Bluesy Ballymoe: Pulse and Hearts above Zero

Poetry that fears not to go wherever the heart leads it: from the highs and lows, the light and the dark, the sun, the thunder and lightning, nature’s bright beauty and cruelty beyond belief, running rivers and silvery streams, depression and nightmarish dreams. All this and more awaits the reader in the second volume of poetry from William Tiernan.

"My brain is in my head, but my mind is just about everywhere."

The poet is always alone but in his heart and soul, he strives to be a real people’s person, not a fair-weather friend, not least to those who suffer the torments of this world. No matter how strong faith is, fear and doubt will test it to its core, weaken it if they can and, in some cases, sadly destroy. Love can be a cold stone nesting in a warm fire with its flame reaching out to heal but cannot reach a dying wound.

Tiernan's poetry burns with insight – a true example of the fire inside the mind that drives a person to create. Influences ranging from Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen to Patrick Kavanagh will be discerned, but the voice is all his own: a unique voice that reaches out to people, addresses itself to themes that are universal, reflections that are often sadly true but able and willing to rise to the challenges that they present.

"Never let the sun go down on your hatred or your anger; it will eat you away. Depression is an illness of the mind and body, a cancer of the soul. Let’s support one another and defeat it."

About the Author

William Tiernan is an Irish poet and author who resides in rural Galway, close to the Roscommon border. His writings reflect his personal experiences and convictions as well as strong ties to the community in which he lives, his identification with the place where he grew up.

Three collections of poetry have been published to date: Greetings from Guilka, Ballymoe: Poems from the Head and the Heart (2016), Bluesy Ballymoe: Pulse and Hearts above Zero (2018) and The Joys of a Second Rattle at Life (2022).

In 2014, he was National Winner in the poetry category at the Hanna Greally International Literary Awards, organised as part of the annual SiarScéal Festival in Co. Roscommon.