Literary Tour of '07-'08 During the 2007-08 school year, we are spending more time sampling literature from the three dialects: Ulster in the fall, Connaught in the winter, Munster in the spring.

Notes: Cathal Ó Searcaigh

This isn't a comprehensive account of his life or work, but just some helpful snippets, especially if you missed a class.

• Background
• Maidin i Mín 'a Léagha
• Caoineadh

Background

Ó Searcaigh was born in 1956 in Mín 'a Léagh, near Gort a' Choirce. This is in the north of Donegal, northeast of Gaoth Dobhair and Rann na Feirste, in the region of Cloich Cheannfhaoladh (Cloughaneely) -- see map.

One of the most prominent poets in Ireland in the last several decades, he has stayed close to home, near famous Mount Errrigal. And he has a connection with Gaeltacht Minnesota, who raised money for a grant he received through the Irish language magazine An tUltach.

Poems Discussed in Class

Notes on Maidin i Mín 'a Léagha:

We looked at an early (1983) poem from his collection Súile Shuibhne, a poem about waking up in his home in Mín 'a Léagh. In the title of the connection, "Shuibhne" refers to Sweeney, who has his own saga -- a pagan king in Ireland who was driven mad, transformed into a bird and possibly other creatures, and wandered all over the island.

This poem is a wonderful running contrast between terms that evoke cold, winter, and darkness, and those that suggest flames and light. He compares being awakened by the morning light, and the rooster, to melting or thawing from his slumber, the way heat melts ice and snow.

An especially interesting item, in the first verse, is the phrase biríní seaca an tsuain, "icicles of slumber". Birín comes from bior, a pointed thing, but biorán suain is a phrase referring to a "sleep charm", found in folk tales.

Caoineadh

This "lament" has appeared in collections several times, but I don't know when it was first published. In the version I handed out, two English translations are found on the second page.

We heard Searcaigh himself read this poem. It presents a nice parallel between the death of a favorite sheep when he was a boy -- for which he was comforted by his mother -- and the dangerous situation of the Irish language itself, for which he can find no comfort.

Different people had different preferences between the two translations, but the general feeling was that the Heaney version caught more of the emotion of the poem, while the Boland version took a few less liberties and stayed a little closer to the original.

It seems that both translators could have perhaps made more use of the parallel structure Searcaigh built into this poem. Compare the third line from the first verse with the third line from the second verse:

• Istigh i gcreagacha crochta na Beithí. (This refers to Beithíoch, a hill near the base of Errigal.)
• Gafa i gcreagacha crochta na Faillí (Failli, 'neglect')

While these are almost identical in the Irish, neither of the translators rendered these lines that closely in their English versions.

Any questions or comments, drop me an e-mail.