Upcoming Events

Galway | Anti-War / Imperialism

no events match your query!

New Events

Galway

no events posted in last week

Blog Feeds

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Gen Z?s Dangerous Addiction to ?Buy Now Pay Later? Fri Aug 08, 2025 17:00 | Mary Gilleece
Gen Z is hooked on Klarna, says Mary Gilleece ? the seductive app that uses 'Buy Now Pay Later' to let users splash out with money they don't have. It's a debt-fuelled disaster waiting to happen.
The post Gen Z’s Dangerous Addiction to ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link The West is Losing Its Head Over Israel Fri Aug 08, 2025 15:00 | Clive Pinder
Even the Arab League has refused to recognise a State of Palestine while Hamas is still in power ? a clarity lost on the compromised leaders of the West. Israel urgently needs to improve its PR, says Clive Pinder.
The post The West is Losing Its Head Over Israel appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Misinformation ?Expert? Exposed as Left-Wing Activist Fri Aug 08, 2025 13:00 | Will Jones
Professor Joan Donovan is frequently wheeled out by the New York Times as an 'expert' on misinformation. Paul Thacker at the Disinformation Chronicle exposes her as a shoddy Left-wing activist with a fancy title.
The post Misinformation ‘Expert’ Exposed as Left-Wing Activist appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Minerals Needed for ?Green Energy? Could Run Out Within 10 Years Fri Aug 08, 2025 11:09 | Will Jones
Critical minerals needed to build 'green energy' technology such as solar panels, nuclear power stations, electric cars and wind turbines could run out within 10 years, researchers have warned.
The post Minerals Needed for ‘Green Energy’ Could Run Out Within 10 Years appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link The Promises of ?Cheap? Wind Power Have Utterly Failed Fri Aug 08, 2025 09:00 | Ben Pile
Wind power companies in Germany were asked to supply electricity without subsidies, but not a single one was prepared to do so. The promises of 'cheap' wind power have utterly failed, says Ben Pile.
The post The Promises of ‘Cheap’ Wind Power Have Utterly Failed appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en

offsite link Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en

offsite link The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Paddy in The Shed - poem of the Great War

category galway | anti-war / imperialism | opinion/analysis author Thursday April 13, 2023 19:57author by Fred Johnston - Private Report this post to the editors

Poem around my late grand-uncle in Dublin


A poem retrieved from memories of my teenage years listening to tales of The Great War from my grand-uncle, Paddy Caffrey, who remained affected by it decades afterwards.

PADDY IN THE SHED

Paddy’s gone into the shed again
Shivering from his war
Till he fell down the stairs in Gardiner Street
And died behind the door

My grand-uncle was a dapper lad
Even in later years
A handkerchief in the breast pocket
He was fond of his few beers

He’d had a few when he tumbled
Down the tenement stairs
He’d survived his war and made it home
But he fought on for fifty years

I was a raw teenager then
The same age, more or less
He’d scuttled off to Flanders fields
On the Kitchener Express

He had some great yarns of courage
And a few about losing your nerve
And one of a young lad tied to a post
And shot for refusing to serve

He rode on a two-horse and limber
And one day while standing at ease
Came the whack of an Albrecht mortar
And blew one horse into the trees

My Granny would tell him to shut it
His stories were gory and rough
Too nasty and brutal and bloody by far
For young lads to hear, shocking stuff

As if we didn’t see him
Shivering in the back yard shed
When he reckoned that no one would miss him
If he popped out to chat with the dead.

FRED JOHNSTON

© 2001-2025 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy