Centre for Irish Studies Newsletter

 Nuachtlitir Ionad an Léinn Éireannaigh                       Issue 11               Winter 2011

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Máire Mhac an tSaoi, An paróiste míorúilteach/The miraculous parish

 

                                      Máire Mhac an tSaoi, Dublin Castle, 17 October 2011

More than 150 people attended a gala event in Dublin Castle on Monday 17 October to mark the publication of An paróiste míorúilteach/The miraculous parish, a critical bilingual edition of the selected poems of Máire Mhac an tSaoi. The attendance included poets, critics, and scholars of Irish language writing, politicians, members of the Arts Council, as well as members of Máire’s family, her children Patrick and Margaret, and grandchildren Inigo and Milo. There was considerable media interest in the event, with television crews from RTÉ and TG4, as well as journalists and reporters from local and national radio stations and newspapers. There was also a film crew led by arts journalist and film-maker Brenda Ní Shúilleabháin who is making a documentary on the children of those involved in the Irish War of Independence.

Máire Mhac an tSaoi is the last survivor of a generation of poets who transformed poetry in Irish in the 1940s and 50s. Her work provides particular insights into the private and domestic experience of women at a time when women’s voices were largely inaudible on the margins of Irish literature and society. A generation before the emergence of Eavan Boland, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, and others in the 1980s, her work is a powerful, and occasionally, disturbing articulation of the more  intimate aspects of the female experience. An paróiste míorúilteach/The miraculous parish contains a generous selection from the five volumes of poetry published between 1956 and 1999 as well as previously uncollected work and a number of remarkable new poems written since the death of her husband Conor Cruise O’Brien in 2008. The book is dedicated to Máire’s uncle Monsignor Pádraig de Brún, one time President of University College Galway and a major influence on his niece’s life and work.

Biddy Jenkinson, Michael O’Brien, Máire Mhac an tSaoi, Peter Sirr, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Louis de Paor and Micheál Ó Chonghaile at the launch of An paróiste míorúilteach/The miraculous parish, Dublin Castle, 17 October 2011

In conversation with Senator Fiach Mac Conghail, Artistic Director of the Abbey Theatre, Máire spoke of her family’s contribution to Irish politics, of her mother’s involvement with Michael Collins’ assassination squad, and her father’s imprisonment and subsequent career as Tánaiste in De Valera’s Fianna Fáil government. She also spoke of her encounters with Samuel Beckett, when she was a graduate student in Paris after the war, and with General Franco during her posting to the Irish Embassy in Madrid. As she read from her work, translations were provided by Peter Sirr, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Biddy Jenkinson, and Louis de Paor. Co-publishers Micheál Ó Conghaile of Cló Iar Chonnacht and Michael O’Brien of O’Brien Press, spoke of the poet’s courage and independence of mind and of her unique contribution to Irish life and literature.

At the conclusion of proceedings, Máire received a standing ovation from those present. Three days later, she and her family attended a private lunch at Áras an Uachtaráin where they were hosted by President Mary McAleese, one of the President’s last official engagements before the end of her term of office.

Máire Mhac an tSaoi is an Honorary Professor of Irish Studies at NUI Galway and her bilingual selected poems were edited by Louis de Paor, Director of the Centre for Irish Studies, which will host a symposium on Máire’s work on Wednesday 23 May 2012 at NUI Galway. Contributors will include Patricia Coughlan, Margaret Mac Curtain, Micheál Mac Craith, Ríóna Ní Fhrighil, Bríona Nic Dhiarmada, Máire Ní Annracháin, Caoimhín Mac Giolla Léith, Biddy Jenkinson, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, and Máirín Nic Eoin.

For further details concerning this publication:

http://writing.ie/component/easyblog/entry/guest-blogs/report-from-the-launch-of-mire-mhac-an-tsaois-miraculous-parish.html

http://www.obrien.ie/blog/

Please click on the link below to listen to a recent interview of Máire Mhac an tSaoi in advance of a tribute night to her which took place on 10 September 2009 as part of the IMRAM Irish language literature festival in Dublin.

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/scribhneoiri/1069155.html

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