Shooting Snipe on Parnell Street

From the house on Janesboro height My father recalled hearing hunters shooting For snipe in fields around Parnell Street.

He could see the river beyond through gaps In the city landscape and noted several Species of fowl nesting in the creeks.

I used to think about this walking south Passed the new estates and one night I saw a fox with a field-bird in its mouth

Crossing the street between honking cars And shouts from late night revellers Before disappearing off one of the lanes

Where I could make out a hunter’s shadow Skulking in pursuit to retrieve his prey, Crossing what was once a flowing meadow.

John Liddy was born in Youghal in 1954 but raised in Limerick. He founded the journal The Stony Thursday and has just published his ninth collection, The Secret Heart of Things (Revival Press 2014). He has lived in Madrid for many years.