AUTHOR AND POET MAUREEN SPARLING.
Maureens published works include: Echoes of Old Limerick (Poetry), Happy Moments (Poetry), Reflections of Life (Poetry), Tales from King's Island Cottage (3 Novellas), Ripples in the Sand (Poetry), The Gold Nugget (Short Stories), A Gem in the Wasteland (Poetry and CD), Revenge of the Innocent (Novel), A Dubious Destiny (Novel).
THE ABBEY BRIDGE By Maureen Sparling 1999.
A "ghost council" from Limerick was drafted to Heaven,
An extraordinary meeting convening at seven,
To sort out the name of that Bridge was their aim,
For, all on this earth, in mind were not the same.
The Abbey Fisherman's Guild sat proude
Bud Clancy arrived and his trumpet blew loud,
Alerting all present, excited the crowd.
The Liddy's and O'Connors, who hailed from Old Watergate,
Hayes', Clancy's and Shanny's, right next to them sate,
There was Sugans and Gakes and from Sheep Street came Nipper,
With none of them downcast, as all seemed quite chipper.
There was Tawdy and Poppy and beside them sat Diddles,
All of them lucid as none spoke in riddles,
There was Buckets and Hackney and Napoleon too,
Who longed for a taste of that old backbone stew,
There was Starry, Realto, Sunlight and Susay,
With Randy and Lully, Bantram and OK,
We saw Gussy, the music-man, Fr Tom with long beard
Peri, Todsie and Smutts, the Iron man to be feared.
Tons of Money, and Cockrum, Boree and Dutch,
We saw Elbows and Beaver, Who still kept in touch,
Tom Bull, Young Buck Shoes,
Der and Vinegar too,
Brass Bands, Pat the Thatcher, Jones and Tucker we knew.
There was Woods and Young Mike, who was known as the Rock,
Then Young Joe and Forty 'round the table did flock,
Said Jim then to Jan, "I think you
look worn,"
And I'm guessin' 'tween me and the people you're torn.
Do you think that in this case you're somewhat adrift,
And is it foolhardy to create such a rift?
When you look at those brave men who fought the great fight,
You'll observe things I'm sure in a far different light.
The 'ghost-council' returned on the following day,
Much chastened in mind, they had little to say,
Their mission accomplished, a foregone conclusion,
Apologies abounding
for all the confusion.
In April 1925, the crew of the Shanny family caught the biggest fish ever caught in Irish Waters. It weighed 62 1\2 lbs. The poem featured above is taken from a collection of poems entitled, " A Gem in the Wasteland" published
in 2002.