Once upon a Time

About the Book

This is a compilation of stories and poems I’ve written over the past ten or more years. It will, in all probability, be my final publishing endeavor … or maybe not? I’ve written these stories and poems all over the world, in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Ciudad Colon, Costa Rica, Sri Lanka, Mount Kisco, NY, Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY. Most of the stories are fiction with some reflections on life and spirituality. As we grow older our outlook and beliefs evolve, and we wrestle again with our spiritual connections with God and the Universe. Oddly enough, few if any have been written in Ireland, though many about Ireland, and especially Abbeyside, the village where I was formed and had such an influence on who and what I would become. Though times were hard and money scarce, I wouldn’t swap my upbringing there with the most affluent denizens anywhere on the planet. There were times I was dissatisfied, growing up, for I had a great desire to travel the world and experience other cultures, but as I grow older, I appreciate more and more, the lessons learned, lifelong friendships made, and the optimism and will to forge better times that always existed there. To be clear, this existed, not just where I grew up but throughout Ireland. But, it seemed, Saint Augustine, our patron saint was keeping a particular eye out for the village and its people. A special thanks to my daughter, Triona, my son-in law, JP, and my good friend, Eddie Cantwell, who each helped at various stages in bringing this book to fruition.

About the Author

James G. Cullinane completed his Bachelor of Arts in Literature at Empire State College in October 1997 and his Master of Arts in Creative Writing (MAW) at Manhattanville College in May 2000. For his thesis in the MAW program, he wrote a play, A Love So Blind, which was produced in Dungarvan, Waterford, Ireland in June 2000 and at The Irish Arts Theatre, Manhattan in July 2000. His second play, The Sheare Street Social Club, was produced at the June Havoc Theatre, 312 West Thirty-Sixth Street in Manhattan, New York in January 2008, and in Dungarvan, Waterford, Ireland in January 2020. A video of the play was scheduled for Dungarvan Cinema a few months after, but, due to Covid, was cancelled. He has written a memoir, Arses & Elbows, published in 2007 and Imagine, One Man’s Journey, reflections on man’s connection to God, in 2016. He continues to write plays, short stories, and poetry. His work has been published in Inkwell Magazine, New Orleans Review and Toronto Irish News. He grew up in Abbeyside, County Waterford, and now resides in Mount Kisco, New York with his wife, Anne (nee Tyrrell), also from Abbeyside. They have four children, Patricia, Catriona, Christine and Terence, and four grandchildren, Tom and Brendan Morgan and Luke and Logan Bueti.