Welcome to the website of Patrick Semple, former Church of Ireland clergyman and author. Patrick has had two volumes of memoir published, two novels, a travelogue, a creative writing handbook, two collections of short stories and two collections of poems. He was editor of 'A Parish Adult Education Handbook', and ghost wrote 'That Could Never Be', a memoir by Kevin Dalton. He has had short stories published and broadcast.

Patrick taught for five years a creative writing course at National University of Ireland Maynooth, Adult Education Department and for the last five years has done public readings of his work in Kempten, Bavaria.

 
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26 October 2017

EXPERIMENT  

I am informed by a botanist friend, Howard Fox, that this is one of the first genetics science poems that he knows of: Wrinkled or smooth was the question, for Mendel the monk and his peas. A man never knows … Continue reading

25 July 2017

Bach and Betjeman raise €2,675 for refugees  

 Critique by Berni Dwan. On the evening of April 26th there was a frisson of expectation at the Quaker Meeting House in Monkstown as the growing crowd warranted extra chairs being brought in. The punters were gathering for a fund-raising … Continue reading

28 March 2017

POETRY AND MUSIC  

QUAKER MEETING HOUSE, MONKSTOWN Wednesday 26th April 2017, 7.30 pm In aid of refugees coming to Ireland MUSIC    Flute: Elizabeth Petcu (Ex RTE Concert Orchestra)                   Violin: Mircia Petcu (Ex RTE … Continue reading

10 October 2015

SOME POEMS  

ALBERT Today that voice fell silent in the small farmhouse where he brought his bride some sixty years ago or more. A son and daughter grown and gone, ewes to lamb, a cow for the house on the small hill … Continue reading

9 October 2015

KATE IN TIMES PAST  

The house was at the end of a long lime avenue. The trees were old and in places they still met overhead and made an arch. There were gaps where over the years trees had died which allowed a view … Continue reading

 

TWO NEW BOOKS: A novel; Nature's Playthings and a collection of short stories: Another Slice? Both were launched by Patsy McGarry on 10th September, at The Quaker Meeting House, Pakenham Road, Monkstown, Co Dublin. See : Launch Details

Natures's Playthings - A Novel, (a sequel to 'Transient Beings')
"After the events of 'Transient Beings' the former rector finds that he is adrift in an unfamiliar world. We see him come to life after the pressures of his wife's alcoholism and his own crisis of faith. As an older man he finally has the opportunity to find some contentment in his life and relationships."

Another Slice? - A Collection of Short Stories
"This collection of short stories looks at the lives of those with an inability to take control of their circumstances. Their predicaments are portrayed with a wry sense of humour and an eye for detail."

April 2013   Question and Answer session with Mel Ulm

Recent Publications : Transient Beings, Curious Cargo, Being Published, Slices of Life

Interviews :

  Interview with Aisling O' Rourke of Midlands Radio 103

  Interview with Shauna Gilligan

  Cork Humanists - Guest Patrick Semple on YouTube   Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  Recent Interview with John Murray on RTE1

  Two Interviews on 'Spirit Level', Joe Duffy, RTE : Spiritlevel
  Scroll to Video Archives of 19th Dec and 30th Jan and in both cases go to 32 mins 47 seconds

  25th June 2011 interview with an American radio station : FFRF News