200'Sir Henry's Nightclub: Wednesday Nights' - Victoria Kennefick 201'Temples' - Margaret Galvin 202'On the Demolition of the Arcadia Ballroom' - Aidan Murphy 203'The Silver Screen' - Aidan Murphy 204'Trailer' - Greg Delanty 205'Usherette' - Liam O Muirthile 206'October Jazz' - Mary Noonan 207'Midnight Tombstone Cathedral' - Liz O'Donoghue 209'Johnny Jump Up' - Traditional 2106. Cork City at Work - Streets and Markets'The Corkonians' - John Fitzgerald, The Bard of the Lee 215'Chant of the Quay Called Coal' - Anonymous 216'The Beautiful City' - Anonymous 218from 'Mr Thackeray on Cork' - Augustus Young 219'Blackpool' - Anonymous 222'bullocks' - Cliff Wedgbury 223'Ballintemple 1847' - George Harding 225'The Evening Echo, Cork' - John Wakeman 227'The Orange Girls of Cork' - Bernard O'Donoghue 228'Choirmaster' - Colm Breathnach 229'Supervising Examinations' - Sean Lucy 230'Birds on the Quadrangle' - John Fitzgerald 232'office hour' - Judy Kravis 233'Singer's Corner' - Seamus Harrington 234'The Cranes are Up' - George Harding 236'Patrick's Hill' - Roisin Kelly 237'Cork Style' - Rosalin Blue 238'Drinking Hot Chocolate in the Rain' - Robert Nye 240'English Market' - Rosemary Canavan 241'A Calf in the English Market' - Matthew Sweeney 242'Different Kinds of Life' - James O'Sullivan 244'Ode to a Wooden Boat' - Seamus Harrington 246'The Night the Goat Broke Loose on Grand Parade' - Anonymous 2507. Cork City at Home - Family Life'Salonika' - Anonymous 255'Self-Portrait' - J. J. Callanan 258'Advice to a Poet' - Patrick Galvin 260'On his deathbed my grandfather warns meagainst literature' - Gerry Murphy 262'Learning My Father's Memories' - Theo Dorgan 263'The Emigrant's Apology' - Greg Delanty 265'By My Mother's Bedside' - Greg Delanty 266'My Mother's Burial' - Sean O Riordain 268'Night in the Cottage' - Frank O'Connor 271'Theocritus on Sunday' - Frank O'Connor 273'New Shoes' - Colm Breathnach 274'Frank O'Connor' - Thomas McCarthy 275'Lipstick' - Liam O Muirthile 276'Aceldama' - Greg Delanty 277'A History Lesson' - Augustus Young 279'Elders on the Skehard' - George Harding 281'The Polio Epidemic' - Eilean Ni Chuilleanain 282'Bacon and Cabbage' - Martina Evans 283'"Windfall" 8 Parnell Hill, Cork' (extract) - Paul Durcan 285'Grand Parade' - Doireann Ni Ghriofa 287'Ghost Estate' - William Wall 2898. Cork City Ghosts and Other Enigmas'What News, Centurions?' - Colm Scully 293'The Elysian' - Graham Allen 295'Homeland Security' - Patrick Cotter 297'The Late Mr Charles Lynch Digresses' - Paul Durcan 299'Lauriston' - John Fitzgerald 300'Saturday Night' - John Mee 301'Unfinished Sequence for Sean O Riada' (extract) -Sean Lucy 302'From Mushera' - John Fitzgerald 304'Talking to Stones' - Liz O'Donoghue 305'Haruspex on Western Road' - Victoria Kennfick 307'Dead Cat in Winthrop Street' - Gerry Murphy 308'The Yellow Golf Ball on the Lawn' - Matthew Sweeney 309'Ghost in the Jack Lynch Tunnel' - Bernadette McCarthy 311'The Stolen Coat' - Lane Ashfeldt 312'While Bleeding' - Doireann Ni Ghriofa 314'Gated Community' - Billy Ramsell 316'The Back of the House' - Sean O Riordain 318'Full Coverage' - John Fitzgerald 320'Shandon' - Gerard Smyth 321'[Now Then / Now Then]' - Doireann Ni Ghriofa 3229. Cork City Blues - Exile and Return'Carrigdhoun' - Denny Lane 327'Liberty' - Sean O Riordain 329'Refugees at Cobh' - Sean Dunne 332'Sisters in Exile' - Aidan Murphy 334'Casualty' - Sean Lucy 336'The Hellbox' (extract) - Greg Delanty 337'A Prayer' - Graham Allen 339'Journeys' - Tomas O Canainn 340'On the probability of moving to Dublin' - Bernadette McCarthy 342'Westering Home' - Bernard O'Donoghue 343'The Bodhisattvas That We Were Are Still On The Road' - Theo Dorgan 344'Culture Night' - Colm Scully 346'My Hometown' - Rory Gallagher 350'Farewell!' - John Fitzgerald, The Bard of the Lee 352Acknowledgements 355