Irish America
Irish America
A Story of Ireland Whenever Michael Walsh thought he was finished at last with Ireland, all of it would come flooding back, like a sudden wave on a glassy sea. He had tried to rid himself of that sad green country with cheap whiskey in too many bad bars in a city that was not his own. And now, on this perfect spring day in his eleventh year of New York exile, he could feel … [Read more...] about The Exile
A Short Story by Colum McCann It was a summer flood when our draft horse was caught in the river and the river smashed against stones. The sound of it to me was like the turning of locks. It was silage time and the water smelled of grass. The draft horse, Father’s favorite, had stepped in the river for a sniff maybe and she was caught, couldn’t move, her foreleg trapped … [Read more...] about Everything In This Country Must
I find it hard to believe that it has been 24 years since I wrote this piece. The wound still seems so fresh in my mind. But I am reminded of the notion that the wound is the place where the light enters. And yet we are living, once again, in dark times. Still, I think that we have to tell our stories over and over again if we are going to be able to create the space for … [Read more...] about Grandpa’s Shoes
A bawdy romance from the author of Angela's Ashes. When he awoke that morning Mordecai O'Callaghan found himself in such a desperate state of tumescence he immediately thought of Nora Moynihan down the road. Nora Moynihan, down the road, awakening at the same time, found herself in such a desperate state of lubriciousness she thought, "Dear God, I'll have to be put … [Read more...] about Lust for Lust
