Lora O'Brien – Irish Author & Guide
Your Authentic Connection to Ireland
It was fierce cold for sure out there, away from the light and heat of the feast. Eoghan hated gatekeeping duty, but it was his turn and that was that, so there he sat. Young Fionnuala had slipped him a wineskin full of the best from inside in the kitchens, so it wasn’t as bad…
I went down to this little child, because she was a child… I got down on my knees in the aisle, and I asked her was she ok? She said, “No”. She was upset, and she said, she had had an abortion that afternoon in London. Now if you know anything about flying, you don’t…
It began at a hospital bedside in Western North Carolina. Holding my grandmother’s hand as she took her final soft, short breaths. She was surrounded by the people closest to her, being loved and supported as she slipped away into the Otherworld. There was something mesmerizing about that moment. In the days that followed, as…
Being Pagan in Ireland is a little different, I think, than being Pagan anywhere else. We’re an odd lot, and we value individual strength, as long as it doesn’t upset the apple cart of family/community tradition, or give the neighbours anything bad to talk about. I’m a… well, I don’t actually have a label that…
The Longest Night. A woman sits by her fire, wrapped in a blanket to keep out the chill, watching the flames in the quiet of a room. Her house is silent around her, family sleeping as she waits. Lights burn through the darkest hours. When the deep blackness begins to lessen, she makes her way…