Hanora Moynihan

I often saw her walking on the bohreen By her weekly shopping heavily weighted down Towards her home the cottage by the Claraghatlea rill Close to if not two miles from Millstreet Town. She seldom ever stopped to chat to neighbours She merely said hello as she walked by She did not have much time for idle gossip And anyway she seemed a little shy. But I remember talking to Hanora Perhaps I was one of the privileged few I felt astounded by her depth of knowledge And she was one who had a high I.Q. She never married never mothered children And for many years she had lived on her own She had a cat, a dog, hens and a donkey And outside of the Townland she was hardly known. When I was in Primary school she was in mid life A slightly built woman her brown hair turning gray But she remained active into her old age And she never surrendered to decay. I still have mental pictures of Hanora With two full bags of groceries weighted down And despite all this still walking at a brisk pace Along the old bohreen from Millstreet Town.