Ned Keenan by John Campbell

Ned Keenan

Gerard's parents, Sarah and Edward Keenan
Sarah and Ned Keenan died together in McGurk’s Bar

Ned Keenan

by John Campbell

 

Whenever I lift an orange,

Ned Keenan comes to mind.

He could judge their sweetness,

Just by stripping off the rind.

‘A sour one won’t peel easy,’

He told me with a smile,

In the days he bossed the orange boats,

And we helped him stack the pile.

An explosion in McGurk’s Bar

Left him and others dead.

Whenever I peel an orange,

I always think of Ned.

 

From The Rose and the Blade by John Campbell

 

Ned Keenan was killed with his wife, Sarah, in McGurk’s Bar.