https://karlclancy.ie/ Essays, poems, and notes by Karl Clancy. en Thu, 22 Oct 2026 11:48:25 GMT https://karlclancy.ie/blog/failure-is-just-practice-and-success-is-making-new-choices https://karlclancy.ie/blog/failure-is-just-practice-and-success-is-making-new-choices Thu, 22 Oct 2026 11:41:18 GMT Africa is the cradle of life, including every species of human that ever was. When our direct ancestors left Africa they encountered descendants of much earlier migrations, the Neanderthals and Denisovans. https://karlclancy.ie/blog/a-man-s-man https://karlclancy.ie/blog/a-man-s-man Thu, 15 Oct 2026 11:33:26 GMT https://karlclancy.ie/blog/let-s-talk https://karlclancy.ie/blog/let-s-talk Mon, 12 Oct 2026 20:20:13 GMT We have to be able to lean on each other, to talk when we need to. We also have to be able to listen, really listen, when that's what's needed. https://karlclancy.ie/blog/you-can-t-grab-water https://karlclancy.ie/blog/you-can-t-grab-water Mon, 12 Oct 2026 20:13:57 GMT As soon as we describe something, we limit its potential to be anything else, or to evolve, or to change in any way at all. https://karlclancy.ie/blog/broken-cups-and-loss https://karlclancy.ie/blog/broken-cups-and-loss Fri, 02 Oct 2026 16:11:13 GMT The trick, if there is one, is to realise that we can never really lose anyone. We just can't see them because we are too limited in our ability to understand.. https://karlclancy.ie/blog/ask-not-for-who-the-nodus-tollens https://karlclancy.ie/blog/ask-not-for-who-the-nodus-tollens Wed, 30 Sep 2026 18:14:32 GMT I often thought that if I could convince people to see life my way things would be better. I was right. If they saw things my way they would be better, for me. https://karlclancy.ie/blog/surviving-is-a-low-bar https://karlclancy.ie/blog/surviving-is-a-low-bar Mon, 21 Sep 2026 10:27:00 GMT A person may suffer a stroke or the effects of a debilitating disease or injury and survive but may also be cognitively and physically impaired for the rest of their lives. How much comfort can they draw from mere survival? https://karlclancy.ie/blog/when-is-detatchment-not-detatchment https://karlclancy.ie/blog/when-is-detatchment-not-detatchment Tue, 15 Sep 2026 07:31:59 GMT https://karlclancy.ie/blog/the-memory-of-stones https://karlclancy.ie/blog/the-memory-of-stones Mon, 14 Sep 2026 20:35:19 GMT https://karlclancy.ie/blog/homecoming https://karlclancy.ie/blog/homecoming Sat, 12 Sep 2026 16:03:21 GMT https://karlclancy.ie/blog/i-see-said-the-fox https://karlclancy.ie/blog/i-see-said-the-fox Sun, 06 Sep 2026 11:30:23 GMT https://karlclancy.ie/blog/why-do-bad-things-happen-to-good-people https://karlclancy.ie/blog/why-do-bad-things-happen-to-good-people Sat, 05 Sep 2026 13:28:42 GMT Why do children get leukaemia? Why do people die of starvation? Where is God in all the ills that befall His creation? If God is all powerful and all loving why doesn't He intervene? https://karlclancy.ie/blog/memory-is-a-damned-liar https://karlclancy.ie/blog/memory-is-a-damned-liar Sun, 30 Aug 2026 10:34:43 GMT What if I told you that you don't remember what happened, you remember the story you've told yourself over and over about what happened. https://karlclancy.ie/blog/the-freedom-of-incarceration https://karlclancy.ie/blog/the-freedom-of-incarceration Sun, 23 Aug 2026 10:26:34 GMT https://karlclancy.ie/blog/bury-shame-in-the-back-garden https://karlclancy.ie/blog/bury-shame-in-the-back-garden Sun, 23 Aug 2026 09:47:55 GMT The Yoruba tribe realised that shame held in the body became the default for the body. Shame centred thoughts wore neural pathways in our brains and so shame became the lens through which we saw the world. By separating shame from their identity they effectively told their brain that the shame was someone else and so it left. https://karlclancy.ie/blog/fair-trade https://karlclancy.ie/blog/fair-trade Mon, 17 Aug 2026 15:27:26 GMT The less you demand from the system the less it will take from you. The coffee is like the system, it promises so much but usually disappoints. https://karlclancy.ie/blog/use-the-difficulty https://karlclancy.ie/blog/use-the-difficulty Mon, 10 Aug 2026 15:41:48 GMT Your traumas happened. There’s no escaping those scars. It’s learning what to take from them and what to leave behind that will determine who you become and that is incredibly powerful https://karlclancy.ie/blog/christ-saves https://karlclancy.ie/blog/christ-saves Thu, 06 Aug 2026 10:23:45 GMT https://karlclancy.ie/blog/the-greatest-atrocity https://karlclancy.ie/blog/the-greatest-atrocity Tue, 04 Aug 2026 07:03:05 GMT The atrocities we see from afar don't stay there. They leak. They follow us home. https://karlclancy.ie/blog/fox-and-crow https://karlclancy.ie/blog/fox-and-crow Tue, 28 Jul 2026 19:59:49 GMT https://karlclancy.ie/blog/becoming-emotionally-mature https://karlclancy.ie/blog/becoming-emotionally-mature Mon, 27 Jul 2026 17:05:32 GMT So how do we go about the process of learning what the ‘negative’ emotions have to tell us, and just using the information without allowing it to prejudice future thinking? https://karlclancy.ie/blog/oliver-plunkett-street https://karlclancy.ie/blog/oliver-plunkett-street Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:57:53 GMT https://karlclancy.ie/blog/junction-festival-closing-performance https://karlclancy.ie/blog/junction-festival-closing-performance Sun, 19 Jul 2026 12:39:46 GMT A piece I wrote and performed for the closing concert of the Junction Festival 2026. https://karlclancy.ie/blog/build-resilience-just-not-too-much https://karlclancy.ie/blog/build-resilience-just-not-too-much Sat, 18 Jul 2026 08:52:44 GMT ‘This too shall pass’ is a good mantra for building resilience. In an age where perfection is touted as being attainable, we would do well to remember that good times can come and go just as easily as bad ones. https://karlclancy.ie/blog/vessel https://karlclancy.ie/blog/vessel Fri, 10 Jul 2026 12:42:59 GMT https://karlclancy.ie/blog/all-hail-the-new-god https://karlclancy.ie/blog/all-hail-the-new-god Thu, 09 Jul 2026 08:51:35 GMT If we want to take back our experience we have to change our phones back to being our servants, not serving us someone else’s world view. https://karlclancy.ie/blog/a-moment-to-be-grateful https://karlclancy.ie/blog/a-moment-to-be-grateful Sat, 04 Jul 2026 19:24:31 GMT Let’s take a moment together to appreciate life. The mere fact that you are freely reading what I have freely written means you can read, as can I. It means that you live a life that half the global population doesn't, one where you can read to an advanced level. https://karlclancy.ie/blog/where-do-they-go https://karlclancy.ie/blog/where-do-they-go Sat, 04 Jul 2026 18:59:59 GMT https://karlclancy.ie/blog/who-is-god-anyway https://karlclancy.ie/blog/who-is-god-anyway Mon, 29 Jun 2026 17:51:44 GMT https://karlclancy.ie/blog/let-s-be-adults-about-this https://karlclancy.ie/blog/let-s-be-adults-about-this Sat, 27 Jun 2026 11:35:10 GMT Until men learn that women are sisters not objects how can women trust us? Until men open up how can we learn? Until men feel safe in opening up how can they? Until we can have an adult conversation about how men and women relate to each other, without blame or the past getting in the way, how can we ever dispel stereotypes, tropes and stop scoring points off one another?