P stands for Paddy, I suppose.

Driving through the pretty village of Coldingham yesterday, I found myself thinking of one of its former residents, the late journalist, Ian Bell. This in turn led me  to remembering a friend’s comment: “You write so well about dead people!” It was meant (I hope) as a compliment, and it is true that the words

Shanahan, McNamara, and Mary McGrath

I first became aware of Doonbeg in west Clare as a fourteen year old when I spent the summer in the nearby town of Kilkee. We did not have a car, so we relied on a local taxi driver, PJ King, to take us around the area. On one day of glorious sunshine, when Kilkee