The story of The Road to Shannon

Planes at Shannon Airport (model ones)

I linked to the new parody blog recently, but recent posts don't really belong on here so I'm moving them. If you want to read our comedy about Michael G.Tierney, Property Tycoon turned Shaman, he is still here: 

 https://beyondshannon.blogspot.com/?m=1

Likewise, poetry has been moved to: https://castletroywords.blogspot.com/

Shannon has been an important part of my life, but people don't know everything. They know we insult 'Newtown Shannon' in Castletroy, or that I lived there, or that I have a manuscript called The Road to Shannon. And I'm asked 'Is the Road to Shannon paved with good intentions?'

Last night, coming back from Shannon, I cried most of the way. Probably the fact I was listening to 'We had it all' by Ronnie Drew. If you ever need a crying song, there's one. Last night was very significant. After 15 years the final act of something significant to me was finally played out to closure, with strange sweet poetic justice. Unexpectedly, softly, and after so long of waiting. Things have changed significantly in recent months, not least because I'm finally telling my story and no longer alone with it, although there is a long way to go. I expected torrents of emotion, but maybe I didn't expect how that would feel. And so much has happened recently, not least JM and what happened being in the news.

With the first anniversary of my arrival in Limerick approaching, all I can say it's been a rollercoaster, some of the best and worst days of my life have been spent in Limerick. It feels like 10 years not one, and I've grown older, changed, and had experiences that have changed me.

Even my playlist has changed. When I arrived it was the 198 playlist. 'Snow in August', 'Long before your time', 'Ship to Shore', 'Goodbye Yellowbick Road', 'Limerick you're a Lady' and 'By your side' - the Limerick Love Song'. Then it was Shannon songs including 'Are you right there Michael' and 'Phil the fluter's ball' 

Then we went to the JM Golden Days: 'You never learned to Dance', 'Staten Island', 'The Ballad of John Williams' and 'By your Side'. And now 'The Old Bog Road', 'The town I left behind', 'The Ballad of St. Anne's Reel', and finally 'We had it All' - the song of the Road to Shannon. Life is a sound track. 

So the Road to Shannon was there a long time ago when I used to house sit in County Clare, but it didn't mean much to me, back then Ennis was a kind of Mecca, long ago. Now as some will know, I hate Ennis. 

The origin of The Road to Shannon could be told in legend form. It began when that man left me with nowhere to go when he'd told me he was moving me to Limerick. I'd moved my life to Limerick and he left me shattered and with nothing. In despair I went to my old home town and ended up at the hospital with my heart affected by the stress. 

'We stood there in the rain. Three of us. The Keeper of the Purpose is first to speak. 'You came home, and the Blessing is always honoured, you are called to Limerick, the Purpose is not the man who came to guide you, it is Limerick'. I consider this 'I have no connection beyond what I've built and I'll be homeless in a strange city'. He replies 'You will never be alone and you will be met in Limerick, follow the guides that come'. I turn to John, who is standing in the shadows. John speaks 'Go to Limerick, but you must know The Road to Shannon Airport blindfold as soon as possible'. 'How?' I ask, confused. 'You'll see' he says. 

I look towards the warm dry bus, the lights shining in the rain-starred darkness. I turn back to them 'I'm afraid I'll be coming back for your funeral'. The Keeper of the Purpose laughs 'You'll be home many times before I pass'. I bow to the Keeper and the Lantern-bearer 'I go first to the South, may I return when in need?' 'You will always return to the Town of the Blessing of the Purpose, O Wanderer'. They bow and are gone and in the rain I board the bus to Limerick. 

If you want to know what my Fantasy genre work is like, its on that theme. Rooted in reality. 

I arrived in Limerick as the 343 route was reinforced to bring a 24 hour regular service, and I learned the road to Shannon Airport in the dark before long. I learned with, music, with my playlist in my ears, alone, shattered and hopeless. 

I used to have many dreams and nightmares about the man who left me homeless in Limerick, my whole life had been in his hands. One of the most significant of these dreams was dreaming he took over Shannon Airport. I guess he does, when he takes his posh holidays in Lanzarote, but in the dream he just decided he would own Shannon Airport and wasn't listening to objections, which sounds like him. In my dream there was ski slope or ice slide down the middle of the airport, I'm not sure how he'd manage that, but in the dream he introduced flights to Madeira. Funnily enough, flights to Madeira were introduced shortly after this dream, I may have been dreaming of Madeira for other reasons. In the dream he sat with me at the restaurant there and he said to me 'I'm here'. But it was someone else who was there last night. 

For a while I went to live at Shannon with a friend, and the planes flew low over the house. I remember one day she said that someone who had been working on the house was just leaving, and I said yep, here's his plane. I got to know Shannon very well indeed. 

Peter McGarry's book 'Falling Stars' about Shannon Aviation disasters, is grim but a must-read. The real stories and lives behind the crash. Unfortunately for me, I dream of plane crashes often, as there was one in my past. Planes, airports, crashes, are significant to me. To me it has more meaning than the lucky ones who jet off on holiday and business without knowing how lucky they are, while I live in poverty and can't dream of choosing to fly. And despite all that, Shannon Airport has been so important to me and may well be more so in the future, if John knows anything. 

On Christmas Eve, the Departure and Arrival boards at Shannon read that Santa would arrive at 1 am and depart at 2 am, Special Flight. 

That road to Shannon with my friend ended in a sad and painful way, but the Shannon link continued, and I will know that road in my sleep forever. John's instruction was for something that never happened, perhaps, or maybe it will, in a different way or maybe he knew about last night. Last year something changed dramatically in my situation, with one of the men responsible for injustice to me being dramatically toppled for other injustices, and the pressure I was under became less and I felt safer, the emergency flight that created John's road to Shannon didn't happen, I think the slow road to healing started there. But last night at Shannon Airport, a long open wound was closed. 

'The Road to Shannon' is the diary story of my life in Limerick, started last year and on 40,000 words. To avoid confusion, it is not the same book as the novel I set in Limerick 'My arms are holding you' a fiction work, named in honour of the people of Limerick who from the moment I arrived, held onto me and held me to life.