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CRÉ-UMHA NA CILLE |
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Cailleadh Aodh Ó Domhnaill, údar, file, 7rl, ar 24 Eanáir 2018 i mBaile Eaglaise, i gCorca Dhuibhne. Ar a bhealach chun na huaighe, abhí i ngiorracht dá theach cónaithe, ghabh sé trí reilg Mount Jerome, i mBleá Cliath, áit inar creimeadh é. A fhad ann dó chuir sé breac-aithne ar roinnt áitreabhach iomráiteach. Seo mar a lean an caint acu. |
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Aodh I'm pleased to meet with all you guys But I have to be terse I'm only passing through this place So just give me one verse David Kelly My name is David Kelly I've been in Fawlty Towers But acting in a play of yours Is way beyond my powers Jack B Yeats Unlike my good friend Brewster They kept all my fine art And now it's selling mightily In places far apart William Wilde I had a son called Oscar Married to the Rector's daughter But he stepped badly out of line And did what he shouldn't oughter Bindon Blood Stoney I am Bindon Blood Stoney I think I'm here to stay I've lived my life by water But now I'm 'neath the clay J M Synge My name it is John Millington I Synge an Irish song I've written lots of Irish plays And now I can't go wrong Edward Bunting My name is Edward Bunting I transcribed the Irish Harp But music I've collected Is sometimes flat or sharp Ethel Moore My name is Ethel Kathleen Moore I married Percy French I died in my first childbirth For him an awful wrench Thomas Grubb I hope that Póló told you That his granny from the West Was living round the corner From Grubb's optical quest Paddy Tierney My name is Paddy Tierney I went to church to pray I was barely down upon my knees When the Lord took me away Mai Medlar My name it is Mai Medlar My purpose here is moot I'm not ripe till I'm rotten Just like my namesake fruit Máirtín Ó Cadhain Do ghoid tú uaim mo smaointe Do thruailligh tú mo chré Ach glacaim leis mar mholadh Agus maithim duit é Aodh Midir leatsa a Mháirtín Glacaim led mhaithiúnas Mar tuigim gur amach anseo Go luífidh muid beirt faoi chiúnas I'm glad to have met all you guys You're really effervescent But I must finally leave you now For a fate most incandescent Seachas Aodh, Paddy Tierney agus Mai, tá na daoine thuasluaite le fáil in Wikipedia. Seachas Aodh amháin táid uile ar scor ó ábhair an tsaoil in Mount Jerome. |
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Since launching this page, it is clear that its obscurity demands some explanation. So here goes. Aodh 1947-2018 Aodh was born, and lived virtually all his life, in Dublin. He worked in the Central Bank. When he retired he decamped to Baile Eaglaise in the Kerry Gaeltacht where he continued writing, composing, acting and teaching. He died at his desk on 24 January 2018. His funeral came to Dublin for a cremation in Mount Jerome and then went back to Kerry to the graveyard near his house. Now, I was once at a funeral in Mount Jerome. I was standing near the chapel waiting for the cortege to arrive when I felt a presence behind me. I turned around only to find myself facing the grave of William Wilde, Oscar's father. This was most appropriate as the funeral was for Michael Judge, my progressive English teacher in secondary school. This led me to wonder who else famous might have ended up in Mount Jerome. At the other end of the spectrum, and of the country, Máirtín Ó Cadhain's epic novel, Cré na Cille, deals with conversations among the dead in a Connemara graveyard. So the thought occurred to me to portray some interaction between Aodh and some of the notable permanent residents of Mount Jerome while he was briefly passing through. For believers this would surely be the most natural thing in the world with them all inhabiting the same spiritual realm. For fans of Oireachtas na Gaeilge, this might be considered a weak anglicised tribute to some of Aodh's prizewinning (Agallaimh Beirte) (sic). David Kelly 1929-2012 To get to the detail, David Kelly was a famous Irish actor whose career spanned playing Rashers Tierney in Strumpet City to the sly carpenter O'Reilly in the BBC's Fawlty Towers. Aodh wrote an Irish stage version of Strumpet City in which he played Rashers. So we're off to a good start here. Jack B Yeats 1871-1957 One thing Aodh was not was an artist, so this is my intrusion into the conversation, and not the last. The Yeats family lived next door to the artist and cartoonist, Gordon Brewster, who may well have known Jack. My point here is a contrast. Jack's fine art won fame and renown and it's still around. Brewster's fine art was consumed by fire, first in the destruction of the RHA in Abbey St. during the 1916 Rising and then in a bonefire set by his wife in the back garden after his death. And what's my interest? Gordon died in my mother's shop, The Gem, in Howth, on Bloomsday 1946. William Wilde 1815-1876 I have referred to William and his part in this adventure above. Surely it is Oscar rather than William that would catch Aodh's interest. But Oscar is buried in Paris and the Daddy will just have to stand in for now. Bindon Blood Stoney 1828-1909 Now, what in God's name would Aodh have in common with this engineering genius who changed the face of Dublin and invented a diving bell, now proudly on display on Sir John Rogerson's Quay. Well, as Michael Caine would say, not a lot of people know this, but Aodh started an engineering degree in UCD until the Good Lord called him to higher things, or some might say lower, depending on your point of view. John Millington Synge 1871-1909 Synge was an interesting playwright, swimming against the tide of politically correct nationalism and portraying characters in all their humanity. Aodh could be seen as a modern equivalent poking away at the superficial conformity and hypocrisy of church and state. Were it not for the fact that Aodh was writing in Irish and for an already radicalised audience, I'm sure his output would have attracted its own share of rioting. Edward Bunting 1773-1843 As Bunting was a classically trained musician, he did not understand the unique characteristics of Irish music, such as modes, and when transcribing tunes he 'corrected' them according to Classical music rules. One proof of this is that some tunes published by him were in keys that could not have been played by the harpists.This was a subject dear to Breandán Breathnach's heart, agus tuigim dó. The nearest you'll get to this experience today is to listen to The Minstrel Boy played on the bagpipes. Aodh never had that problem as his music was regularly transcribed and arranged by his classically trained sister, Nora, who never left a note, whether melody or harmony, out of place. I'd love to have seen Bunting transcribing Aodh playing the Tea Chest, as he once did on RTÉ television. Ethel Kathleen Moore 1871-1891 Ethel's mention in Wikipedia is limited to a sentence in the Percy French entry and a listing among the residents of Mount Jerome. Now, Aodh had much in common with Percy French as a songwriter, but Percy is not buried in Mount Jerome and Ethel is. So she is entitled to a mention here and to be heard. Aodh is a good listener. Thomas Grubb 1800-1878 It's actually my great-grandmother from Rosmuc who lived around the corner in 2 Dunville Terrace, Rathmines, and by the time she moved in poor Thomas was already in his current residence. But what's a little time warp between friends. Paddy Tierney Paddy Tierney was Aodh's brother's father-in-law and he went the way he said. I am currently reading the epic saga of the Irish language publishers Sáirséal agus Dill. Just like Aodh, Seán Sáirséal Ó hÉigeartaigh died at his desk. That saga is for the telling at another place and time. Mai Medlar 1920-2011 Mai was my godmother, and fortunately not successful in that particular role, whatever about her undeniable virtues in other areas. What is "moot" (open to argument) here is that she is the fifth person in a four person grave with her husband Harry. Meanwhile there is still an official space left in her father's four person grave where he lies with his first wife and their daughter Nell. I couldn't let Aodh pass through withour giving her the opportunity to tell him, as she so often told every one she met, of the relationship between the Medlar family and the fruit of the same name. Máirtín Ó Cadhain 1906-1970 And, of course, Máirtín, without whom none of this would have happened in the first place. I have to apologise to Máirtín. It was me what perverted his original title from cré (clay) to cré-umha (bronze) in view of the "upmarket status" of some of Mount Jerome's inhabitants. You will note that, in the encounter, Aodh manfully took the blame for this perversion of mine. |