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‘Writers are like mongrel dogs. They lick everything off the ground’

‘Writers are like mongrel dogs. They lick everything off the ground’

Michael Harding: ‘If I ever saw that poet again,’ the ferryman said, ‘I would gladly take him on board, but he would never reach the island’

Wed Apr 04 2018 - 06:00
Leitrim is being invaded by spruce trees, and they're closing in, like a slow moving army

Leitrim is being invaded by spruce trees, and they're closing in, like a slow moving army

It bothers me what will happen when the entire county has been planted

Tue Mar 27 2018 - 19:52
Getting my glasses fixed in Carrick reminded me that melancholy never lasts

Getting my glasses fixed in Carrick reminded me that melancholy never lasts

Michael Harding: even as a teenager, the sorrow of things was forcing me to speak, and the best grammar available was the exquisite innuendo of metaphor

Wed Mar 21 2018 - 07:58
She spoke no English so we used the international language of soup

She spoke no English so we used the international language of soup

Michael Harding: My friend in Warsaw left me in a restaurant with a frail little woman I couldn’t talk to

Wed Mar 14 2018 - 06:00
Michael Harding on Room Little Darker: ‘so much fun you’ll probably frighten yourself’

Michael Harding on Room Little Darker: ‘so much fun you’ll probably frighten yourself’

Book Club: ‘Stories spin with such control and elegance you must read them. Feel the sweat of it. The passionate hotness of it. The power and pulse that lie at the heart of it’

Mon Mar 12 2018 - 11:15
Tea is the limit of my intimacy when someone unexpected calls to the door

Tea is the limit of my intimacy when someone unexpected calls to the door

Michael Harding: In the old days everyone got a mug – apart from priests and high-ranking nuns

Wed Mar 07 2018 - 08:27
Michael Harding’s epic journey home: ‘I needed to see Leitrim’

Michael Harding’s epic journey home: ‘I needed to see Leitrim’

A flight from Warsaw to Liverpool, another to Cork diverted to Shannon and then a bus to Galway and another to Athlone . . .

Fri Mar 02 2018 - 15:00
Michael Harding: I worry I’m the elephant in the room

Michael Harding: I worry I’m the elephant in the room

Even though I walked a lot, it was doing me no good. Because every time I went out I ate more

Wed Feb 28 2018 - 06:00
‘It’s been very quiet around here’ apart from the half-naked people in the ditch

‘It’s been very quiet around here’ apart from the half-naked people in the ditch

Michael Harding: ‘I ate the head off Cyril and threw him out at the gate. I could have killed him’

Wed Feb 21 2018 - 09:37
‘The General says I only go to Warsaw to get away from the Beloved’

‘The General says I only go to Warsaw to get away from the Beloved’

Michael Harding Valentine: Being alone without the Beloved can be sweet because I long to be with her

Wed Feb 14 2018 - 06:00
‘All your old shite about religion, that’s all pram-baby talk’

‘All your old shite about religion, that’s all pram-baby talk’

Michael Harding: I presumed he didn’t have running water in whatever galvanised cottage he sheltered in on the side of some Leitrim mountain

Wed Feb 07 2018 - 11:02
I envy Marty Whelan. His voice bouncing into bedrooms in Cahersiveen and Killarney

I envy Marty Whelan. His voice bouncing into bedrooms in Cahersiveen and Killarney

Michael Harding: The first time I ever made love, a radio was playing Bob Dylan’s ‘Forever Young’

Wed Feb 07 2018 - 05:00
The worst part of getting old? Nobody knows who you are any more

The worst part of getting old? Nobody knows who you are any more

Michael Harding: ‘Are you retired?’ the man asked, which caused the General’s face to turn beetroot red

Wed Jan 24 2018 - 06:00
A fearless and good priest's lonely last walk

A fearless and good priest's lonely last walk

Michael Harding: The cool rains of Roscommon, and the soft sleet showers over Kilronan mountain were a gentle embrace, compared to his earlier life in the heat of Africa

Wed Jan 17 2018 - 06:00
I was panting like a dying walrus. The flu had arrived in full force

I was panting like a dying walrus. The flu had arrived in full force

Michael Harding: When I got home, my nostrils felt like they were in the microwave

Wed Jan 10 2018 - 05:45
People who live on the edge of the world know there are no borders, only love

People who live on the edge of the world know there are no borders, only love

Michael Harding: ‘I was in Raqqa,’ he whispered, 'when it was beautiful. And I was in Bagdad when it was beautiful. And I was in Beirut when it was beautiful’

Wed Jan 03 2018 - 06:00
I’m in the sauna with an angry Brexiteer as large as a sumo wrestler

I’m in the sauna with an angry Brexiteer as large as a sumo wrestler

Michael Harding: I knew that if I opened my mouth I could never unwind my rage. My anger would be incarnate in the air

Wed Dec 27 2017 - 06:00
To me, west Cavan was the most beautiful place in the world

To me, west Cavan was the most beautiful place in the world

Michael Harding: Christmas brought emigrants home, and they triggered a rash of house parties and Hughie’s special song

Wed Dec 20 2017 - 06:00
Perhaps I was a cat and am now reincarnated as a human

Perhaps I was a cat and am now reincarnated as a human

Michael Harding: I saw my cat bang his paws on the floor and tears came out of his eyes

Wed Dec 13 2017 - 08:45
‘Brexit? What is that? Something to get rid of bad breath?’

‘Brexit? What is that? Something to get rid of bad breath?’

Michael Harding: The gales of laughter softened me too, dissolving the solemnity of all that a man tries to pretend

Wed Dec 06 2017 - 06:00
Michael Harding: It had been raining in Leitrim for four months

Michael Harding: It had been raining in Leitrim for four months

A slanting sun two weeks after All Souls’ Day, in the month of the dead, is one of winter’s most remarkable miracles

Wed Nov 29 2017 - 06:00
Michael Harding: How I discovered Santa was real

Michael Harding: How I discovered Santa was real

The annual winter trip to Dublin was my only chance to get a word in Santa’s ear

Wed Nov 22 2017 - 06:00
I don’t think rationally. So I have endless conversations with ghosts

I don’t think rationally. So I have endless conversations with ghosts

Michael Harding: ‘Are you with me?’ I inquired. ‘I am,’ he whispered

Wed Nov 15 2017 - 06:00
Facebook is amazing. I befriended a friend recently, only to discover he's dead

Facebook is amazing. I befriended a friend recently, only to discover he's dead

Michael Harding: For days I tried to remember his face

Sun Nov 05 2017 - 06:00
Love in old age is more about gratefulness than grasping

Love in old age is more about gratefulness than grasping

Michael Harding: On the plane I wonder how many below are crossing the sea in dinghies, no one certain of finding love in old age

Wed Nov 01 2017 - 06:00
I fell off the treadmill and lay there thinking of Ireland

I fell off the treadmill and lay there thinking of Ireland

Michael Harding: Go you therefore to Ulster and tell them the Good News is for everyone

Wed Oct 25 2017 - 06:00
Michael Harding: Conversations with friends in search of lost time

Michael Harding: Conversations with friends in search of lost time

If only I were at ease inside the narratives I weave around my sense of self – but I’m not

Wed Oct 18 2017 - 06:00
Polish is a tricky language but Hiberno-Cavan-English is worse

Polish is a tricky language but Hiberno-Cavan-English is worse

Michael Harding: It’s a pity the ancient tongue of South Ulster is not given more formal recognition by governments

Wed Oct 11 2017 - 06:00
Michael Harding: I'm as confused about masculinity as my cat

Michael Harding: I'm as confused about masculinity as my cat

My cat is a sorry sight whenever some neighbouring queen comes around the yard

Wed Oct 04 2017 - 09:40
When I was young, flesh pots were few and far between in Cavan

When I was young, flesh pots were few and far between in Cavan

Michael Harding: It was a time of innocence, before the Troubles, before war on the Border

Wed Sept 27 2017 - 06:00
‘The flute in my hand, I got on the treadmill like a true Orange Man’

‘The flute in my hand, I got on the treadmill like a true Orange Man’

Michael Harding: Whether Orange or Green, the tunes stayed the same

Wed Sept 20 2017 - 06:00
Why I gave up cardigans for waistcoats - Michael Harding returns

Why I gave up cardigans for waistcoats - Michael Harding returns

I was hoping to make an impression in the world of polished grandeur

Wed Sept 13 2017 - 06:00
I still gaze at the beloved as she sleeps and see a stranger

I still gaze at the beloved as she sleeps and see a stranger

Michael Harding: In relationships I find out who I am, not who the other person is

Wed Jun 28 2017 - 07:00
I’m an old farting male who has given up hotels for hostels

I’m an old farting male who has given up hotels for hostels

Michael Harding: I love privacy but hate ‘Downton Abbey’ obsequiousness

Wed Jun 21 2017 - 11:32
The child tugged my arm and said: ‘You are like Mr Bean!’

The child tugged my arm and said: ‘You are like Mr Bean!’

Michael Harding: I had a go at speaking Mandarin but I managed to mangle the words

Wed Jun 14 2017 - 06:00
Michael Harding on a happy fortnight of Cill Rialaig calm

Michael Harding on a happy fortnight of Cill Rialaig calm

Then the shutters finally opened and I returned to the belly of this raging world

Wed Jun 07 2017 - 06:00
The beauty of Kerry couldn’t erase the memory of angry dad  in the Topaz station

The beauty of Kerry couldn’t erase the memory of angry dad in the Topaz station

Michael Harding: The man, as devoid of emotion as Clint Eastwood on a bad day, looked at me as though he might break my arms

Wed May 31 2017 - 06:30
I was never on Skellig but I made love in Kerry in the 1970s with a petite German girl

I was never on Skellig but I made love in Kerry in the 1970s with a petite German girl

Michael Harding: She could see beneath the mask of codology that I was still a peasant of simple tastes and devotions

Wed May 24 2017 - 10:58
Radox is as near as I ever get to an exotic life in the bathroom

Radox is as near as I ever get to an exotic life in the bathroom

Michael Harding: Getting a new bath installed is not as simple as you might think

Wed May 17 2017 - 06:00
Leitrim boy's dam was a work of art 'holding back the shite'

Leitrim boy's dam was a work of art 'holding back the shite'

Michael Harding: ‘It’s not brains you need to appreciate art,’ I shouted, ‘it’s love’

Wed May 10 2017 - 06:00
‘Wasn’t he lucky to go like that? Feet washed. A few pints. Off to sleep’

‘Wasn’t he lucky to go like that? Feet washed. A few pints. Off to sleep’

Michael Harding: In awe of old people so detached from the world they could laugh at the frenzy of it all

Wed May 03 2017 - 06:00
An emotionally constipated night out in a posh Dublin restaurant

An emotionally constipated night out in a posh Dublin restaurant

Michael Harding: The General stared at me ... he hates looking silly in front of city people

Wed Apr 26 2017 - 01:00
Wee Daniel, his amazing missus and the frog in the pool

Wee Daniel, his amazing missus and the frog in the pool

Michael Harding: Wise woman’s words in Donegal put a spring in my step

Wed Apr 19 2017 - 06:00
Michael Harding: Making my peace with the tree-choking ivy

Michael Harding: Making my peace with the tree-choking ivy

‘I must have loved currents . . . and I still can’t resist anything with a dried grape in it’

Wed Apr 12 2017 - 05:00
‘Do you have your wee pennies, love?’ The question filled me with childish ecstasy

‘Do you have your wee pennies, love?’ The question filled me with childish ecstasy

Michael Harding: Random encounters are the perfect medicine for melancholy

Wed Apr 05 2017 - 00:00
‘The secret to a happy marriage? Avoid magical thinking’

‘The secret to a happy marriage? Avoid magical thinking’

Michael Harding: Darkness envelops me in the evening but my beloved does not fear that demons haunt the house

Tue Mar 28 2017 - 06:00
‘If these vitamins work I won’t need Viagra’

‘If these vitamins work I won’t need Viagra’

Michael Harding: I made a mistake about my vitamin dosage and began to feel fidgety

Tue Mar 21 2017 - 06:00
'In my swimming togs, toenails like a neglected donkey'

'In my swimming togs, toenails like a neglected donkey'

Michael Harding: Magda arrived in a shining black costume, sat down and asked had I been talking to myself

Tue Mar 14 2017 - 06:00
Michael Harding: Learning late in life to listen to women

Michael Harding: Learning late in life to listen to women

The iPhone changed everything. These women were different. Their narratives were emotional

Mon Mar 06 2017 - 18:07
'I cherish flutes as much as the waterbowls I use when I sit before my shrine'

'I cherish flutes as much as the waterbowls I use when I sit before my shrine'

Michael Harding: 'I am a bad musician, but I play for the strange sensation of being alive'

Tue Feb 28 2017 - 08:52
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