Here is a link to an article in The Irish Times today by Prof. Máirín Nic Eoin about the global or transnational dimension of Irish language literature.

Here is a link to an article in The Irish Times today by Prof. Máirín Nic Eoin about the global or transnational dimension of Irish language literature.

Seo nasc chuig píosa a scríobhas ar Tuairisc faoin Ríordánach, a saolaíodh céad bliain ó shin ag an deireadh seachtaine. Bhíos páirteach i gcomhdháil i mBaile Mhúirne mar chuid den chomóradh sin a d’eagraigh Bríd Cranitch, Tríona Ní Shíocháin agus Ríona Ní Churtáin. Léiríodh ‘Mo Pheann ag Rince’ de chuid Imram, seó a chuir Liam Ó Muirthile i dtoll a chéile, le tionlacan ceoil ó Enda Reilly agus físeanna aoibhne le Margaret Lonergan. Ba mhór agam féin a bheith ina dteannta ag léamh dánta an Ríordánaigh.


When our friend, Muiris Ó Meara, passed away in the summer of 2014, Siún Ní Dhuinn and I wanted to do something to remember him. With the support of LeabhairCOMHAR, we approached friends and former lecturers of Muiris in UCD, Notre Dame and NUI Galway about a book of essays in his honour. Muiris had a dazzling intellect and was an accomplished writer of poetry, prose and non-fiction. He was also infectiously good fun to be around. We hope this books of essays goes some way to capturing his varying interests, from critical theory to the GAA. We also hope that a book of his own writings might be published in the future.

Muiris’s family attended the launch of Solas ar na Dumhchannaí at Oireachtas na Samhna in Killarney. It was very much a meitheal of his family and friends: Áine Ní Bhreisleáin launched the book, Sineád Ní Uallacháin created a beautiful image for the cover, based on a poem by Muiris and presented it to Máirín, Muiris’s mother. Tomás Ó Séaghadha, Muiris’s uncle, spoke on behalf of the family, and Lillis Ó Laoire sang ‘Nil sé ‘na Lá’ to close. An Saol ó Dheas covered the launch – you can listen to the podcast here – and Meon Eile did a video and article about the book. Míle buíochas le Seán Ó Mainnín for the images below.

I was honoured to participate in an event at UCC last week to commemorate 100 years since the birth of Seán Ó Ríordáin.
Colm Breathnach, Áine Uí Fhoghlú and I discussed our experiences writing in a minority language, the importance of Ó Ríordáin in 20th Century Poetry (and beyond!), and whether Ó Ríordáin, writing in the Irish language, could be considered a ‘major’ poet. Wilson McLeod provided an interesting Scottish perspective to the conversation.
Here is an article in the The Irish Times about the rest of the events planned at UCC, agus eolas as Gaeilge faoi na himeachtaí ar Tuairisc.
There will a conference and other events in Baile Mhúirne, birthplace of Seán Ó Ríordáin, in early December. More information on those events at this link.

Ba mhór an onóir dom a bheith páirteach i gceiliúradh 20 bliain ó bunaíodh TG4. Aréir a craoladh an ócáid ina raibh ceoltóirí, scríbhneoirí, rinceoirí, aisteoirí, fir agus mná spóirt, agus daoine ildánacha eile ar stáitse. D’éirigh go hiontach leis an seó – moladh mór tuillte ag na héinne a bhí páirteach ann. Is féidir féachaint siar air ar an seinnteoir anseo .
Iarradh orm dán a scríobh don ócáid agus dheineamar é a thaifeadadh lasmuigh de Dhánlann Glucksman i gCorcaigh cúpla seachtain ó shin. Tá an dán féin ag 1″06′ ach is fiú go mór breathnú an seó iomlán.
Grian an Fhómhair
Móraimid grian an fhómhair,
ólaimid go fonnmhar dá solas
nuair a chinneann sí í féin a nochtadh
adhraimid í gan náire
óir is ar an mbeagán a bhíonn blas
is tá an oíche fhada ag teacht,
cruinnímid ar fad faoina léas
is feicimid a chéile go soiléir;
déanaimid ár gcomhchaint
is déanaimid ár ngoradh;
molaimid grian an fhómhair
diúlaimid dá solas.

Buíochas ó chroí le Caoimhín Mac Giolla Léith as léirmheas tuisceanach, cáiréiseach, ealaíonta a scríobh ar Tost agus Allagar in eagrán mhí Mheán Fómhair den iris Comhar.


When I finished the manuscript of Tost agus Allagar over a year ago, I tried to keep up the momentum of writing and editing poems… I failed miserably. Weeks and months would pass without any stirring; I felt listless and missed the buzz of creating. And then a subject pops up and that sparks something: Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan honeymooned in Tralee, Co. Kerry. Here is a poem I wrote imagining their time there.
Mo bhuíochas le heagarthóirí Comhar as é a fhoilsiú in eagrán mhí Iúil.


Scríobh an file Caitríona Ní Chléirchín léirmheas ar Tost agus Allagar san eagrán is déanaí de Southword. Táim an-bhuíoch do Chaitríona agus don eagarthóir Gaeilge, Colm Breathnach. Seo nasc chuig an léirmheas. Is é Ionad Litríochta an Deiscirt, nó an Munster Literature Centre, a fhoilsíonn Southword ar-líne.
Is féidir saothar Chaitríona a léamh anseo.

It was such an honour to be invited to read at the Velestovo Poetry Night in Macedonia – and to be included in the anthology of 11 Irish poets translated by Julijana Velichkovska and Vasilka Pemova.

On Saturday night we read outdoors at beautiful Velestovo; here is me with Katerina Petreska who read the Macedonian translations:

Many thanks to Culture Ireland for supporting the trip

Our hosts, Julijana and Jovan, looked after us incredibly well, enabling some great discussions over long lunches and late dinners:
Many happy memories of my time in Velestovo, looking out over Lake Ohrid…

In 2011, I visited Máire Uí Mhaicín at her home in Dublin. She had been commissioned by Deirdre Davitt of Foras na Gaeilge to take portraits of Irish writers and academics. I spent a lovely afternoon in Máire’s company, drinking coffee in the kitchen and chatting in her garden. I was really struck by her warmth and openness, her humour and energy.
Sadly, Máire passed away in 2013. Part of her legacy is the 140 portraits she took, some of which have been published recently by Leabhair COMHAR in a beautifully designed book.
There is also a bilingual website which is easy to navigate and gives a sense of the variety and volume of writers who work in the Irish language today. Here is a link to the index of writers. Aside from the portraits, there is biographical information and samples of work. I’m sure it’ll prove to be a great resource for anyone interested in writing in Ireland.
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