Description: A self-published anthology of original narratives, fictional dialogues, and scenic photos dating from Jan. 2011 to Feb. 2013 by a lyrical philosopher of Ireland. This contemporary collectable boldly addresses several universal themes such as love, freedom, morality, human trafficking, children and spousal abuse, religion, politics, fanaticism, prophecy, cosmology, art, fashion, music, and the esoteric. There are conversations with for instance Anne Boleyn, Michel de Nostredame, Edgar Cayce, James Joyce, Joseph Goebbels, Greta Garbo, The Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei, Dalai Lama, The Holy Qur’an, Angela Merkel, Al-Waleed al-Saud, Richard Dawkins, Michel Soyer, and Homayra Sellier just to name a few. Aside from being a cosmopolitan work it is a one of a kind personal social commentary on early 21st century Ireland as it contains over seventy pages devoted exclusively to the author’s historic and courageous bid to become the 9th President of Ireland.
An overview of the opening lines of several dialogues contained in the work is also viewable in the following: Five pages 

{Bridging Al-Serenities} (print - paperback, 534)

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Description: A delightful prose-poetic work which begins on the beautiful isle of Éire (Ireland) with the world of the invisible presenting itself in person to the world of the visible. The focus then shifts to the Middle East, to a mythical queendom set in pre-Qur'an, pre-Bible, pre-Torah times. Seekers of wisdom, beauty, and love; seekers of spiritual contentment will find this cultural bridge building work greatly to their liking. In particular, those who are attracted to the literary heritage of Éire; the literature of the Torah, the Bible, and the Qur'an, and the writings of Gibran, Rumi, and Hafiz as well as the playful philosophical gymnastics of the Chinese sage Chuang-Tzu will immediately recognize and know this work to be a gem-find of this globally maladministered age. A fragrant cornucopia of stories and narratives all richly and exquisitely seasoned with spiritual and philosophical elegance and eloquence. It is an attempt at cultural bridge building; connecting peoples and ideas. 

{Unto Lineage Royal} (print - hardback, 504)

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Description: Richard of Eire the self-originating philosopher, poet, artist, and publisher presents this metaphor rich life regression work as a miracle for our own day and a blessing for the generations to come. By means of dialogues, poems, letters and articles on love, culture, heritage, morality, and the environment he visits a past of himself in the 'present' rather than a past of himself in the 'past' per se. This beautifully engaging compact offering is a work of fiction based on a good deal of factual input; a cornucopia of literary unpredictability. The transcending message of this chanson d'amour parfumée may be best summed up by stating that while love invites us to love it is to friendship that we are we called. The work is presented in a 'status update format' embroidered with the author's own exquisite digital artwork. A beautiful volume inspiring ardent trust, hope, and love in self throughout the ages. A CD/Mp3 album of poems from the text is also available.

{Innkeeper’s Fire} (vols. 1&2 ) (print - hardback, 496, 608)

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Description: Innkeeper's Fire is a keeper; a fascinating piece of literary art. It has been said of the celebrated Russian soprano Anna Netrebko that even if she were to learn many more new parts, the role of Natasha Rostov in War and Peace will remain one of the chief roles in her life. The same could very well be said of the author of Innkeeper's Fire in that even if he were to write many more new books, the role of Risteard Mac Grailt in this work will remain one of the chief male character roles in his life. That's because this type of calm, wise, bright, joyous, courteous, warm voiced, nuptial hermit and family man; this rural philosopher-poet of Eire who tells mythic stories and engages in homely conversations perfectly fits the author's imaginative, writing, and poetic possibilities. There is the quiet man and his lady of the valley of Ballylee, the quiet man and his lady of the lake isle of Innisfree, and now here the quiet man and his lady of the hill country of Deisi Mumhan.

{Hearing in the Write} (print - hardback, 500)

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Description: A purely philosophical-poetic work, Hearing in the Write shows a marvellous fluidity and rapidity of thought... While it neither advocates nor adheres to any philosophy per se; a philosophy in the sense of being a time-honoured discipline hauling and dragging after itself otiose luggage of correct principles of reasoning, it definitely does concern itself in its own lyrical way with profound questions on what exists, what are some of the essential natures of things, how we live our lives, what 'knowledges' are thought to be, and above all it concerns itself with safeguarding the spontaneity of speculation... This delightfully exhilarating work has healing qualities about it in that through means of its powerfully nebulous thought engagements it encourages the mind back out into the heartland of wondrously uninhibited speculations... Hearing in the Write presents diversion and digression in thought and expression as essential ingredients for the good of our intellectual health.

{Generations Reaching} (print - hardback, 504)

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Description: Profound reflections by Richard Mc Sweeney on a sampling of life's eternal concerns.... Like all Richard's writings, [Generations Reaching] is being presented as a time barque for the generations of our future, thence enabling them to know and to come to appreciate the reflections and aspirations that one of their ancestors had with respect to a sampling of life's eternal concerns, while happily living simply and plainly with his wife and two children in a 21st century of his era, in a beautiful border village that the people of his day called Tallow, on the lovely isle they called Eire, of the fragile planet they called Earth, of the.... As honoured guests, does Richard cordially invite we his contemporaries on board the exquisite Time Barque of the Eternal Ocean for its precious cargo to bethink for ourselves, and to bless before it sets sail from out of the bay of our own day, for the unknown worlds of the future.

{A Jesus of Nazareth} (print - hardback, 320)

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Description: A genre-breaking work readily encouraging and lending itself to comparison and contrast with the Holy Bible, the Holy Qur'an, and the Holy Tanakh as well as with the principal philosophical Taoist texts, namely the Tao Te Ching and The Chuang-Tzu....Essentially a contemplative work, written as it is to be interpreted both exoterically and esoterically is an attempt to restore to the bright - the light, the memory, and the power of insight, dream, and intuition....A necessary caveat respectfully to the reader: neither the Jesus of the Gospels nor the Isa (Arabic for Jesus) of the Qur'an exists here within no more....Rather what exists here within is a Jesus of Richard's own inspiration, and, who to his own heart is eminently credible, enjoyable, and profound....The work traverses the lands we in modern times would refer to as the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria.

{Myriam of Lebanon} (print - hardback, 112)

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Description: This unique work, established on Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet was debuted and warmly received at an International Conference on Gibran held in Beirut in April 2006.... Given the state that the world is in today, the author is of the strong opinion that a woman's word would be more effective in bringing about a qualitative change, and even more warmly received by peoples of the world, and of his native Ireland, than say a man's, especially, if she were perceived by them to be in every way exceedingly beautiful. The work Myriam of Lebanon has been his answer.... It presents a philosopher-poetess called Myriam from the Phoenician port city of Byblos of the land of Lebanon who visits the isle of Eire and while there shares of her profound wisdom.... This work is a bright beacon of hope and strength for our times and beyond; a beautiful and endearing work born of the green fields of Eire and the snow-capped mountains of Lebanon.

Related article: A historic day in Lebanon for Ireland

Biography

Brief biographical note of a 21st century-based creative custodian; a serene practitioner of the ancient art of self-originating artistry.

    Gaeilge name:  Risteárd Seosamh Mac Suibhne (Uí Éire)
    English name:  Richard Joseph Mc Sweeney (of Éire)
    Month of birth: July 1955
    Place of birth:  Fermoy, County Cork, Isle of Éire

Mystical minded Richard Mc Sweeney: a nuptial hermit, and father of two dwells on an extraordinary beautiful green desert isle in the Northern Atlantic Ocean, namely the lovely isle of Éire (Ireland); an isle of the isles.

Richard lived in Seoul in the Republic of Korea for some thirteen years before moving to the Middle East where he spent three years in Jeddah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and a further three in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. 

While concurrently working as a fulltime lecturer in the Department of English Language & Literature in the University of Seoul, South Korea he gained a BA in Korean Language & Literature from Kyunggi University, and a MA in Classical Chinese Philosophy from Seoul National University, both of which he accomplished through the mediums of Korean and Classical Chinese.

His Masters thesis: {A Re-illumination on the General Understanding of Chuang-tzu's Tao} was written entirely in Korean and Classical Chinese having both Gaeilge and English abstracts. 

He was also enrolled in the PhD programme in the same department at SNU but discontinued after two years in order that he and his family could move to Ireland for the sake of their children’s education; a life-changing move that quite unbeknownst even to himself at the time would eventually afford him the ideal setting in which to develop and explore his gift for writing.