Threshold- Listening Library

Full of wry humour, Kavanagh's unsentimental and evocative account of his Irish, rural upbringing describes a patriarchal society surviving on the edge of poverty, sustained by the land, and an insatiable love of gossip.

Mohammed and Josef are chatting about life as a refugee and the trouble in finding somewhere to live. However, shelter is not the only necessity of life. Josef searches for love in Ireland on dating sites. But would he be giving away a peace he had come to appreciate? Searching the internet reveals opportunity and anxiety to @brownlady_12345.

Noel's parents had split when he was a boy and his mother had gone on to a successful singing career. But when he has a chance to reunite with her, he does not know how to handle the opportunity.

A young boy works for a theatrical agency in Dublin as an errand boy. This is his first job ever and he loves running errands for the two men who own the agency. The most exciting thing that happened during the day was when a "musical hall lady" came into the agency. Everybody in the office went crazy when one walked in. The boy's encounter with a rhinoceros is hilarious, as is his close encounter with the music hall lady who he thinks is in love with him.

“I had five maiden aunts, and they doted on me.” A Man’s World contains a blueprint of Brian Friel’s acclaimed Dancing at Lughnasa. Picking up your aunts at the train station, they rustle your hair, man-handle you, wait expectingly for a party-piece and, though still a wee man of only five or six, note the becoming of a man in you. The world of rural Donegal and the drama and characters who fill it.

Patrick Kavanagh’s poem explores themes of memory and imagination. He explores the magical world of childhood and the mourning of its passing. He uses amazing colourful and figurative language to adequately paint a picture of his youth and what it means to be a child.

Before we cast old words aside, let us consider the sublime beauty and profound oddness of the ancient tongue that has been spoken on this island for almost 3,000 years. In Thirty-Two Words for Field, Manchán Magan meditates on these words – and the nuances of a way of life that is disappearing with them.