Ramparts Walk - 'In the Footsteps of Ledwidge'

Despite the inclement weather a large group of Ledwidge enthusiasts assembled at Slane Bridge on Sunday 12th September 2004 to take part in the first 'In the Footsteps of Ledwidge' walk which commenced at the bridge and finished at Morgan's lock. This route was chosen as the Boyne was Francis Ledwidge's favourite place; he wrote to Katherine Tynan from Flanders on 20th July 1917, just over a week before his death at the third battle of Ypres on 31st July 1917

"I want to walk by the Boyne to Crewbawn and up through the brown and grey rocks of Crocknaharna. You have no idea of how I suffer with this longing for the swish of the reeds at Slane……….."

Following a brief talk from John Clarke, Chairman of the Francis Ledwidge Museum Committee, Bridie Maxwell, well known Drogheda poet got the event underway as she read "Behind the Closed Eye". As the group made it's way along the riverbank, up past scraggy arch, and looked across the river to Stanley Hill and Crewbawn, Tom Murray from Trim, the well renowned Meath poet, called on some of the walkers to read Ledwidge poems. Amongst the poems they chose was "Little Boy In The Morning", the poem that Ledwidge wrote on hearing of the sudden death of the little boy Jack Tiernan, a neighbours son. Other poems chosen were "Lament For Thomas McDonagh", "Crewbawn", "Stanley Hill" and lastly as we looked up river towards Rosnaree "The Dead Kings":

All the dead kings came to me
At Rosnaree, where I was dreaming……….

Tom Murray had taken along a book of his own published poems and donated it as a prize to the best original poem read on the day. Bridie Maxwell from Drogheda won this prize.

Old acquaintances were renewed and new friendships formed as people who had trodden this route regularly reminisced on times past and those who had never been there before marvelled at the beauty and tranquillity of it all. It was agreed that this would become an annual event and should attract an increasing number of Ledwidge fans and poetry lovers from around Ireland and beyond.

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