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- Strictly for Adults Novels >
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Tales from Portlaw
>
- No Need to Look for Love
- 'The Love Quartet' >
-
The Priest's Calling Card
>
- Chapter One - The Irish Custom
- Chapter Two - Patrick Duffy's Family Background
- Chapter Three - Patrick Duffy Junior's Vocation to Priesthood
- Chapter Four - The first years of the priesthood
- Chapter Five - Father Patrick Duffy in Seattle
- Chapter Six - Father Patrick Duffy, Portlaw Priest
- Chapter Seven - Patrick Duffy Priest Power
- Chapter Eight - Patrick Duffy Groundless Gossip
- Chapter Nine - Monsignor Duffy of Portlaw
- Chapter Ten - The Portlaw Inheritance of Patrick Duffy
- Bigger and Better >
- The Oldest Woman in the World >
-
Sean and Sarah
>
- Chapter 1 - 'Return of the Prodigal Son'
- Chapter 2 - 'The early years of sweet innocence in Portlaw'
- Chapter 3 - 'The Separation'
- Chapter 4 - 'Separation and Betrayal'
- Chapter 5 - 'Portlaw to Manchester'
- Chapter 6 - 'Salford Choices'
- Chapter 7 - 'Life inside Prison'
- Chapter 8 - 'The Aylesbury Pilgrimage'
- Chapter 9 - Sean's interest in stone masonary'
- Chapter 10 - 'Sean's and Tony's Partnership'
- Chapter 11 - 'Return of the Prodigal Son'
- The Alternative Christmas Party >
-
The Life of Liam Lafferty
>
- Chapter One: ' Liam Lafferty is born'
- Chapter Two : 'The Baptism of Liam Lafferty'
- Chapter Three: 'The early years of Liam Lafferty'
- Chapter Four : Early Manhood
- Chapter Five : Ned's Secret Past
- Chapter Six : Courtship and Marriage
- Chapter Seven : Liam and Trish marry
- Chapter Eight : Farley meets Ned
- Chapter Nine : 'Ned comes clean to Farley'
- Chapter Ten : Tragedy hits the family
- Chapter Eleven : The future is brighter
-
The life and times of Joe Walsh
>
- Chapter One : 'The marriage of Margaret Mawd and Thomas Walsh’
- Chapter Two 'The birth of Joe Walsh'
- Chapter Three 'Marriage breakup and betrayal'
- Chapter Four: ' The Walsh family breakup'
- Chapter Five : ' Liverpool Lodgings'
- Chapter Six: ' Settled times are established and tested'
- Chapter Seven : 'Haworth is heaven is a place on earth'
- Chapter Eight: 'Coming out'
- Chapter Nine: Portlaw revenge
- Chapter Ten: ' The murder trial of Paddy Groggy'
- Chapter Eleven: 'New beginnings'
-
The Woman Who Hated Christmas
>
- Chapter One: 'The Christmas Enigma'
- Chapter Two: ' The Breakup of Beth's Family''
- Chapter Three: From Teenager to Adulthood.'
- Chapter Four: 'The Mills of West Yorkshire.'
- Chapter Five: 'Harrison Garner Showdown.'
- Chapter Six : 'The Christmas Dance'
- Chapter Seven : 'The ballot for Shop Steward.'
- Chapter Eight: ' Leaving the Mill'
- Chapter Ten: ' Beth buries her Ghosts'
- Chapter Eleven: Beth and Dermot start off married life in Galway.
- Chapter Twelve: The Twin Tragedy of Christmas, 1992.'
- Chapter Thirteen: 'The Christmas star returns'
- Chapter Fourteen: ' Beth's future in Portlaw'
-
The Last Dance
>
- Chapter One - ‘Nancy Swales becomes the Widow Swales’
- Chapter Two ‘The secret night life of Widow Swales’
- Chapter Three ‘Meeting Richard again’
- Chapter Four ‘Clancy’s Ballroom: March 1961’
- Chapter Five ‘The All Ireland Dancing Rounds’
- Chapter Six ‘James Mountford’
- Chapter Seven ‘The All Ireland Ballroom Latin American Dance Final.’
- Chapter Eight ‘The Final Arrives’
- Chapter Nine: 'Beth in Manchester.'
- 'Two Sisters' >
- Fourteen Days >
-
‘The Postman Always Knocks Twice’
>
- Author's Foreword
- Contents
- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- Chapter Three
- Chapter Four
- Chapter Five
- Chapter Six
- Chapter Seven
- Chapter Eight
- Chapter Nine
- Chapter Ten
- Chapter Eleven
- Chapter Twelve
- Chapter Thirteen
- Chapter Fourteen
- Chapter Fifteen
- Chapter Sixteen
- Chapter Seventeen
- Chapter Eighteen
- Chapter Nineteen
- Chapter Twenty
- Chapter Twenty-One
- Chapter Twenty-Two
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Celebrity Contacts
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Thoughts and Musings
- Bereavement >
- Nature >
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Bill's Personal Development
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- What I'd like to be remembered for
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- 'Early life at my Grandparents'
- Family Holidays
- 'Mother /Child Bond'
- Childhood Pain
- The Death of Lady
- 'Soldiering On'
- 'Romantic Holidays'
- 'On the roof'
- Always wear clean shoes
- 'Family Tree'
- The importance of poise
- 'Growing up with grandparents'
- Love & Romance >
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Chapter Four: 'The first years of the priesthood'
So he left behind all such thoughts of earthly flesh and over the next seven years, Patrick Duffy Junior trained to become a Catholic priest. For a number of years, he toyed with the notion of becoming a missionary in Africa, and even managed to get himself a two years' placement out there in the bush, whilst still not ordained. However, if he thought that all of the beautiful temptations of the flesh could be lost out in the African bush on this side of the world, he was sadly mistaken.
While in the heart of Africa, the trainee priest was unable to rid both his mind and body of these manly urges that he was now starting to consider as being perfectly 'normal' in a man of his age. Indeed, he was beginning to think that it was the state of priesthood that 'may not be normal.' After seeing a naked infant move towards a most unusual tree one afternoon, he started to think that it was perfectly natural for man and woman to be entwined. He could see no reason why priest or nun was doomed, if the life of Christ was not all that they were wedded to!
It was during this period that his father had an accident and fell off the Catholic Church Spire that he’d been repairing. The parish priest had been prepared to hire a professional steeplejack for the job, but after Patrick Duffy Senior had offered to save the church the £3000 fee, the priest reluctantly allowed Patrick to climb the steeple.
The ascent went okay and it was only on the way down when the pulley jammed that Patrick Duffy Senior started to worry. He tried to free the pulley, but the rope snapped and he fell 35 metres to the hard ground. The poor man landed on his front and his skull caved in. Molly Making; who dressed the body for the wake and burial, had to use all of her skill to make the previously handsome man presentable for any viewers of the corpse. The tragic death and funeral of Patrick Duffy Senior took place during the obligatory absence of his one and only son, Patrick Duffy Junior.
The ascent went okay and it was only on the way down when the pulley jammed that Patrick Duffy Senior started to worry. He tried to free the pulley, but the rope snapped and he fell 35 metres to the hard ground. The poor man landed on his front and his skull caved in. Molly Making; who dressed the body for the wake and burial, had to use all of her skill to make the previously handsome man presentable for any viewers of the corpse. The tragic death and funeral of Patrick Duffy Senior took place during the obligatory absence of his one and only son, Patrick Duffy Junior.
Patrick Duffy never seemed to forgive himself for not having been present at his own father’s funeral service in Portlaw. All he had in image terms was a photograph of his father's grave that his mother visited daily and which she sent him after they'd erected a headstone. For as long as he could remember, his father’s only wish had been to see his son ordained a Catholic priest. Now, he would never see it from this side of the green sod. Patrick prayed that the fact he had ‘not yet’ been ordained a priest would not weigh heavily against his father’s soul on the Day of Judgement and that God would bless the intent of the wayward son along with acknowledging the efforts of both parents in getting him to the vocation of priesthood.
Bridie wrote to her son after the funeral, telling him how proud he had made his dad when he went off to train for the priesthood and expressing her view that if only he could have seen him ordained a Catholic priest, he would have died the happiest man in the world. Bridie told her son, Patrick, not to feel guilty being unable to get back from another continent in time to attend his father’s funeral service. She tried to reassure her son that his father would have understood that he was absent because he was ‘serving God and the Holy Roman Catholic Church’ at the time.
Patrick was told that a beautiful violinist from the Dublin School of Music who was taught alongside the Maestro Pincas Zuckermann of Israel played his favourite Irish song, ‘Those Faraway Places’ at the graveside of his father. It would seem that the violinist, who was seven months older than Patrick Junior, was the daughter of one of Patrick Duffy Senior's old friends, whom he went out with briefly before meeting the love of his life, Bridie Lowe.
Patrick was told that a beautiful violinist from the Dublin School of Music who was taught alongside the Maestro Pincas Zuckermann of Israel played his favourite Irish song, ‘Those Faraway Places’ at the graveside of his father. It would seem that the violinist, who was seven months older than Patrick Junior, was the daughter of one of Patrick Duffy Senior's old friends, whom he went out with briefly before meeting the love of his life, Bridie Lowe.
After the death of his father, Patrick Duffy was never again referred to as ‘Junior’ by any woman or man. When he was eventually ordained a Catholic priest a few years later, even his mother and sisters refused to ever call him anything other than Father Duffy. Prior to his ordination, he returned to Ireland briefly on compassionate leave. He asked his mother and sisters not to announce his brief return as he only wanted to pay his respect at his father's graveside before travelling to County Cork, where he would complete his training before being ordained there.
He was ordained at St Augustine's Catholic Church, Washington Street, County Cork. On the day of his ordination, his mother and sisters were as proud of him as anyone could possibly be. As she watched her son approach the Bishop, Bridie Duffy cried salty tears of happiness to see him walk the white cross that had been inserted in the green carpet for the ceremony. Even St Patrick himself could not have picked a more suitable carpet for this Irish man to be ordained Catholic priest.
He was ordained at St Augustine's Catholic Church, Washington Street, County Cork. On the day of his ordination, his mother and sisters were as proud of him as anyone could possibly be. As she watched her son approach the Bishop, Bridie Duffy cried salty tears of happiness to see him walk the white cross that had been inserted in the green carpet for the ceremony. Even St Patrick himself could not have picked a more suitable carpet for this Irish man to be ordained Catholic priest.
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