Faith
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Claimed. Accompanied. Sent.

I wrote this hymn slowly, paying attention to water. Not water as an idea, but water as something that moves, waits, gathers, seeps, and returns. Water that has weight and sound and temperature. Water that holds memory. Baptism is often talked about as a moment—something that happens and is done. For me, baptism has always Continue reading
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Succession. Loss. Continuity.

For more than seventy years, the sixth of February carried a singular weight in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms. As Accession Day, it marked the moment when private loss and public duty first converged, and over time it became a fixed point in the national memory—quietly observed rather than celebrated. I wrote this Continue reading
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Courage. Gentleness. Wisdom

This hymn grew out of listening rather than certainty. It brings together two women who never met, yet somehow recognise one another across time and land. Saint Agatha, standing her ground in the hard stone world of Rome, and Saint Brigid, whose holiness took root in hearth-fire, field, and care for ordinary people. One knew Continue reading
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Flour. Aprons. Presence.

For many of us, faith is encountered not first through abstraction or silence, but through texture, rhythm, repetition, and shared work. This poem emerges from the sensory world of baking—warmth, fragrance, patience, and touch—and attends to grace as something embodied and practiced rather than merely believed. Written to be read, prayed, or sung, it traces Continue reading
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Lines. Rise. Twice.

When the Words Arrive Twice This morning I wrote a poem for a grieving friend. The words came quickly—not rushed, but with that quiet certainty that sometimes accompanies deep care. They felt true. They felt needed. They felt like mine to offer. And yet, before I pressed “publish,” I did what many of us do: Continue reading
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Held in the humming

A poem expressing the medical treatment I experience. The morning hums its fragile tune,the clinic lights grow bright;on Monday, Wednesday, Friday dawnsI take my steady rite.The lines connect with practiced care,the blood begins its round;a pilgrim held by humming pumps,yet rooted in this ground.Twice yearly comes the Dublin trip,a check that keeps me true;HIV’s a Continue reading
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God’s Whisper Everywhere

A short poem in celebration of God’s whisper written during a restless night. Continue reading
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Walk. Prayer. Grace.

I wish I could walk St Brigid’s Way with the Monasterevin parish today, but dialysis has me walking a different path. Still, prayer travels where feet cannot, and Christ meets us wherever we are. Holding all the pilgrims close in heart and prayer. I wrote a hymn for the walk. We walk Saint Brigid’s way Continue reading
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Seedtime. Light. Pilgrimage.

This hymn is offered as a prayer for the turning of the year, when winter loosens its grip and the first signs of new life appear in field, garden, and soul. Rooted in the landscapes of Kildare and shaped by the rhythms of early spring, it gives thanks for creation renewed and for God’s living Continue reading
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Carried. Promise. Radiance.

Written for Candlemas (The Presentation of the Lord), this hymn celebrates Christ as the Light of the nations at the turning of the year. Drawing on the witness of Simeon and Anna, and set within the landscape and seasonal rhythms of Ireland, it weaves biblical faith with themes of light, hope, and patient renewal. 87 Continue reading

