Introduction to Tom

In his own words

I was born in Ireland, the land of scholars and saints; steeped in language and literature.

My family moved to South America in 1974, when I was eight-year-old and so most of my childhood was spent in Brazil. This move was a real culture shock to me. The combination of a very different culture, a new language, alternative values, a sub-tropical climate, life under a military dictatorship, seemed to overwhelm my young senses. This was the beginning of the first great adventure of my life and would define the person I was to become.

Perhaps the lack of English speakers during my childhood in Brazil, kindled in me a passion for English literature and language. I read everything in English that I got my hands on. Then at about the age of fifteen, a fellow Irish man, whose family had also migrated to Brazil, introduced me to the works of George Gordon Byron, Lord Byron. I was enthralled. I remember him reading to me the poems ‘Darkness, ‘The Destruction of Sennacherib’ and ‘The Vision Of Belshazzar’. Not your average fifteen-year-old’s choice of reading but it was English and it was fantastic.

My love of poetry had begun but other than a few lines here and there, I did not try my hand at writing until much further down my life’s path.

I eventually left the family home in South America and returned to the Ireland as a young adult in 1984.  It was on a visit to Kilravock Castle in Inverness, Scotland, that the second and indeed greatest adventure of my life began. I met my wife and soulmate and we were blessed with five wonderful children. Kilravock will always be dear to my heart. The imposing granite structures, the dense woodlands, the history, the ghosts of the past and the Celtic mysticism that rises from the land and flows mist-like over the valleys and glens of the Highlands. This landscape was to later inspire my poem ‘Kilravock’.

In 1985 I moved to Bristol, England to pursue studies in aerospace engineering. I qualified as an avionics engineer and began my career in the aerospace industry.

I inherited a passion for the sea from my mother who in turn inherited it from her mother. Ireland is not known for its sun-drenched beaches and palm trees but the northwest coast is known for its spectacular storms; the inspiration for ‘Sea Storm’.  I have had a few hobbies and interests throughout my life, some enduring but most transient. The love of the sea and boating however, has never waned. This passion gave rise to the favourite of my poems. Running With the J’s.

It was not until the outbreak of Covid 19 in 2020 that I tried my hand at poetry. The periods of national lockdowns gave me time to reflect on life and inspired me to write. My inspiration comes from life itself; my journey and experiences and the characters I have met along the way. My style can best be described as traditional, ranging from romantic works to poetic pessimism; the upbeat celebration of nature to the depths of the human despair. A journey we all share; the good and the bad. A journey we know as The Human Experience.