About this episode
Write Your Book With Us In 2026The Authors’ Knot Program, February - November 2026Registration is open now for our intimate 10-month online writing program for thought leaders, memoirists, novelists. and heart-led visionaries working on a book or another “big project.”Learn more and apply to join the Authors’ Knot. OUR STORYAmanda Carmody shares three Christmas stories from her uncle, Irish philosopher John Moriarty. We follow a five year-old John to the barn on Christmas morning, meet a local Moyvane man who shows a sense of “alarming humanity” at Christmas mass, and walk with John and a five year-old Amanda to Granny’s house to light the Christmas candle in the window. OUR GUESTAmanda Carmody joins us to speak about her uncle and dear friend, John Moriarty. She knows firsthand how John Moriarty’s work can be a shelter, a companion, and a deep reservoir of meaning through the dark night of the soul. Amanda spent meaningful time with John and later devoted many years to studying his wisdom teachings. Over the past six years, she has shared that work widely—through institutes, festivals, reading groups, workshops, blogs, and online classes. She has a background in visual display and design and is also an author and illustrator, an co-editor of John Moriarty: Grounded in Story.She is the mother of three remarkable children: Damien, Sarah, and Anna. Being a mother and carer is Amanda’s first calling, and it is from this lived experience that she speaks.Connect with Amanda and the vibrant John Moriarty Community on FacebookIN THIS CONVERSATIONThe first story of John as a five year old appears in his autobiography Nostos and serves as a foundational story that informs so many of his other teachings and storiesThe power and presence of the lapwings, a species of birds that was once ubiquitous around Ireland is now profoundly endangeredManchán Magan’s podcast series about John Moriarty, The Bog ShamanThe influences of indigenous North American stories on John’s work, particularly after his time in Western Canada. Resonances between John’s work and that of Robin Wall Kimmerer and her ideas around naming and how names transform relationshipsJohn’s most important message: this spirit of ecumenicism. Written on his tombston
