Portals to a past: a father and son’s impressions of the Troubles
The public face of Northern Ireland was pressed hard against the window of my personal world
Bobbie and Steáfan Hanvey
Two years back, my da emailed me a black-and white photograph he’d found in the National Archive of Ireland, of Main Street in Brookeborough, his home village in Co Fermanagh, at the turn of the 20th century.
I used to spend my holidays down at my Granny Hanvey’s in the same village. No sooner had I received the photo than I had written a poem about my stays with Granny Hanvey. Within 20 minutes, I’d sent it back to my da. I was aware that I had a collection of memories that would have been very similar to his own as a child. Perhaps I was trying to impress upon him our shared experience. Happily, he reacted positively and the idea for Reconstructions, my first collection of poetry, was born.