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Conamara Chronicles
Tales from Iorras Aithneach
Compiled by Seán Mac Giollarnáth
Translated by Liam Mac Con Iomaire and Tim Robinson
Published by: Indiana University Press
332 Pages, 5 b&w illus., 2 maps
- eBook
- 9780253063540
- Published: September 2022
$29.99
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"I find him to be a kindred spirit, a sympathetic but shrewd enquirer, a companionable stroller, and a lover of anecdotes gathered by the wayside."
So Tim Robinson described folklorist, revolutionary, and district justice Seán Mac Giollarnáth, whose 1941 book Annála Beaga ó Iorras Aithneach revealed his sheer delight in the rich language and stories of the people he encountered in Conamara, the Irish-speaking region in the south of Connemara. From tales of smugglers, saints, and scholars to memories of food, work, and family, the stories gathered here provide invaluable insights into the lives and culture of the community. This faithful and lovingly crafted translation, complete with annotations, a biography, and thoughtful chapters that explore the importance of the language and region, is the final work of both Robinson and his collaborator, the renowned writer and Irish language expert Liam Mac Con Iomaire.
Translated into English for the first time, Conamara Chronicles: Tales from Iorras Aithneach preserves the art of storytellers in the West of Ireland and honors the inspiration they kindle even still.
A Personal Note
Acknowledgments
Nomenclature
Reading this Volume
Space, Time & Connemara, by Tim Robinson
The Brief Annals: An Introductory Note, by Liam Mac Con Iomaire
1. The Holy Men and the Islands
2. Troubled Times
3. The Year of the French (1798)
4. The Tories / Vigilantes
5. Big Men
6. Robbers and Treasures
7. Smugglers
8. Poor Scholars
9. Priests
10. People and Places
11. Boatmen and Timber
12. Food
13. Wisps of Straw
14. Custodians of Traditional Lore and Storytellers
Reading this Volume: Meet the Storytellers, by Liam Mac Con Iomaire
Bibliography
Maps
Index
Seán Mac Giollarnáth (1880–1970) was a writer, judge, and folklore collector in his native County Galway. A key figure in the Irish cultural revival, he combined a long career as a district justice with the compilation of folktales and traditional lore from collaborators in Conamara and beyond.
Liam Mac Con Iomaire (1937–2019) was a teacher, journalist, and writer from Casla, County Galway. Major publications include biographies of Breandán Ó hEithir, Seosamh Ó hÉanaí, and, in collaboration with Tim Robinson, Graveyard Clay, the translation of Máirtín Ó Cadhain's 1949 novel Cré na Cille. He was an acknowledged authority on Irish language usage and traditional singing in Irish.
Tim Robinson (1935–2020) was born in Yorkshire, studied mathematics at Cambridge, and worked as a visual artist in Istanbul, Vienna, and London. He moved to the Aran Islands in 1972 and commenced a multidecade project of mapping and writing about Aran, the Burren, and Connemara. He was author of the two-volume Stones of Aran and the Connemara trilogy.
"The greatest triumph of this book's many triumphs is its warm appreciation for family and community that emerge in the lovingly translated texts. These stories foreground the history of Ireland as experienced, remembered, and relived by oral intellectual leaders of a marginalized, and often forgotten, maritime community. . . . Indeed, if silence is the angel with which literature wrestles, these translations give voice to the memory, stories, and legacy of oral intellectuals who feature here and tell the story of history from below. Essential reading for any traveler to Connemara and the West of Ireland."
~Brian Ó Conchubhair, University of Notre Dame
"Seán Mac Giollarnáth's landmark publication of 1941 demonstrates his work in collecting traditional material and transcribing vernacular culture. It is fitting to see the work in translation, and readers seeking to step into the wondrous world of Conamara tradition would do well to begin here.""
~Ríonach uí Ógáin, University College Dublin
"With the same profound and intimate sense of place and absolute command of their source's rich Conamara Irish they brought to their translation of Máirtín Ó Cadhain's Cré na Cille as Graveyard Clay, in Conamara Chronicles: Tales from Iorras Aithneach—their superb translation of traditional lore originally collected and published by Seán Mac Giollarnáth in 1941—Liam Mac Con Iomaire and Tim Robinson bring alive again the people, tales, and culture of another of Ireland's petites patries whose like is unlikely to ever be seen again."
~Philip O'Leary, Boston College
"A vivid and absorbing collection of tales that bring to life whole worlds of imagination and experience. Tim Robinson and Liam Mac Con Iomaire in their remarkable translation capture the poetic vibrancy and profound sensitivity to nature and place of a community of Conamara storytellers who see the local as the portal to the universal."
~Michael Cronin, Trinity College Dublin
"Conamara Chronicles is a remarkable tribute to Seán Mac Giollarnáth's important and enduring legacy as a folklore collector in Conamara. The tales presented here provide compelling insight into the oral culture and traditions of Iorras Aithneach over many generations and give readers a glimpse into the lives of an outstanding group of storytellers who ensured the tales, memories, and traditions passed down to them by their forebears were preserved for posterity. The meticulous translation and editorial work carried out by Tim Robinson and Liam Mac Con Iomaire in compiling this collection is a testament to their deep respect for Mac Giollarnáth and his collaborators. Go gcúití Dia a saothar leo."
~Ailbhe Nic Giolla Chomhaill, University of Limerick