Tradition claims that Tibbot was born on his mother’s ship while his mother was marauding along the southwest coast of Ireland. On the day following his birth, Granuaile’s ship was attacked by Algerian pirates. The battle was not going well for the Irish, and finally one of Granuaile’s captains rushed below deck where Granuaile lay with her newly born son. The man pleaded with her to show herself in battle, so that her very presence might swing the direction of the fight. More than likely cursing under her breath, she wrapped a blanket around herself, went up on deck with a musket in her hands, and fired it into the oncoming Algerians, leading her men to victory. She was the leader, after all, and a ‘little’ thing like childbirth was certainly not going to set her back.
Malachy McCourt, Malachy McCourt’s History of Ireland.
I truly love [the “Pirate Queen” Granuaile’s] boldness. What her enemies called ‘piracy’ and ‘treason’ Granuaile described to Elizabeth I herself as her ‘maintenance by land and sea.’
Malachy McCourt, Malachy McCourt’s History of Ireland.
I woke up one day to a deepening state of misery and the sudden vision of my future as a big, rambling house out of a Brönte novel set on fire, the prospects for escape narrowing as each hallway filled with smoke.
I could always go back to living with the low-grade shame of having a dream in life and doing nothing to pursue it. It was a common-enough affliction to live with, like dandruff or a deviated septum.
If my father, the scientist, were here, I thought as I walked, he would remind me that success is only a matter of statistics and that pessimism is an illogical response to failure. Failure only means that you haven’t thrown yourself, face-first, against the brick wall of probability enough times. And to quit after only one try? That would be committing statistical suicide.
[Saint] Patrick was a Roman citizen grounded in the Roman church, and it was his intention to bring that church to the land of his captivity. Sure, he brought Christianity to Ireland, but once there it evolved into something much different from that centered in Rome. The fact that the country itself had no central authority, but was ruled by tribal kings, worked against the establishment of a central church. And the Filí—the powerful class of bards and poets—kept a strong grip on the culture and learning of the people. Patrick would bring his religion, but the Irish would shape it to their needs.
Malachy McCourt, Malachy McCourt’s History of Ireland.
Memory like an abandoned car, rusting and forgotten though it sits in plain view for decades. Dogs have litters there; generations of spiders live a terrible history. All of it goes unnoticed and no one bothers to tell the story.
People can do things completely against their nature, completely. It’s like some tiny earthquake comes roaring through your body and soul, and it’s the only earthquake you’ll ever feel. But it damages so much, cracks the foundations of your life forever.
