Books, films, places to go, things to do if you're into Ireland
A Scottish Singer To Stir Any Celtic Soul
While we generally stick to
things Irish on this site, it was great to find Scottish singer
Julie Fowlis recently. Ms. Fowlis, who hails from the Hebrides Islands
off Scotland's northwest coast, is what you'd have to call a
hard-core traditionalist. She sings 100% in Scottish Gaelic, a language
that's understood by far fewer people in her country than Irish Gaelic
is in Ireland. Nonetheless, she's reached outside
the traditional sphere more than most artists, with rocker KT Tunstall,
actor Ricky Gervais and other lights of pop culture praising her work.
The most obvious reason is her letter-perfect voice, which seems to
project a sweet, smooth power across every step of her range. But Ms.
Fowlis also has that special ability to dramatize a song that defines the very best -- she needs it
when she sings in a language which, to our untrained ears, sounds even more
eccentric than Irish. You may not understand the words, but Ms. Fowlis
will make you hear that Celtic voice inside you stir to life.
I've always had a soft spot for Inisheer, the smallest of the three
Aran Islands off the coast of Galway. It's a wonderful spot, still a
bit remote even though it's become a bit more of a popular summer
vacation spot than it was when I first visited there in the 1970's. Click here for a nice gallery of photos of the "eastern island."
Wonderful Gallery Of Photos Of Ireland
CNN's
"IReporter" invites people to submit stories and photos, and this month
the folks at CNN asked people to submit photos from their trips to
Ireland. Here's the gorgious result.
A Young, Bright Light Of Irish Traditional Singing
There’s no getting
around the fact that we’re a bit behind the curve in
discovering Irish singer Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh (pronounced MWI-ren
Nick OWL-eve). A native of the Irish islands of Inisheer (one of our
favorite spots on earth) and Cape Clear, Ms. Nic Amhlaoibh has been the
lead singer for Danu, a well-known traditional group that’s
toured the world and won numerous awards, since 2003.
We were lucky enough to stumble across her on iTunes, while searching
for recordings of “The Parting Glass,” one of the
oldest tunes in the Celtic lexicon. A lot of singers have taken a crack
at this song of leaving, which is thought to be Irish or Scottish in
origin (it sure sounds Scottish to our ears). But
Muireann’s version of it, from her debut solo album
“Daybreak” released in 2006 (Compass Records), is a
recording of almost indescribable sadness and beauty, probably the best
thing we’ve come across since Solas’ great
arrangement of “The Newry Highwayman.”
Nic Amhlaoibh is possessed of a silky-smooth voice that reminds one of
Niamh Parsons, and an ability to apply traditional Irish singing styles
in a way that’s understated and original.
“Daybreak” includes an interesting mix of old
songs, some sung in Irish language, and more modern pieces like Richard
Thompson’s “Persuasion.”
There’s very little instrumental backup on many of the tunes
here. That’s good, because her voice is so expressive
it’s best to hear it without much else in the way.
“Daybreak” is an outstanding piece of work by an
artist stretching the boundaries of traditional, without losing the
sense of her musical roots. The artist’s website is at
http://www.muireann.ie/
Ireland's Fantastic Castle Leslie
Enjoy this very nice CNN video about Castle Leslie, a great estate and an equestrian center (supposedly the largest in Europe) still run by the Leslie family.
A Drive Over The Beara, On Video
My grandfather grew up on the north side of the Healy Pass, a
winding mountain road that cuts across the Beara Peninsula. Here's a
simple video I came across of a trip over the pass, that gives at least
some sense of what a pretty place it is.
Irish Chimps Do A Bit Of The 'ol Dance
Ok, this really isn't the sort of thing we normally go in for here at The Irish Letter. But it's hard not to have at least one good belly-laugh out of this Arby's ad, where some talented chimps do a Celtic dance.
A Lightship of The Irish Soul
A highly recommended find in modern Irish literature is Colm Toibin’s The Blackwater Lightship, a subtle picture of the very hardboiled relationships between women in an Irish family.
This book has been out since
2001, but it’s deserving of another look. Though Toibin is a
little less known here in America than Frank McCourt, he’s
one of Ireland’s most powerful novelists. The
Blackwater Lightship is a display of his talent in full
force.
Put together Carson McCullers,
Tennessee Williams and Jerry Seinfeld and you might approximate the
tone of Toibin’s work. He has a way of making the odd
internal worlds of ordinary people spectacularly interesting, and
finding humor in the darkest places.
The Blackwater Lightship
tells the story of a grandmother, mother and daughter forced to make
peace with each other for the first time when they face a
son’s coming death from AIDS. Accepting the boy’s
homosexuality is almost easy for them, compared to the job of facing
the jealousy and anger they’ve harbored towards each other
almost their entire lives.
Sound like a downer? The surprise is the incredible stream of humor Toibin weaves into this sad story.
These anxious, unselfconscious characters process the world around them
in a way that’s classically Irish. They constantly say things
that make you laugh your head off, though you know they don’t
quite get the joke themselves.
But Toibin never goes for the
cheap laugh. Every odd comment has a way of peeling back another layer
of each character, showing you some unpleasant things, but at the same
time giving you more and more sympathy for him or her.
Toibin’s more recent book, The Master,
a fictionalized biography of Henry James, got a great deal of
international praise and attention. Personally, I’ve been
more moved by his stories of nobodies who lead lives of quiet
desperation. The Heather Blazing, from 2002 is a wonderful example, but to me, The Blackwater Lightship is a book that ranks with the very best I’ve ever read.
The Blackwater Lightship is published by Scribner.
Traveller's Lives, Captured
An
absolutely outstanding find this month is Alen MacWeeney’s
new book “Irish Travellers” about the itinerant
people who've long lived on, and by the sides of, Ireland’s
roadways.
Though it’s largely a photo book, “Irish
Travellers” also contains sparkling writing by the
photographer and even a CD of music by this unique group once known as
the Tinkers. Mr. MacWeeney’s introductory memoir, even without the pictures, would make for a
very good little book. It tells how he got involved in photographing
Travellers from 1965 - 71 (an era before motorized caravans supplanted
the old horse-powered wagons I still saw on the roads in Ireland in 1975) and became deeply drawn into to their
culture – to a point where he began to see a certain
hollowness in the way "normal" people lived in a single place.
Shuttling back and forth between nights at Traveller’s
campfires in Ireland and trips to New York to work as an assistant for a
major fashion photographer, MacWeeney gradually came to understand the
breadth of the itinerants’ culture. Among the many legends he
learned is the one that, because a Tinker made the nails for
Christ’s crucifixion, the Tinkers are destined by God to
wander the earth until the day of judgment.
Why Outsiders? It’s ironic that the Travellers have always been
“outsiders” in their own country, feared and
disliked to a large degree by Irish people. Their intense love of
music, storytelling, language and celebration all seem to distill the
elements that define Irish culture and identity. What MacWeeney
discovers, and conveys perfectly in his photographs, is a powerful
flavor of life and an undeniable beauty in the Travellers' hardscrabble
existence. “When I knew them, the dirt was shaken off and
ignored,” he says, ‘and their ragged clothes framed
and added to their vitality and stature.”
This book is probably one of the last chronicles of a lifestyle that
began to vanish right around the time Alen MacWeeney began his photo project,
due to the Irish government's efforts to get itinerant people to live in camps
rather than endlessly roam the roads.
It’s a powerful
epitaph. The journalist’s top rule is
“don’t get too close to your subjects.”
By disregarding it and becoming a part of the story he was observing
(in the manner of Diane Arbus), MacWeeney has made a book
that conjures up the Travellers’ culture,
and leaves it lingering like a sweet, mysterious scent in the air around you after you’ve
closed this excellent book.
“Irish Travellers, Tinkers No
More” by Alen MacWeeney, is published by the New England
College Press
A Dublin Love Story That Rocks
A fine discovery this month is
low-budget indie film “Once,” a story about a
suble, unusual love affair between a struggling Irish musician and a
Czechoslovakian immigrant, filmed entirely in Dublin.
Not many love stories start with the guy saying he works in a Hoover
shop and the girl replying “Perfect! I have a broken vacuum
cleaner.” But “Once” spins eccentric
little bits like this into a love story that has a ring of truth to it
that hits your right in the chest, where that heart of yours is.
A real joy of this movie is Czech actress and musician Marketa Irglova, who
doesn’t look at all like a Hollywood starlet, but projects
more charm than a boatload of them. The songs that play a big part in
this movie (it almost turns into a flat-out musical at times) sound a
little too good to be written by a guy who sings on the street.
That’s because he happens to be Glen Hansard, the lead singer
for well-known Irish band The Frames. You may also recognize him as the
guitar player from 1991's "The Commitments” It would be unfair
not to also mention the brief but marvelous performance of Bill Hodnett,
who plays the musician’s father – the owner of said
Hoover shop.
“Once” is a dead-on portrayal of the loneliness of
going after something with passion – a life in a new country,
a dream of succeeding in music, or anything else that requires a real
risk. I can't claim to be a major fan of The Frames, but their moody,
almost spooky songs fit perfectly into this story line. This is a little
film that plays big on the emotions.
While we generally stick to
things Irish on this site, it was great to find Scottish singer
Julie Fowlis recently. Ms. Fowlis, who hails from the Hebrides Islands
off Scotland's northwest coast, is what you'd have to call a
hard-core traditionalist. She sings 100% in Scottish Gaelic, a language
that's understood by far fewer people in her country than Irish Gaelic
is in Ireland. Nonetheless, she's reached outside
the traditional sphere more than most artists, with rocker KT Tunstall,
actor Ricky Gervais and other lights of pop culture praising her work.
The most obvious reason is her letter-perfect voice, which seems to
project a sweet, smooth power across every step of her range. But Ms.
Fowlis also has that special ability to dramatize a song that defines the very best -- she needs it
when she sings in a language which, to our untrained ears, sounds even more
eccentric than Irish. You may not understand the words, but Ms. Fowlis
will make you hear that Celtic voice inside you stir to life. 
