For anyone who is interested, there are only a few days left to enter a variety of competitions for Writers’ Week which will be held in Listowel from 30th May until the 3rd of June.
Even young writers are encouraged to enter with many categories for children of various ages
Alongside the various competitions, there are also a number of literary workshops.
For more information, visit http://writersweek.ie/
Good luck to all entrants!
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Down a narrow dusty back road where pretty houses are scattered intermittently and fields are home to herds and hay, lies a charming yellow bungalow with two stone angels perched proudly on the front wall. More inviting, however, is the petite, slim, dark haired lady who is waving enthusiastically towards my car. A warm hug and a broad beaming smile, is enough to break the ice and dismiss the usual formal introductions and instantly the atmosphere is one of ease.
Patricia Buckley’s home displays a cozy and peaceful ambiance with perfectly placed ornaments which decorate her home. Statues of angels adorn the shelves and as she leads me out to her purpose built ‘Angel’ room out the back; it’s hard to ignore the small grotto to the rear of the garden where a statue of Our Lady and some fragrant blooming roses sit quietly in front of a picturesque view of Duleek.
Once inside, Patricia Buckley slips her neat frame into the chair and gazes up at the shiny imposing sword which is pinned tightly to a frame on the wall. “It’s the sword of Michael the Archangel,” she tells me.
From as far back as she can remember, Patricia says she has been able to see angels and spirits. It was something she took for granted as a child.
“I never saw it as a burden,” she says, “It was natural to me. They made me happy and I felt alive and euphoric when they appeared. It was harder when I didn’t see them and their light.”
When Patricia’s brother John died suddenly, over two years ago, she says he spoke to her from the Spirit World and told her it was time to finish writing the book she had started months earlier, telling her it would be healing, not only for her and the family but for other families too.
Patricia openly describes in her book, the difficult upbringing she endured, where her mother neglected her and her father was frequently drunk and abusive. She was thrown out of her house several times and at one stage was forced to live on the streets. She was nearly battered to death by an abusive boyfriend who she initially thought of as her escape from a life of pain. Being admitted to a mental institution for a period of time where she was subjected to grueling electro shock therapy, left her feeling more vulnerable than ever before.
“Although the angels guide us, they can never stop the hand of another person. When I was abused, they helped me stop feeling the physical pain of what was happening to me. I went through years of counselling to try and get it out of my system,” she describes of the tumultuous times in her life.
When Patricia describes what angels look like, her face itself lights up as she talks of the shimmering light that emanates from them. She says it’s like a fine mist in the shape of angel and insists that angels don’t take on a true physical form as they have never been on earth – except of course, the Archangel Michael.
Patricia insists we can all see angels, but people hold back. “It’s like a little glimpse of heaven when they appear”. As the conversation turns to Heaven itself, Patricia explains what the angels have told her about the afterlife.
“When I was shown Heaven, I saw beautiful rivers, with slow moving water. I saw a bridge which was the bridge between Heaven and Earth. Everything was peaceful and anyone who had a disability on earth is in full health. They are free from all pain.”
Insisting that she is unable to tell fortunes or see into the future, the kind faced woman reassures me that it is only God who knows what will happen to us all. Patricia does, however, get shown little visions from time to time.
While on pilgrimage to Lourdes 3 years ago, the pious lady ventured down to the Grotto at about two in the morning, hoping to find some quiet time for herself. For the first time, she felt a deep sense of sadness in her heart and thought it extremely unusual because she always felt so good when she prayed at this spot.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, came a huge gust of wind which hit her in the gut. With this, she couldn’t see and felt like dust had blown into her eyes. Walking away from the Grotto she felt tears streaming down her face and then the Angels spoke. They told her that although people were coming to these places of Pilgrimage, they were not carrying the same devotion home with them. There was a lot of greed in the world and the Angels were telling her that although she sees pure light and love, she must be wary too and take a step back and look at the other side of people. She was about to commit a huge amount of money to a particular charity but changed her mind after this experience and chose a different one which was more worthy, in her mind.
Patricia’s first book, My Journey with the Angels’ gives an honest account of her troubled upbringing and Patricia explains how she gave her parents each a copy of the manuscript before it went to publication. Believing her mother suffered greatly from depression and excusing her father’s sometimes barbaric behavior towards his children, Patricia didn’t want to hurt either of them with the book.
She insists that although she may have disliked her father at certain times due to the hurt she experienced at his hands, she never hated him. “Hate is too strong a word for me,” she says and adds that she still calls up to see her parents every now and again.
“My Dad still hasn’t acknowledged that my brother John is dead. He keeps saying that he is gone off travelling,” Patricia says of the brother who inspired her to finish the book. “It’s because he never got to tell him how much he loved him.”
Fondly reminiscing about her much loved brother, the small framed woman says that she doesn’t see him as often as before but feels this is a good thing.
Patricia says that loved ones who have passed on can often come back and visit people through dreams to let them know that they are safe and not in limbo.
Admiring the small but cozy room we are in, the soft spoken mystic explains that it is a sacred space for her.
“I always ask the Archangel Michael to make sure nothing negative comes in and although I have crucifix’s and statues all around, people think I’m over religious – but it’s not that – I just love God and Our Lady and I feel safe.”
One might ask the gentle seer why she herself thinks her book and indeed other angel books have become so popular in recent times.
“I get lots of emails from people who have read my book and they all seem to have the common perception that there is light at the end of the tunnel. They tell me it gives them hope and after reading the book, they begin to ask their guardian angel for help. It is bringing people back to the awareness of God and his messengers,” Patricia explains.
Appearances on Ireland AM last year when the book was launched and then subsequent radio interviews both here and in the U.K. have contributed to the success of the book. It is also available on iTunes and Kindle and both Patricia and her husband Stephen keep their readers up to date via their website: www.myjourneywiththeangels.com
Thanks to the success of the debut book published by Penguin last year, Patricia has also secured the services of Trace Literary Agency to represent her across the pond in the hope of bringing her amazing story to the American audience.
“I’m hopeful of hearing something back soon from America but I also know that it will come at the right time.”
People seem to be searching for something when they pick up ‘angel books’. Whether it is to cope with bereavement or look for answers to life’s mysteries; books like My Journey with the Angels, awakens the natural curiosity we have about the afterlife and keeps the reader intrigued until they reach the very last page.
Journalist and author, Victoria Mary Clarke is another example of someone who claims to be in touch with the spirit world and her own book, ‘Angel in Disguise’ , now available on Kindle is also enjoying great success in these tough recessionary times.
“What fascinates me about angel guidance is that there is absolutely no need for people to be religious, or even to believe in angels in order to feel uplifted and to get practical help with everyday problems. Unlike Patricia, I am not at all religious, and I don’t see angels, but whatever angels really are, after having spent more than fifteen years communicating with them, I am utterly convinced that they can help us to live more joyful, peaceful and playful lives.”
Patricia is also working on a second book at the moment and hopes it might give many others the comfort that her first book has done.
“I never thought I had a story to tell,” admits the modest lady who credits famous Irish author Patricia Scanlon as being a close friend and someone who was paramount to helping her get the book published.
“I just want to help people and let them realize that no matter how hard life may seem; you are not alone. There are angels with you all the time.”
(c) Louise Hall February 2012
Patricia’s book My Journey with the Angels, published by Penguin, is available in paperback in all good bookstores.
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This week, Vanessa O’Loughlin, who runs Inkwell writers workshop and writing.ie, published a piece I wrote for the ‘writing and me’ section of the website.
www.writing.ie gives invaluable information to both readers and writers and is well worth a visit.
Her is the link to the website below:
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Also this month, I attended a charity night in the beautiful Angler’s Rest in Strawberry Beds. The event was organised by RTE personality and Nationwide host, Mary Kennedy and it was all in aid of the charity she supports, called Playing for Life.
The charity was formed by horse racing personality, Tracy Piggott, five years ago, the charity provides relief and assistance for less developed countries around the world. Mary donned the white chef’s coat and a great night was had by all.
It was published in the Castleknock Gazette, along with photos taken by professional photographer, Una Williams. You can click on the link below to read about the night.
http://issuu.com/robheigh/docs/castleknock23
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On the 6th of October, Una Williams photographer and I, were invited into Harry’s on the Green, to cover the book launch of best selling author, Anna McPartlin’s 5th book, titled The Space Between Us.
The night was a huge success with many well known faces there to support the international author, including the TV3 Midday girls, Sinead Ryan (author of Cents and Sensibility), Ex presidential hopeful Mary Banotti, P.R. personality Theresa Rocca, Top Model Agency Boss, John Compton and Mary McEvoy who some may remember as the actress who played Biddy from Glenroe.
Harry’s Hostess Geraldine O’Callaghan made sure everyone was looked after while stylist Joanne Costello and former model Emma English also lent their support for the night.
Anna is from Wicklow and my piece was published in the Wicklow and Bray People (link below). Photos and small press release was also published in VIP magazine.
http://www.wicklowpeople.ie/entertainment/anna-launches-book-at-harrys-2905615.html
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In the 19th September issue of popular magazine Woman’s Way, I had a two page feature which covered what has been happening in Medjugorje over the past thirty years. It also featured the testimony of singer/songwriter, ex Dove member and mother of four, Hazel Kaneswaren, who gave a heart warming account of what the place means to her.
Hazel spoke from the audience of the Late Late Show earlier this year when Vicka, one of the visionaries was a guest on the show. In my article, I also interviewed Ivan, another of the visionaries who is now married and splits his time between Boston and the village of Medjugorje where he grew up. Below are photos taken by professional photographer Una Williams in the Green Room of the Late Late Show in February.
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It’s all too reminiscent of a thought provoking movie which highlights the errors of a pro death penalty society. The Life of David Gale aimed and succeeded in showing how even the strongest of evidence against a man can sometimes prove inadequate and subsequently lead to an innocent person being strapped to the gurney and executed in the coldest of manners.
When Troy Davis was executed in the early hours of the morning, in the state ofGeorgia, he refused to make a formal statement but rather related to the men who stood by his side, the same words he has been uttering for many years – “I am innocent of this crime”.
The 42 year old black American man’s last minute plea for clemency was ignored and he died by lethal injection. One of his last words was that God may forgive and have mercy on those who shall take his life.
It seemed that even the Pope himself, with his seemingly infallibility, couldn’t assist this man who professed his innocence of the murder of an off duty police officer back in 1989. The 1 million signatures on a petition to the pardons board was also ignored even before the ink was allowed to dry on the page.
So although many will remain baffled by the fact that Troy Davis was ‘put to sleep’ even though no murder weapon was found and no blood or DNA linked him to the crime; they will also remain in total disbelief that such a barbaric cruel act of punishment still exists in modern America, right here in the 21st century.
The previous president ofAmerica, George W. Bush, was practically famed for his sanctions of executions when he reigned as governor ofTexas. Some would describe him as a modern day Pontius Pilate as he oversaw more than 150 people put to death at the hands of the State he ruled. It seemed his fondness of death and pillage joined him in the White House as he oversaw and encouraged the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
When Barrack Obama made history and carried out the legacy of his forefathers, namely an iconic figure known as Abraham Lincoln, who fought for the emancipation of black people, it signaled a new era of equality and presumably peace aroundAmerica.
So it is with sheer bewilderment that many people question why capital punishment is still enforced in many states in America today. Is it better to have retribution than rehabilitation? Is the death penalty an adequate deterrent so that people will fear the punishment therefore not commit the crime? Or is it just easier and cheaper to get rid of these evil perpetrators who, in some opinions, don’t deserve to walk the earth?
It may be considered as a ‘humane’ way of execution by injecting the prisoner so they slip away into unconsciousness before their organs shut down completely, but one has to question whether we as a people can ‘play God’ with our fellow human’s lives.
It is a sad reflection on society when we allow ourselves become the people who dictate whether or not a man or woman should die. Essentially, this is what the jurors of this case and many other cases are asked to do when they sit in court and listen to the evidence against the accused. Evidence which is collated and collected by man, who himself is not infallible and can, of course, make mistakes. In Troy Davis’ case, the jury were asked not only to determine whether he committed the crime of murder but also whether he should die because of it. How empty and sad it must have felt for the county judge to sign the death warrant on a man protesting his innocence.
In the words of Bishop Desmond Tutu, “To take a life when a life has been lost is revenge, not justice.”
Troy Davis displayed every courage and admirable characteristic of a man who wanted people to know that he did not commit this crime. That he did not take another man’s life. He prayed for the brother, sister, mother, father of the man who was killed by ‘someone else’. He had every opportunity in his final hours and indeed over the years he prevailed in prison, to cleanse his soul, admit to the murder and seek forgiveness from the God he so frequently prayed to. In his last moments, he begged his supporters to continue fighting for justice on his behalf, so that one day, his innocence may be proven.
More people supported him than condoned him and in a democratic society in a wealthy developed country surely that would be enough to shout out the message to the authorities that ‘we don’t want this to happen.’
Obviously not and so today many will be standing in unison, mourning the death of a man who they believed in their hearts was innocent of the murder of Mark McPhail. They will empathize with Troy, who died by lethal injection and countless people will keep his memory and his historic case alive by supporting him from the grave, determined to prove his innocence. Yes, today, many people around the world are standing tall and saying, “I am Troy Davis”
Join Amnesty International Ireland at www.amnesty.ie to put an end to the death penalty
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