Leabhar Na hAthghabhala: Poems of Repossession

by Louis de Paor (Editor)

This is the first comprehensive critical anthology of modern poetry in Irish with English translations. It forms a sequel to Seán Ó Tuama and Thomas Kinsella’s pioneering anthology, An Duanaire 1600-1900 / Poems of the Dispossessed (1981), but features many more poems in covering the work of 25 poets from the past century. It includes poems by Pádraig Mac Piarais and Liam S. Gógan from the revival period (1893-1939), and a generous selection from the work of Máirtín Ó Direáin, Seán Ó Ríordáin and Máire Mhac an tSaoi, who transformed writing in Irish in the decades following the Second World War, before the Innti poets – Michael Davitt, Liam Ó Muirthile, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Cathal Ó Searcaigh, Biddy Jenkinson – and others developed new possibilities for poetry in Irish in the 1970s and 80s. It also includes work by more recent poets such as Colm Breathnach, Gearóid Mac Lochlainn, Micheál Ó Cuaig and Áine Ní Ghlinn. The anthology has translations by some of Ireland’s most distinguished poets and translators, including Valentine Iremonger, Michael Hartnett, Paul Muldoon, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Bernard O’Donoghue, Maurice Riordan, Peter Sirr, David Wheatley and Mary O’Donoghue, most of them newly commissioned for this project. Many of the poems, including Eoghan Ó Tuairisc’s anguished response to the bombing of Hiroshima, ‘Aifreann na marbh’ [Mass for the dead] have not previously been available in English. In addition to presenting some of the best poetry in Irish written since 1900, the anthology challenges the extent to which writing in Irish has been underrepresented in collections of modern and contemporary Irish poetry. In his introduction and notes, Louis de Paor argues that Irish language poetry should be evaluated according to its own rigorous aesthetic rather than as a subsidiary of the dominant Anglophone tradition of Irish writing. Poetry Book Society Recommended Translation. Irish-English bilingual edition.

Genres: Poetry, Irish Literature, Ireland

544 pages, Paperback

Published April 28, 2016

About the author

Louis de Paor was educated at University College Cork. He has published articles on a broad range of writing in Irish from the court poetry of medieval Ireland to the work of contemporary poets such as Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and Michael Davitt. His books include a study of narrative technique in the short fiction of Máirtín Ó Cadhain and an anthology of twentieth century poetry in Irish co-edited with Seán Ó Tuama. He is currently working on a study of the writings of Flann O’Brien and is Director of the Centre for Irish Studies at NUI Galway. Current research interests include twentieth-century writing in Irish and in English; translation studies; the works of Máirtín Ó Cadhain, Flann O’Brien, Seán Ó Ríordáin and early modern Irish poetry.

Reviews

[Sanjuro · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful collection of Irish poems whose whole is a bit more effective than its parts. The individual poems did not actually stir much in me - I made notes to revisit only a few - but the time spent reading through the entire book made for an excellent and well-rounded engagement with poetry in Irish from the 20th century.

I do think the sheer length of the collection worked against me. Poems are typically best experienced when they are internalized - when the reader can mentally annotate them, image their locations and the rhythms of their words - but I had such a prevailing sense that, if I did not read these poems somewhat quickly, I'd never get to the end of them. I tried to simply let the language affect me in its own right, and reading with this sort of urgency likely did not do me any favors when it came to resonating with the work.

I also think including such a large section of Biddy Jenkinson's poems, when she would only allow them to be translated into a prose format, was a mistake. Without getting a sense of the rhythm of the lines I simply could not get into them. It's the only part of the book where I skipped several poems.

Overall, this is an important collection; an excellent introduction to English translations of important Irish language poets.

[Marcas de B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

9/10—B'fhurasta don Phaorach leis na dánta uilig seo a bhailiú in aon imleabhar amháin agus éirí as, ach is soiléir go bhfuil ró-mhéid phaisin aige d'ealaín na filíochta Ghaeilge le leithéid a dhéanamh. Tugtar réamhrá do gach aon fhile, scríofa ag an bPaorach fhéin, ina bhfuil plé déanta ar a saol, ar a saothar, agus ar a dtéamaí. Tugtar aistriúchán do gach aon dhán ó fhoireann aistritheoirí (is filí cáiliúla astab fhéin iad cuid acab, m.sh. Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin). Tá go leor dánta ar fáil, ó dhaoine uaisle mar Phádraic Mac Piarais, go pearsana nua-aimseartha mar Sheán Ó Ríordáin, go filí na gluaiseachta Innti sna 60idí agus sna 70idí. Is ceann de na duanairí Gaeilge is fearr é gan amhras.

[CAG_1337 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough, well-edited, and much needed followup to 'An Duanaire 1600-1900 / Poems of the Dispossessed.' Like 'An Duanaire' I think this will very likely become a standard text for anyone studying Gaelic poetry.