Once more, An Café Liteartha comes up trumps. I was just browsing and found this absolute peach. It hits so many of my peculiar boxes – wall art; Gaeilge; listing with co-ordinates – so many of my obsessive compulsive tendencies. If only I could justify a trip to Belfast….. |
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Another statue to a traditional musician spotted on my travels recently – this one in Skibbereen. James Goodman was Canon at Abbeystrewery in Skibbereen; born in Dingle; collector of a huge number of traditional tunes; and professor of Irish at Trinity College Dublin. Once more learning from the signs. On Monday, I attended the performance of Rossa at Skibbereen Town Hall, in the very pleasant company of the scribes from Roaringwater Journal.
I was only taught history in school upto the (then) Inter Cert. The play however, brought home how much we were NOT taught as to Irish history and in particular Irish Republican history. The production, a collaboration of a number of amateur drama groups, was very enjoyable, used mixed media well, but more than anything else for this viewer, it was so educational. I would have had a sense of connecting O’Donovan Rossa to America; I would have thought that the Bobby Sands hunger strike was the first campaign for political status; I did not know that Pearse’s oration was at his grave. I do now but also have so much more to learn. It appears that there is a campaign to promote Peig.
I am biased as having enjoyed the book (in English) but nearly everyone of my vintage does not have a positive memory of reading Péig in school. The crafts people obviously think there is a market among Peig admirers. As promised, another traditional musician who was unknown to me until I spotted a sign on the Drimoleague to Bantry road to this monument.
From the information at Tralibane and on the web, I now know just a bit more about the flute player, Francis O’Neill. He left West Cork in 1865 and rose to Chief of Police in Chicago, where he recruited many other traditional musicians. He was forever collecting tunes. We will note 11th to 13th September in diary for a possible visit.
A few weeks back, I went to Ó Bhéal, upstairs at The Long Valley. Seán Ó Roideacháin was the guest poet. His readings were in both Irish and English. It brought home to me the lyrical nature and lovely sound of Gaeilge. Seán generally read each poem in Irish and then English translation. There was no doubt in my ears that the Irish version had a cadence about it – the flow and rhythm was so much smoother than the English. Maybe I have a slight bias in having started conversational Irish classes a while back but my knowledge level was such that I could not fully understand the Irish so was probably more in tune with the sound. It reminded me of the caption on the statue to Willie Clancy at Milltown Malbay that I thought that I’d share. A final blog, for now, from Kiltimagh.
The name of Rafferty, the blind poet, did stir some memories upstairs among the grey matter. It did take this sculpture to prompt some web searching to learn of the man who wrote “Is Mise Raifteirí” on the back of a five pound note. I now know a bit more – and have a desire to find further information, and listen to the DocOnOne
I left college in 1987 and was one of only two who stayed in the country. Most of the others left for the London construction boom.
During those college years, I shared houses with a few lads from Mayo. Maybe because of them, the buses home from the Quays at the weekends, the impending emigration, or for whatever reason, the name of the Coillte Come Home Festival took up some shelf space in my mind and has remained since. It is said that Kiltimagh gave its name to the expression ‘Culchie’. This sculpture in Kiltimagh brought that memory back to the fore when I saw it last year. I did mention that there would be more from Kiltimagh Die Happy or Live Unhappy - Who wins and who loses? |
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