Poets to remember the late, great Liam Ó Muirthile

Louis de Paor and Greg Delanty will be among the readers at an event tonight in memory of the Corkman who passed away in May, writes Marjorie Brennan

When Liam Ó Muirthile died in May this year at the age of 68, the Irish language lost one of its great literary talents.

One of Ó Muirthile’s last published works was Oilithreach Pinn (A Literary Pilgrimage), a journal of his travels on the Camino Française. Speaking of that work in an interview with this paper, he said: “I am a believer in pilgrimage in a medieval sense. It functions to ground us in some way. We have unsettled souls; we are human beings, bound for mortality, wondering about eternity.

There is a consolation in doing something that is a ritual — there have been many before us, many will come after us, and we are part of something greater than ourselves, if only for a moment.

There is no doubt that in terms of creative output, Ó Muirthile made his ‘moment’ count. His work spanned a multitude of genres, including poetry, novels, drama, translations and children’s literature. He was also an accomplished broadcaster and journalist, working with RTÉ for many years. Tonight in Dublin, family, friends and peers will gather for a celebration of Ó Muirthile’s life and work, as part of IMRAM, the festival of Irish language literature.

Ó Muirthile’s son Rónán has been involved in organising the event, along with poets Liam Carson and Louis de Paor. It is an occasion of mixed emotions for Rónán, who has taken much solace from the obvious high esteem in which his father was held.

“I am delighted to be helping but it is still very raw. I have been very taken with how much people miss my father and how much they treasured him. I think it was Louis de Paor who said to me that one of the things we have lost is his mind… he was just so bright, that level of critical thinking, it was multi-layered, the range of things he did.”

The IMRAM event will feature readings of Ó Muirthile’s work by poets including de Paor, Greg Delanty, Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh and Gabriel Rosenstock. Diarmuid de Faoite and others will perform excerpts from his plays; and musicians Peadar Ó Riada and Philip King will perform new music inspired by Ó Muirthile’s poetry. Helping to

organise the event has given Rónán an opportunity to explore his father’s work.

It has been a challenging but somewhat rewarding journey for me in terms of engaging with his work. I have tried to read Oilithreach Pinn a few times, but you are inside his head, it is very revealing of him. I’m bowled over by how powerful his work is.

Liam Ó Muirthile grew up on Douglas Street on Cork, where his mother ran The Gables pub, and he attended school in South Presentation and Coláiste Chríost Rí. While Rónán and his three brothers grew up in Dublin, their Cork roots were well-cultivated throughout their childhood.

“My dad had a house in Drimoleague and we would go down there. I have 30-odd cousins in Cork with whom I am very close, and all the aunts. I would have been brought to Cork matches in Croke Park. People in Dublin often think I’m from Cork, but people in Cork obviously know I’m not; I’d never get away with that,” he laughs.

Rónán, an award-winning documentary maker, collaborated with his father on a TG4 programme about Frank O’Connor, Idir Dhá Sruth, in 2016, an experience which has now taken on added poignancy.

It was almost autobiographical because my father was born on Douglas Street, across from Frank O’Connor’s house.

"The documentary had lots of elements about my father so for the night, we have been able to put together some bits of him talking about himself. It is very moving. I thought he was great presenting the O’Connor documentary, I would certainly have gone on to do more with him.”

For Rónán, one of the most important aims of the IMRAM celebration is to reflect the passion and pride his father had in his work. “What drives me is that sense of my father’s standards. I want it to as good as I can possibly make it, that it stands to him. My father’s wish would be or the focus to be on the work, to let it speak for itself.”

- Ceardaí Focal (Craftsman of Words), a special gala performance of Liam Ó Muirthile’s work, produced by IMRAM in association with Poetry Ireland, 8pm-9.30pm tonight, Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin; imram.ie