Sean uploaded this to his site on 27 August 2007, captioning it ‘the blood red rock of the fairy glen’.
February 24, 2012
Blood red rock
Posted by Brendano under Death, Ireland, Memories, Photography | Tags: bereavement, Fairy Glen, loss, love, Rostrevor, Sean O'Brien |Leave a Comment
February 18, 2012
Some diary entries … March to May 1997
Posted by Brendano under Death, Ireland, Memories | Tags: bereavement, Dublin, life, loss, love, Sean O'Brien |[2] Comments
3/3/97 – I took Sean and Susanna to the little park at the end of the road, and Sean and I played football – Pauline joined us after a while.
4/3/97 – In the afternoon Pauline took the kids over to Alison’s. Ruth, Daniel and Rory were there also, and the kids all played … I took Sean and Susanna to the end of the road; Sean and I played football again.
5/3/97 – Pauline went to her last counselling class and Susanna to her playschool. (Susanna’s ‘teacher’ says that Susanna is a great girl – good fun, self-contained, mixes well and so on. She always sits beside her little friend Gillian, who was 4 yesterday, and holds her hand in the yard.)
6/3/97 – Pauline and the kids continued to do big art on the back of wallpaper rolls – Sean did a vey good sea-serpent scene, all by himself. (more…)
February 4, 2012
Some diary entries … June to August 1997
Posted by Brendano under Death, Ireland, Memories | Tags: bereavement, Dublin, life, loss, love, Sean O'Brien |[4] Comments
6/6/97 – Pauline, the kids and I did some recording on the computer.
7/6/97 – In the afternoon, Pauline took the kids to a garden fête, despite the changeable weather.
8/6/97 – In the afternoon I took the kids to the green at the end of the road – Sean is now keen on playing tennis.
9/6/97 – Pauline walked with the kids to Sean’s school in the morning. Sean has a trip to the National Gallery and Natural History Museum today.
11/6/97 – Sean is going to Matthew’s birthday party … The party was a success; Pauline was complimented on Sean’s excellent behaviour when she went to collect him … [later] Sean complained of a sick tummy, perhaps from too much cake etc. (more…)
January 29, 2012
Beating Hearts
Posted by Brendano under Death, Ireland, Memories, Music | Tags: Beating Hearts, bereavement, loss, love, Sean O'Brien, songs |[16] Comments
This is a new version of a song I wrote almost a year ago … originally called ‘All We Had’. PapaGuinea liked it and did a lovely arrangement, which is tweaked a bit for this version … Pauline and I showed it to our friends Timmy and Martina last week, and Timmy suggested some new chords.
To listen to the song, please click here: Beating Hearts
We’re hoping that Timmy and Martina will record it soon, as they are both excellent singers – we will then put it on YouTube. In the meantime, this is Pauline and me. (more…)
January 22, 2012
Rugby heaven
Posted by Brendano under Death, Ireland, Memories, Sport | Tags: bereavement, Connacht, Heineken Cup, Leinster, loss, love, Munster, rugby, Sean O'Brien, Ulster |[7] Comments
It’s been a great weekend for Irish rugby, starting with Connacht’s first Heineken Cup victory, 9–8 against English high-fliers Harlequins on Friday night. Yesterday Pauline and I watched the Leinster–Montpelier match in a pub in Virginia, and the Northampton–Munster match in our local.
Leinster comfortably beat Montpelier 25–3 to finish their group unbeaten, but we had no way of knowing what would follow – one of those stunning, gargantuan performances that Munster have produced regularly over the years, ever since they beat Toulouse 31–25, away, in the 2000 semi-final (clips from that match below).
To play Northampton (beaten finalists last year) away and score 51 points despite being crucified in the scrums was simply amazing, and the emergence of O’Mahony and Zebo this season augurs well for the future. This game summed up why Sean loved Munster so deeply. (more…)
January 16, 2012
Some diary entries … September to November 1997
Posted by Brendano under Death, Ireland, Memories | Tags: bereavement, diary, Dublin, family, loss, love, Sean O'Brien |[4] Comments
1/9/97 – Sean went back to school. Last night in bed he had been worried that he wouldn’t be able to read and write well enough, and he practised a bit of reading this morning. He’s going into first class … [later] Sean’s day at school went well – he needn’t have worried, he said … [later] in what is to be a nightly occurrence, the four of us sat down at the table for 10 or 15 minutes and the kids did some drawing, writing and (in Sean’s case) reading.
2/9/97 – Pauline left Sean to school – he’s got all his old enthusiasm for going.
3/9/97 – Sean had another good day at school.
4/9/97 – Pauline picked Sean up from school around 12, and drove the kids to Malva’s place for the afternoon, which is in the middle of the countryside near where Kildare, Wicklow and Carlow meet … [they] had a great day – the countryside was lovely; they saw a lot of animals; held a kitten, met a pig walking down the road and had to shoo it into a field, etc. (more…)
January 10, 2012
Sean’s music 35 … Nina Simone
Posted by Brendano under Death, Ireland, Music | Tags: loss, Nina Simone, Sean O'Brien, Sinnerman |[5] Comments
Sean loved Nina Simone’s epic ‘Sinnerman’ track, and used to play it a lot. He may have heard it first in Scrubs … I know that it features in various movies as well, and that he made a point of tracking it down when he first heard it on television.
There are other versions of the song, including, according to Wikipedia, several by the Wailers. I’m not sure whether Sean ever heard those – if so, he would probably have shown them to me, as he liked to do.
The other Simone track he liked was ‘Ain’t Got No, I Got Life’, part of which featured in an advertisement to which we were heavily exposed a few years ago. (more…)
January 4, 2012
On eagle’s wings
Posted by Brendano under Death, Ireland, Memories, Philosophy of life | Tags: bereavement, dreams, loss, love, Sean O'Brien |[8] Comments
I remember the day the photograph was taken … Sean told me that he and some of his friends had been touring around aimlessly in a car – I think Conor was driving. They saw some wind turbines on a hill in the distance, and decided to drive to them. Accomplishing this was an adventure in itself, and they had a fun day.
At the funeral today we spoke to Conor and the other friends that would have been with Sean that day, as well as Clio. It was strange to see them in the setting of a funeral again. I hope that this will not be repeated any time soon, and that we’ll be seeing them in happier circumstances.
Last night in a vivid dream I was walking down a slope in some unknown city, with the sea straight ahead; the sun was shining brightly. I was thinking about Sean and Garry, and wondering about the meaning of life and whether I had learned anything in my 51 years. (more…)
January 4, 2012
Today is a terribly sad day, with the funeral of another young man … Garry Morgan, just 22 years old.
We are thinking of Garry and his family. May he rest in peace.
December 31, 2011
Some diary entries … December 1997 to February 1998
Posted by Brendano under Death, Ireland, Memories | Tags: diary, Dublin, loss, Sean O'Brien |[8] Comments
2/12/97 – Sean and I played Hover – I regained the high score then he got an even higher one. I think he’s clever to be able to play it so well, and it’s good for his spatial skills and hand–eye coordination. He’s playing the harmonica a lot, and wants to take lessons. He says it makes him feel good, as if he’s cuddling us, because we gave it to him. Pauline told him about people playing harmonicas in gaols etc., which impressed him … [later] She read children’s stories about Brahms and Tchaikovsky as boys to the kids’ Sean again was most impressed and wants to hear music by Brahms.
5/12/97 – Eleanor and Alan were here in the afternoon and Sean had a good time playing with Alan.
6/12/97 – Pauline took the kids to speech & drama … she took Sean to his swimming lesson. Sean and Susanna went to Olivia’s party in the afternoon … we all went to Sean’s football match. His team, Albion, beat Inter 2–1, which was nice for him after two defeats. (more…)
