Like most towns in Ireland, Westport boasts some true Irish characters and none more fascinating than Richard White - lover of poetry, nature, the wonders of the sky, the Lord above and life in general. Somewhat of a local celebrity - and modestly so - Richard's command of the English language is original, wise, refreshing and inspiring, while his melodious voice and thick Mayo brogue make him a regular hit on the airwaves. At the tender age of 76, Richard, a retired Inspector with the Department of Agriculture and a widower following 36 years of marriage to his beloved late wife Pat, is a daily sight on the highways and byways of Westport as he strides along, supported by his trusty walking stick. Here, Richard provides a tonic to anyone needing a little lift - just by allowing his mind express the words of a unique thinker - no editing required:
"I take interest in the clouds and the sky, I just love them; there is great beauty there, and of course, I know the night's sky since I was a little child; I loved it, the stars, the moon and all that; the clouds - especially in turbulent weather, you can have art and glory; the thing with it, I have to say this much, since I was a child and I take very little credit for this, being naturally drawn to the world of nature; last year, it dawned on me with powerful force, had anything enriched and enlarged my life as much outside of the Maker himself - and of course I would not exclude my family - but there is very few things other than that the world of nature has done so much for love and fascination for me.
"My love for poetry, that also came of its own good self to me as a child; in my case it was not Mohammed going to the mountain but the mountain going to Mohammed. I’m not interested in religion or anything, and I had no good love of literature; I tell my Maker about these things.
"I wouldn’t be an over-the-moon religious person, but I would believe God exists, because I discovered, being a former atheist, through the ingenuity, art and functionality evident in the world of nature, that God simply had to exist, because it is so incredible; it had to be designed and thought out; even without over-talking about it or boring you, I came outside the door one day and a moth, not the one that eats the clothes - I don’t like them - but one that was barely caught in a spider's web; she had wings folded, I picked her up with a tissue, put her out on a dock leaf, she unfolded and flattened out her wings; there before me was one of the finest works of art you could ever lay your eyes on; not alone the colours and the perfect blending of them, but every last detail, done to perfection on the design of that little moth.
"Even the grass; now a lot of people take no notice of it, but from the Cox Foot to the Medifescu and the different kinds of grass, they may not all have Godly colours, but there is art and beauty in all; to put it in a nutshell, from the tiniest of things to the biggest, nature is oozing with art and beauty with enormity. A person might say, are you away with the fairies talking that kind of stuff. I say, you can roll up your sleeves and do a day's work just as well, because you too are oozing with functionality in so doing. I believe in being practical and functional as well and nothing could be moreso than nature when you add it all up.
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Richard strolling along the Mall River
"The way with it is, I think, and I won’t be self-conscious, that a lot of us can fall into the trap of being too bottled up with ourselves. Patrick Kavanagh said: 'Me, I will through away, Me I will do for the day' - do you see? If you’re too turned in on yourself - and I think through our educational system that may be happening today - to life and adventure a man must be free from necessity; I think today there is the danger and that it is happening a good bit, that we are too self-centred and taken up too much with ourselves. I kind of love to forget myself and launch out and live my life on a daily basis. Every day, that is the thing.
"I would not be a natural poet like Shakespeare, or Ger Reidy here in Westport, who is a true poet; but with me, regarding poetry, nature and poetry mingle for me; both came of their own good self and I thank my Maker for it; it is a love of a cross-section of Irish and international poets; saying that I would be selective and am not drawn to all poetry; but the thing with it is, while I have that love for poetry, then I discovered I have a gift for reciting poetry; and do you know who helped me realise this? it was my dog.
"For a time I worked in the petrol station, filling petrol before it was self-service, eight hours on the trot. You wouldn’t have time to have a cup of tea or if you did, three vehicles would pull up. Some evenings I would come home to Pat my wife and the occasional evening, a mighty yearning would be on me to say poetry; so after my tea, up I would go to the room, the dog would follow me up, and for 20 minutes I would be reciting different poetry - and the dog used be delighted; I could see it, listening to me, and no one only him listening.
"The way with it got me thinking; I wonder have I a gift reciting; the amazing thing with this gift I have, I rejoice in it, because I have brought joy and happiness to thousands of people because of it - so I am not boasting when I say, I would have a definite gift in reciting; people say they love my accent and my voice and it is so good the little feedback and encouragement and the sincerity; yet I could have gone through my life never discovering my gift - and there are thousands of people who never discover their gifts.
"As far as growing older, of course I'm not as young as I used to be, and as one grows in age, it dawns on you how short life is; but I was never idle, and am full steam ahead for life and living and delight in meeting people and if I can be of help and encouragement along the way, that is all I want.
"I live alone - which is sometimes hard enough; I had a great dog, Tansey, who used to come everywhere with me. I was crazy about her. I was advised to wait a year after she died, and I did, and now, I've got another tremendous dog, a black Labrador crossed with another breed and a grand little white diamond on his breast; they make a huge difference to me living alone; then I come into town almost every day and take a good sharp walk, maybe for half or three quarters an hour, mostly through the Westport domain. I meet a good few people and maybe sometimes have an extra chat. Even coming in today, I had a cup of tea in Curry's Cottage and met a few people and had a bit of craic, which was so good, and then of course, the chat with the bold Don McGreevy.
"While there are terrible things going on in the world today, as Shakespeare said, 'this above all, to thine own self be true'; he follows on, 'thou canst not then be false to any man'."
You can watch samples of Richard reading poetry recorded on Dr Oliver White Senior's channel at