The poem carries on the ancient Celtic festival of imbolg, marking the rebirth of the year. Before the Church imposed the feast of St. Brigid the imbolg festival marked the rebirth of nature, under the mantle of the goddess Brigid, of Danú.
Jeremiah Joseph Callanan was employed for a time as a teacher in the classical Day and Boarding School of G.A. Lynch at Everton House, Graiguecullen. The poem lauds the resilience of the simple heather plant and praises the beauty of the locality.
You ask me why some people try to be better than the rest
When underneath the fancy clothes we’re all the same undressed;
Big house or farm or costly car, that’s what we call success:
True values lost, and at what cost, in the rat race of…
Although the river Slaney is more associated with Wexford, the river and its tributaries flow through east Carlow also.
This is from the collection of Seamus Murphy.