ONCE AGAIN we reach the season of goodwill and of exchanging gifts to show our appreciation and love for those whose presence we cherish.
At a time of uncertainty such as we live in now, it allows us possibly the only time of year when we can make a positive contribution to our own community’s well being by supporting local endeavour and creation.
Nowhere is this observation more apt than in the case of our writers and artists. Thankfully as regards books, there is a wonderful choice on offer, to coin a phrase the perfect family Kris Kindle.
One of the great father figures of Galway literature in terms of international recognition has been the man born back in the West, Walter Macken. His novels have delighted three generations of readers worldwide and his historical trilogy has never been out of print for a half of a century.
This year, his son Ultan has allowed us the pleasure of meeting the man himself in his informative biography Walter Macken Dreams On Paper. Ultan’s powerful use of his parents’ and indeed grandparents’ letters allow us an intriguing insight into the realities of living in Galway at the early part of the 20th century as well as the struggles of the budding writer in a somewhat hostile censorious Ireland.
Taking us back further is Noel Wilkins’s splendid and comprehensive biography of Alexander Nimmo, the man who built most of Connemara’s roads and piers. Wilkins documents Nimmo’s extraordinary career as he describes in wonderful detail his extraordinary career not just in Ireland, but in England and Scotland as well. After reading it, the walk along Nimmo’s pier is never the same.
Another excellent documentation of Galway’s history can be found in this year’s excellent journal from the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society in which we can visit the town of Gort in 1752, meet the teller of tales Brother Paul Carney (1844-1928 ), Travelling ‘Quester’ and chronicler of the life of James Lynchenhaun, nineteenth-century Achill criminal agus in a bfhuil alt an suimiúl ar An Ghaeilge agus an Connnacht Tribune ó 1909 go dtí bunú an tSaorstáit.
Ag caint faoi leabhar suimiúla as Gaeilge tá freisin an leabhar díreach taréis teacht amach le Colette Nic Aodha leis an teideal Raiftearaí í gCeartlár a Dhaoine san Aonú hAois is Fíche. Is é atá san leabhar seo ná an t-oidreacht atá beo go fóill in na gceantair inar chaith Antaine Raiftearaí a bheatha idir a gcuid fhiliochta agus béaloideas. Direach tareis teacht amach freisin atá an dara bailiúchán gearrscéalta ó pheann Joe Steve Ó Neachtáin leis an teidil Salann Garbh. Scealaíocht agus scriobneoracht den scoth atá anseo ina pléitear ceisteanna faoin coimhlint idir tir agus talamh, grá agus an gruaim, caoineadh agus carthanas, bás agus beatha.
Before leaving our past, it is worth mentioning William Henry’s excellent book Coffin Ship in which he tells the tragic story of the wreck of the brig St John off the coast of Massachusetts in October 1849. The ship had sailed from Galway loaded with passengers desperate to escape the effects of the Famine. In one telling sentence we are told: “In the small parish of Bohermore, where the skipper of the brig St John was living, an average of five people perished every day.”
Still staying in the past for those who love historical fiction, there is the ambitious historical novel from the pen of Ger Burke and published by that worthy Galway Press Wordsonthestreet, My Father’s Lands which is a searing love story and a poignant insight into the last stand of the old Gaelic world against English supremacy prior to the Ulster Plantation. This is the perfect book to curl up beside the fire with.
Speaking of fiction, it is good to see the English translation of the Galway classic Breandán Ó hEithir’s Lead Us Into Temptation back in print. Published by that wonderful Cló Iar Connachta in Indreabháin, this delightful novel will bring the reader back to the Galway of the late forties, just as Ireland was about to be declared a Republic, as our hero Martin Melody hops from one hilarious episode to another in an effort to sort himself out.
For those who are partial to sparky short stories there is John Arden’s Gallows and other Tales of Suspicion and Obsession. The stories are based in Galway, London, and Arden’s native Yorkshire, and in them we meet the inimitable Molly Concannon. The book is accompanied by a DVD of a short documentary, filmed by his son Finn Arden, of Arden talking about his influences and about his own illustrations of episodes in the book.
Also worth looking at is the innovative collection of stories by the graduates of Adrian Frazier’s creative writing MA class of 2008 (who call themselves The Atlantis Collective ) entitled Town Of Fiction and edited by John Kenny.
In this interesting gathering of new Galway writing, there is a woman who meticulously plans a murder, a boy learns how to fly, a bird watcher meets a rook, and a pair
of shoes lead
a Quay Street playboy into peril. Imbued with a sense of humour these stories carry with them the energy of young writers trying to make their mark and deserve our attention.
A refreshing aspect of Galway life is the continued survival against all the odds of its publishing houses thus keeping the cultural soul of the city alive. We have already mentioned Wordsonthestreet and Cló Iar Connachta, but also still fighting hard are Salmon Poetry and Arlen Press, which celebrates its 35th anniversary in 2010.
Salmon has recently published Gerard Hanberry’s third
collection At Grattan Road while Arlen House has graced us with four collections, among them Geraldine Mills’ An Urgency Of Stones”, also her third collection, and a first collection from the pen of James Martyn Joyce, Shedding Skin in which his “father drives out winter time from the height of a kitchen chair”.
For the serendipitous among us there is the wonderfully eclectic book from the pen of that great radio documentary writer John Quinn, The Curious Mind, in which he gathers together the best of his 25 years of radio documentaries, presenting the reader with the personal anecdotes of an impressive list of guests, giving a valuable record of the thoughts and musings of some national and
international
personalities.
Perhaps one of the greatest disappointments of the last year has been the significant lack of children’s books published in Ireland. An exception to this was the recent publication of a hitherto unknown press Hawk Hill Publishing. Entitled Ancient Folk Tales of Ireland this book is a sheer delight. It is in fact a reprint of Douglas Hyde’s collection of Galway and Roscommon folktales, which are brought to life with the impish and wonderful illustrations by Paul Bolger. This is a wee gem of a book.
There are countless other interesting volumes, too many to mention here, such as Peadar O’Dowd’s book on Baintreacht na Coiribe; the writings of the Loughrea Creative Writing Group Razzle Dazzle, edited and introduced by Liam Nolan; and a thoughtful book A Light to the World - Reflections From Kylemore Abbey, a collection of prayers from the heart of Connemara, all of which can help us to have a joyful and wonderful Galway Christmas.
