Background
Pangur Bán Restaurant opened in 1999 and was run for 10 years by chef John Walsh, who's training in Ireland and experience gained both at home and abroad (in Australia, England and the U.S.) was evident in the restaurant's distinctive menu. The restaurant closed in 2008 but John is now available for catering, runs a cookery school and his produce can be bought at several markets in the locality.
This poem was found in the margins of a manuscript in the Monastery of St. Paul, Carintia, Austria. Written by an Irish Monk, 8th/9th Century.
Pangur Bán
I and Pangur Bán, my cat,
'Tis a like task we are at;
Hunting mice is his delight,
Hunting words I sit all night.
Better far than praise of men
'Tis to sit with book and pen;
Pangur bears me no ill will,
He too plies his simple skill.
'Tis a merry thing to see
At our tasks how glad are we,
When at home we sit and find
Entertainment to our mind.
Oftentimes a mouse will stray
In the hero Pangur's way;
Oftentimes my keen thought set
Takes a meaning in its net.
'Gainst the wall he sets his eye
Full and fierce and sharp and sly;
'Gainst the wall of knowledge I
All my little wisdom try.
When a mouse darts from its den,
O how glad is Pangur then!
O what gladness do I prove
When I solve the doubts I love!
So in peace our tasks we ply,
Pangur Bán, my cat and I;
In our arts we find our bliss,
I have mine and he has his.
Practice every day has made
Pangur perfect in his trade;
I get wisdom day and night
Turning darkness into light.
Pangur Bán Catering & Cookery School
Letterfrack, Connemara, Co. Galway, Ireland
Email:pangurbanjw@gmail.com
Tel: 095 41243 |