Carina McNally: 'There are different stories about the Beara Cailleach'
Carina McNally, with Crow Head and Crow Island in the background. artist
Drawn to historical tales of women, particularly during the 17th century, debut novelist Carina McNally says that, shockingly, many of them never made it to the age of 30. West Cork-based McNally, who will read from her novel, at the annual cultural festival, Island Drift on Garnish Island, says from birth, females faced an uncertain future due to the complexity of political upheaval at the time and embedded discrimination. Arranged marriages were common.
The character of a young woman, Mithim, came to McNally, who had read widely about the 17th century in Ireland. When she reviewed Gerald Fitzgibbon’s for the McNally’s grasp of that tumultuous era broadened. It was a time of international conflict, sectarian violence and colonial ambition.
From reading accounts of the Williamite-Jacobite wars in Ireland, McNally saw that Catholic and Protestant divisions were not about theological disagreements but rather a means to determine land ownership, political rights, loyalty and often life itself.
Her novel is set in Wexford in 1657, eight years after Oliver Cromwell’s brutal military campaign in Ireland. Mithim, a strong woman, is the daughter of a Gaelic lord and last keeper of her family’s secrets. With the family seat, Killenea Castle, burned to the ground, she lives alone, hiding in the depths of a Wexford forest, getting by as a healer and herbalist. However, there are soldiers moving closer to where she exists in her crudely built cabin, made of daub, wattle and stone.
McNally’s novel has the ring of authenticity about it. Mithim is a credible character who does what she has to do to survive, including seducing a complex man who calls to her cabin. She needs an ally in the outside world who is established, and Diarmuid fits the bill, but he is not a straightforward character. Mithim is guided by the Cailleach.
The Cailleach is a mythological goddess who was famous for seducing young men. McNally could be said to live in the shadow of the Cailleach, with the Beara Cailleach (a stone formation full of symbolism) close to where she lives in Eyeries.
“It is older than the other rocks. There are different stories about the Cailleach (also known as the Hag of Beara). It is said a monk turned her to stone. But there is another story in Beara that says the Cailleach turned herself into stone so that there would always be a Cailleach.”
She is a kind of bean feasa (a wise woman) who has seen it all.
McNally, who is also a playwright, journalist, tour guide and publicist for Mercier Press (which published her novel), says is relevant today. With the rowing back of women’s rights in some parts of the world, McNally has created a gutsy character. Were Mithim to abide by her late father’s plan for her, she would have to rear children as God-fearing Catholics, atoning for Eve’s sins.
While women’s rights are a big theme in her book, McNally says another theme, important to her, is biodiversity.
“That is something that really worries and upsets me. I think people need to be more in tune with nature instead of destroying it. There’s a lot of destruction of our world, our environment. It’s wholesale. Man can’t wait to destroy. If anyone gets anything from the book, it’s to look after the biodiversity so the planet will look after us.”
But is it too late?
“You know, nature is strong and can fight back if it is nurtured. Looking after the planet is very important. Cherish what we have and it will cherish your life, rather than going out and spraying the garden with a pesticide that will kill all the insects.”
- Pilgrims in concert with Paul Noonan and Brian Crosby on Friday, September 4 at 6.30pm.
- Walking tour with gardener Glyn Sherratt at 11am on Saturday, September 5.
- Carina McNally will read from and converse with Sarah Harte at 12.30pm on September 5.
- Music Trail with Dan Walsh, David Murphy and Bridget & Kitty at 1pm and 3pm on September 5.
- Evening show with Gemma Hayes at 5.30pm on September 5.
- Walking tour with Glyn Sherratt at 11am on September 6.
- Dioreann Ní Ghríofa will read from her latest book, , and will be in conversation with Rachel Andrews at 12.30pm on September 6.
- Untold Sounds with Sean Ronayne at 2pm on September 6.
- at 5.30pm on September 6.
Audiences will be taken to (and from) Garnish Island by ferry from Glengarriff Pier.
- Visit: theislanddrift.com
