Photo by Paul Whelan
Fortunately Christmas actually has 12 days, and doesn’t end until January 6th (remember all those lords a-leaping and maids a-milking and the five golden rings? The partridge in a pear tree? Right!).
Which means there’s still time to share Christmas wishes from Berna, our Irish correspondent over in County Kildare, in her home town of Clane. The Christmas card is in aid of the Clane St. Patrick’s Day Parade & Festival, and shows Clongowes Wood College, a Jesuit “college” (a boys’ prep school) housed in a 15th-century castle. In 1888 a little boy of six and a half came to Clongowes and crept through a dark corridor to meet with the Rector, and remained as a student until 1891.
Oh, I forgot! The name of the little boy? James Joyce.
Clongowes College features prominently in Joyce’s semi-autobiographical A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Ardent Joyceans can take this interesting virtual tour.
A grand New Year to you, Berna! Looking forward to lots of posts from Ireland in 2011—
Touch2Touch 
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