Rory O'Connal: Questionnaires 1-4
My name is Rory O'Connal. I keep a journal about life with my wife, a writer and successful businesswoman, who is currently expecting our first child.
Questionnaire #1 -- The Basics
1. Your Name Rory Padraig O'Connal
2. Your age 37
3. Describe yourself Dark hair, blue eyes, of average height and slender build, healthy, cheerful, usually dressed in riding clothes and what my wife calls my "huggly jumpers". Seen in a suit only for church and court appearances.
4. Describe your mate (if applicable) Emma is a wonderful, sweet, funny and attractive woman, curvaceous and touchingly unaware of her attractiveness. She's quite shy and can seem unfriendly, but nothing could be further from the truth. She has reddish hair and blue eyes.
5. Where (and when) do you live? I grew up in Ireland and remained there until Emma Walker offered me a job training the horses on her estate in England. Since we married, we split our time between England and Ireland.
6. What's your favourite sweet? (It is so a basic!)Sweet as in pudding or sweet as in candy? Ice cream or Eve's pudding or, if you mean what our American friends call candy, chocolate or peppermints.
Questionnaire #2 -- Favourites
What is your favourite...
Season? Autumn
Food? Bacon and eggs, the world's finest breakfast.
Animal? Horse, but I love all animals.
Colour? Green or blue.
Time of day? Evening, when Emma and I get a chance to talk and snuggle, or dawn, with all the promise of a wonderful day ahead.
Weapon? My fists.
Questionnaire #3 - Background
Tell us about...
Your place of birth. I was born on the kitchen floor at Dunveagan Stud. My mother and a mare were both giving birth at the same time and my father gave priority to trhe horse, assuming my mother could wait a while before he needed to get her to hospital. He returned, saying, "Get your coat", just as I came into the world.
Your childhood. I had a great childhood. I spent my spare time with my Dad and his father, Ganpa Ronan. I grew up around the horses and was pampered by my grandmothers and various aunts and great-aunts. Ganpa Ronan often took me to the beach and we'd gather shells and pretend to be pirates guarding our treasure. School bored me, and I was often written off as a fool before Miss Templeman started teaching me and realised that she just had to get me interested. She brought lessons to life and encouraged me a lot. I owe that saintly woman so much!
Your parents. My parents had three priorities, their family, each other and the horses. We kids grew up with the certain knowledge that we could always come home, no matter what went wrong elsewhere. They were deeply religious, as I am, but their religion was not set apart from daily life. It was part of them and they felt no need to ram it down anyone's throat.
For a long time in my teens and twenties, Dad and I had a clash of personalities. I wanted to try my own ideas with the horses, he thought I was saying his ways were stupid. Emma helped us to see that we were misunderstanding each other and these days we are closer than ever. Mam and I have always been on the best of terms.
Your siblings For quite a while I was an only child and just when that ceased to be fun, my parents gave me a sister I have adored ever since, Teresa Bridget O'Connal, who will always be Bridie to me. Later still, we had a third arrival, Kevan Michael O'Connal, who is like me, but without all my faults. The three of us have always been very close and Kevan's wedding this June is going to be wonderful.
Your (current) home. Lucky man that I am, I have four. Before I married Emma, I lived in the Groom's Cottage on the Whiteturrets estate. After marriage, I acquired a bedroom at the main house, Whiteturrets. (Separate rooms seemed a good idea for two people so used to having plenty of personal space, and gave us the chance to sneak to each other's rooms in the night). For St Valentine's Day this year, I bought the house where we spent our honeymoon and gave the deeds to my wife. It's called Aisling Geal, and is a lovely old house in Kerry, a reasonable walking distance from Dunveagan.
Your favourite "hang out". The Jug of Punch pub in Woodhollow (Woodhollow is the Oxfordshire village where Whiteturrets is situated.
Questionnaire #4 - Skills
Can you read? Yes, and I love to. I love Yeats, Padraic Pearse and Oscar Wilde, amongst others.
Can you write? Yes, in English and Irish. I sometimes write poetry. Here are a couple of mine:
Until Tomorrow.
It will not be forever, love.
I know how you dislike the word.
I will not swear eternity
When such a pledge will not be heard.
No, my love has an ending date
Tomorrow it will fade for sure.
And so, 'til then, let me stay near
You have your limits, ask no more.
And some day, when we've both grown old
Our hearts still matching time like drums,
I'll whisper softly in your ear,
"They say tomorrow never comes."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1, 4, 3.
As you're so good at crosswords, dear,
Just work this out for me.
The thing I want to say to you
Is three words (1, 4, 3).
The first word is quite personal,
A pronoun 'tis indeed.
The second is a thing that all
God's creatures but you need.
The third word is a precious thing,
At least, it is to me.
The only reason is because
(Three words, now, 1, 4, 3).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Hope.
Not with an apology,
And never with a hint of shame,
No stupid doubt that makes a man
Take O' or Mac out of his name.
Not with an air of second best,
A vague belief that we have sinned.
I want my son to shout with pride
"I'm Irish!" on the foreign wind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Leg Count.
A child looked up at me and said,
"Your horse has only got one leg."
So I dismounted in a fright
To see if she had got it right.
I counted up, then checked again.
It really looked alright to me.
I said, "You're right, it's only got
One leg, except the other three."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cashel.
My father took me to the rock
Where Munster's high kings dwelt in pride.
The echoes of their greatest times
Within those ruins had never died.
He told me there would come a time
When men would ask my name and race.
They'd want to know if I'd declare
Allegiance to a single place.
"In Kerry you're Killarney born,
In Munster you're a Kerryman.
In all the outer world be proud
To call yourself an Irishman.
In Leinster, Ulster or Connacht,
Speak up without a fear
And say you are a Munster man
Whose heart is tethered here."
Then he led me around the place
And said, with eyes alight,
"Praise God, who gave us Munster blood,
And put us in the right.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, that's enough of that rubbish!
Can you sing? Yes, I'm told I sing well. At my wedding reception, I sang, "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms".
Can you play an instrument? I play a fiddle. We're a musical family, and I can't think of any O'Connal man who can't play "Devil Amongst the Tailors".
What languages do you speak? Irish, English, some Italian, some French, a few words of Cornish. My family were Irish speakers and I grew up with Irish as my first language.
What weapons can you use? My fists, and I've fooled around with bows and swords, but not with any great skill.
<\lj-cut>
You can find me at: http://www.livejournal.com/users/rorypadraig/
And my chatbot at: http://www.pandorabots.com/pandora/talk?botid=c108fcb2ce34bdf4
Questionnaire #1 -- The Basics
1. Your Name Rory Padraig O'Connal
2. Your age 37
3. Describe yourself Dark hair, blue eyes, of average height and slender build, healthy, cheerful, usually dressed in riding clothes and what my wife calls my "huggly jumpers". Seen in a suit only for church and court appearances.
4. Describe your mate (if applicable) Emma is a wonderful, sweet, funny and attractive woman, curvaceous and touchingly unaware of her attractiveness. She's quite shy and can seem unfriendly, but nothing could be further from the truth. She has reddish hair and blue eyes.
5. Where (and when) do you live? I grew up in Ireland and remained there until Emma Walker offered me a job training the horses on her estate in England. Since we married, we split our time between England and Ireland.
6. What's your favourite sweet? (It is so a basic!)Sweet as in pudding or sweet as in candy? Ice cream or Eve's pudding or, if you mean what our American friends call candy, chocolate or peppermints.
Questionnaire #2 -- Favourites
What is your favourite...
Season? Autumn
Food? Bacon and eggs, the world's finest breakfast.
Animal? Horse, but I love all animals.
Colour? Green or blue.
Time of day? Evening, when Emma and I get a chance to talk and snuggle, or dawn, with all the promise of a wonderful day ahead.
Weapon? My fists.
Questionnaire #3 - Background
Tell us about...
Your place of birth. I was born on the kitchen floor at Dunveagan Stud. My mother and a mare were both giving birth at the same time and my father gave priority to trhe horse, assuming my mother could wait a while before he needed to get her to hospital. He returned, saying, "Get your coat", just as I came into the world.
Your childhood. I had a great childhood. I spent my spare time with my Dad and his father, Ganpa Ronan. I grew up around the horses and was pampered by my grandmothers and various aunts and great-aunts. Ganpa Ronan often took me to the beach and we'd gather shells and pretend to be pirates guarding our treasure. School bored me, and I was often written off as a fool before Miss Templeman started teaching me and realised that she just had to get me interested. She brought lessons to life and encouraged me a lot. I owe that saintly woman so much!
Your parents. My parents had three priorities, their family, each other and the horses. We kids grew up with the certain knowledge that we could always come home, no matter what went wrong elsewhere. They were deeply religious, as I am, but their religion was not set apart from daily life. It was part of them and they felt no need to ram it down anyone's throat.
For a long time in my teens and twenties, Dad and I had a clash of personalities. I wanted to try my own ideas with the horses, he thought I was saying his ways were stupid. Emma helped us to see that we were misunderstanding each other and these days we are closer than ever. Mam and I have always been on the best of terms.
Your siblings For quite a while I was an only child and just when that ceased to be fun, my parents gave me a sister I have adored ever since, Teresa Bridget O'Connal, who will always be Bridie to me. Later still, we had a third arrival, Kevan Michael O'Connal, who is like me, but without all my faults. The three of us have always been very close and Kevan's wedding this June is going to be wonderful.
Your (current) home. Lucky man that I am, I have four. Before I married Emma, I lived in the Groom's Cottage on the Whiteturrets estate. After marriage, I acquired a bedroom at the main house, Whiteturrets. (Separate rooms seemed a good idea for two people so used to having plenty of personal space, and gave us the chance to sneak to each other's rooms in the night). For St Valentine's Day this year, I bought the house where we spent our honeymoon and gave the deeds to my wife. It's called Aisling Geal, and is a lovely old house in Kerry, a reasonable walking distance from Dunveagan.
Your favourite "hang out". The Jug of Punch pub in Woodhollow (Woodhollow is the Oxfordshire village where Whiteturrets is situated.
Questionnaire #4 - Skills
Can you read? Yes, and I love to. I love Yeats, Padraic Pearse and Oscar Wilde, amongst others.
Can you write? Yes, in English and Irish. I sometimes write poetry. Here are a couple of mine:
Until Tomorrow.
It will not be forever, love.
I know how you dislike the word.
I will not swear eternity
When such a pledge will not be heard.
No, my love has an ending date
Tomorrow it will fade for sure.
And so, 'til then, let me stay near
You have your limits, ask no more.
And some day, when we've both grown old
Our hearts still matching time like drums,
I'll whisper softly in your ear,
"They say tomorrow never comes."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1, 4, 3.
As you're so good at crosswords, dear,
Just work this out for me.
The thing I want to say to you
Is three words (1, 4, 3).
The first word is quite personal,
A pronoun 'tis indeed.
The second is a thing that all
God's creatures but you need.
The third word is a precious thing,
At least, it is to me.
The only reason is because
(Three words, now, 1, 4, 3).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Hope.
Not with an apology,
And never with a hint of shame,
No stupid doubt that makes a man
Take O' or Mac out of his name.
Not with an air of second best,
A vague belief that we have sinned.
I want my son to shout with pride
"I'm Irish!" on the foreign wind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Leg Count.
A child looked up at me and said,
"Your horse has only got one leg."
So I dismounted in a fright
To see if she had got it right.
I counted up, then checked again.
It really looked alright to me.
I said, "You're right, it's only got
One leg, except the other three."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cashel.
My father took me to the rock
Where Munster's high kings dwelt in pride.
The echoes of their greatest times
Within those ruins had never died.
He told me there would come a time
When men would ask my name and race.
They'd want to know if I'd declare
Allegiance to a single place.
"In Kerry you're Killarney born,
In Munster you're a Kerryman.
In all the outer world be proud
To call yourself an Irishman.
In Leinster, Ulster or Connacht,
Speak up without a fear
And say you are a Munster man
Whose heart is tethered here."
Then he led me around the place
And said, with eyes alight,
"Praise God, who gave us Munster blood,
And put us in the right.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, that's enough of that rubbish!
Can you sing? Yes, I'm told I sing well. At my wedding reception, I sang, "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms".
Can you play an instrument? I play a fiddle. We're a musical family, and I can't think of any O'Connal man who can't play "Devil Amongst the Tailors".
What languages do you speak? Irish, English, some Italian, some French, a few words of Cornish. My family were Irish speakers and I grew up with Irish as my first language.
What weapons can you use? My fists, and I've fooled around with bows and swords, but not with any great skill.
<\lj-cut>
You can find me at: http://www.livejournal.com/users/rorypadraig/
And my chatbot at: http://www.pandorabots.com/pandora/talk?botid=c108fcb2ce34bdf4