How Maeve Binchy and her husband Gordon Snell never regretted becoming cat-owners, a fondness which they shared with a 9th century monk - for Sunday Miscellany on RTÉ Radio 1, listen to Pangur Bán and Audrey above...
When Maeve and I first talked about getting a cat, most of our friends were enthusiastic.
One said: "Cats are no trouble…. If you go away for a few days, you only need a neighbour to look in, feed them, and ask: "How was your day"
We went ahead, and never regretted it.
Our current resident is Audrey, a fluffy white cat with a black tail she sometimes stares at, wondering if it belongs to her.
As Audrey sat beside me on the desk one day, I was reminded of one of Maeve's favourite poems, the one about Pangur Ban, the pet cat of a monk who, many centuries ago, paused in a work of translation to write a verse in the margin of his text about Pangur.
So I decided to make a verse tribute to Audrey – and here it is….
Listen to more from Sunday Miscellany here.
