Biography

Trigger warning! I have a confession to make: I'm an Adult Human Male, an admission which is likely to get me in trouble with people who were rubbish at Biology in school. I'm also a person of colour, c’est à dire: I'm pink-ish, or mildly lobster-red. My mother was an Adult Human Female, because believe it or not, such things were permitted back in the 1940's; so I'm a supporter of Kellie-Jay Keen and a defender of free speech. I say "Let Women Speak", and I believe that Womens' rights are Human Rights. I also believe that Mens' rights are Human Rights. I am opposed to the literary censorship by Corporate Fascists and general all-round onanists in the literary world and elswhere, My Hobbies? Equestrianism and Ornithology. I've written a couple of guidebooks titled: "The Floggers Guide to Dead Horses", and "Resurrecting the Norwegian Blue" both due for publication by Puffin. My favourite quotes? "...all men and women are created equal, but some are more equal than others". (The Book of Proverbs; Church of England approved version) "If poetry be the food of love, write on; but only of that which we do approve". (Count Orsino in Twelfth Night fromThe Works of Shakespeare; expurgated version published by Puffin) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I'm a poet-well, at least that's what my profile suggests-I'm certainly not a group ;-). In addition to writing about lambs gambolling around in fields, and daffodils and clouds, I have the audacity to ask questions and challenge narratives; narratives set by governments and their mendacious client so-called "journalists", and narratives set by verbocrapic academics. In my writing I challenge the liar, the smug, the arrogant and the ignorant. By "ignorant" I'm not referring to people who haven't passed a lot of exams, but to "pig-ignorant" (Lanky Twang) oafish bullies with no manners; (a prime example of whom would be members of the Bullingdon Club, QV. EX PM Boris Johnson). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- About my profile picture-why a photo of a manhole cover? I took it in 2011, on my arrival in the centre of Santiago de Compostela. I had walked the length of the river Loire, from Guérande in Brittany to its source at Gerbier de Jonc (625 miles): from there, walking to Le Puy en Velay, the start of the French Way of Saint James, the GR65 path, leading to Santiago, (very roughly 740 miles); a total of about 1365 miles. According to estimates, in 2017 300,000 pilgrims (tourists?) arrived at Santiago; I would have been just one of those people who would have trodden on or around it. A seemingly mundane object, but to me, almost a work of art of cultural and religious significance. It features an image which I recognises as a chalice, traditionally containing communion wine, a host, a wafer of communion bread, and the image of a star, the light of which is said in legend to have guided a shepherd to the site of Santiago’s (Saint James’) burial site. But why on earth would those images be on a manhole cover?

SAMPLES

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/18087e716a96d14ab69c0cd3ba2859fa4c1d6cdf/0_0_3377_2047/master/3377.jpg?width=1920&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=791b549a51e406486060f56a8f727dbe Citizen Not Subject I Citizen, can let no king be mine, I will not swear an oath in your god’s name. You do not reign by any right divine, To my loyalty you have no right, no claim. I swear I’ll pay to these my true allegiance: The teacher, paramedic, railway worker, I’ll fight for their protection from malfeasance, “For all, not for the few” must be our charter. Our British Nurses have not bread enough, Our claps have not sufficed to pay their bills. Whilst royal snouts are snuffling in the trough, Our Sick and Carers swallow bitter pills. There’s something rotten in the state of Britain, Compassion’s now been flung upon the midden. ---------------------------------------------------- Thanksgiving for Sunday 23rd April 2023 It was an ordinary Sunday, ‘Til you turned up, then it was Fuuunday! We took along bread for feeding the birds, God’s creatures need love, both feathered and furred, We settled for the path with the steepest rake, Which leads directly down to the lake, Exercise for the legs, the heart and the mind, But to granddads’s old knees, not quite so kind! With your tiny hands, you held us both tight, Your right in gran’s left, and your left in my right, Gladly I paid for ice creams all round, I’d promised your mum, I was duty bound! We fed Canada Geese and ducks and swans, Sauntering and smiling, amongst the birdsong, Our blessings recieved in nature’s kingdom, Pure joy that we shared with our little Cherry Blossom! ---------------------------------------------------------- On Brexit (I paraphrase Rudyard Kipling's "Epitaph") We could not work; nor in broad daylight rob: Therefore we lied to please the Brexit mob. Now all our lies are proved to be untrue Our youth will never live the dreams we slew. What excuses now shall serve us among These defrauded angry old and young?

All poems are copyright of the originating author. Permission must be obtained before using or performing others' poems.

Blog entries by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh

Walking Back To Happiness on Friday 26th May 2023 (KISS and TOFFEE) (28/05/2023)

Millionaires...Don't Give a Fuck About You (27/05/2023)

Walking Back to Happiness (26/05/2023)

Un Succès Titanesque! (23/05/2023)

United Futilities (20/05/2023)

The Elephant in the Room or Miss Tavistock’s Creative Biology Class (16/05/2023)

SPAM! (11/05/2023)

Sausage Fingers (10/05/2023)

Haiku. Mis-Match of the Day-Score (09/05/2023)

Citizen Not Subject (06/05/2023)

Read more entries by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh…

Blog link: https://www.writeoutloud.net/blogs/uilleamÓceallaigh

Audio entries by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh

Walking Back To Happiness on Friday 26th May 2023 (KISS and TOFFEE) (28/05/2023)

Un Succès Titanesque! (23/05/2023)

The Elephant in the Room or Miss Tavistock’s Creative Biology Class (16/05/2023)

Sausage Fingers (10/05/2023)

Citizen Not Subject (06/05/2023)

Lover of South African Apartheid (03/05/2023)

Thanksgiving for Sunday 23rd April 2023 (01/05/2023)

Double Limerick - Soggy Moggy (29/04/2023)

Turn The Bugger Off (23/04/2023)

REJOIN THE EU! (21/04/2023)

More audio from Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh…