Steeped in Conamara

I'm now steeped deep into Conamara, hearing local people talk in their dialect. The house I'm staying at has one of the best shower facilities that I ever come across in Ireland. Not that it is
ultra-modern with fancy stuff and so on, but that it can be used quite effectively: temperature and quantity of water can easily be managed using the control buttons. That's simple enough, but sin sin!

At First Light

Last night I saw 'At First Light' at Roisin Dubh in Galway. I've been
a fan of John McSherry for a long time. He was superb last night, as
always. I was sitting within 2 metres from where he was playing and could see every minute move of his hands.

Their new lineup was strong except for guests. The four should stand as four alone.

Favourite Street in Galway

Since I came here on 12 July, I have taken a liking to a certain street: Middle Street. Compared to the fancy Shop Street just north of it, there is a more modest, calm, and even serene feeling to it. I really like to walk around here. Tired of walking? Then there's Food 4 Thought nearby, open from 8am with healthy food. Want a good book at a good price? Then there is Charlie Byrne's who offers second-hand and remainder books at modest prices. When you see a price tag printed and pasted onto the book cover, then it'd be a new or a remainder book. If the price is written in pencil inside the book, then probably it's a second-hand book. Either way, you'll be satisfied with what you get here, is docha. This bookshop is the one Dr de P. told me to go.

P. S. I have to add there is Mulligan Records on the street as well, a huge plus.

P. P. S. I forgot to mention the name of Taibhdhearc on the Street, the National Theatre for Gaeilge in Ireland. I saw 'Tine Chnámh' le Liam Ó Muirthile (prod. Darach Mac Con Iomaire) there the other day and was stunned. There was another Gaeltacht around the theatre right in the middle of Galway City.

Bach of Oranmore

A bad joke? No, no. It's a reality. It's the title of the tune Garry O' Briain et al. (including two classical? violinists) played this morning on the TG4. To an unattentive ear, it may have sounded smooth and pleasing, but to mine, it was eerie, to say the least. Was Garry the arranger? He was a bit off the rhythm, it seemed to me. More thoughts needed, b'fhéidir.

Feile Mhic Dara

16 Iúil 2005. Visited Féile Mhic Dara for the first time.
To my amazement there were over two thousand people
going to the island. Aifreann for St Mac Dara on the island
from noon, with traditional Irish music on flute, box, etc.
On my way back from the island, I saw two dolphins
swimming and hopping alongside our boat, to our delight.
Bhi an sagart ar an long seo.

The music session scheduled at the Carna Bay Hotel was
cancelled for Saturday night, as the father of the Hotel
owner passed away. Beannacht Dé lena anam.

Chuaigh mé go dti an trá ar maidin Dé Domhnach.
Now I'm back in Galway.

Rumour around Galway

Rumour has it that two (or three?) of the most famous people related
to Irish traditional music happen to be here in Galway: Ms K, a noted
Irish dancer, whose broom dance has delighted us all; Mr F, an owner
of a mail order record shop of vast catalogue based in Kyushu, who is
said to come here with his daughter, also a famous dancer. There's a
certain magnet to this city of tribes.

Three Types of Rain

Yesterday another driver of a Day Tour to Burren told us this: the
local people of Burren say there are three types of rain here: it
rains, it's going to rain, and it has rained already.

Two Fine Days

Too fine to be true. I was blessed with two consecutive fine days in
Ireland, which I have seldom experienced here. Nil braon ar aon chuma!

One of the jokes that Pat Tracey the driver of Day Tour to Glen Da
Lough told was 'we had two showers this week: one lasted four days,
the other three'.

Eden's Smokies

One of the best I tasted in Dublin, I should say.
I had the luck of tasting it on the balcony seat,
looking down on Grafton Street, Dublin, on the second floor of
Bewley's Cafe.
After that I listened for a while to a basking
guitarist, who was very fine in his melodic play.
Moving.

Sean-nos Singer in Protest against Shell

Croch suas é, a Mhíchíl! [photo]

Seo alt ó Times On Line:

July 01, 2005

Irish singer in jail over Shell protests
By David Sharrock

AN IRISH traditional singer and four other men were in prison yesterday as a protest over the construction of a pipeline, in the heart of one of western Europe’s last wild landscapes, threatened to turn into a public relations disaster for energy giant Shell.

The five men, small landowners and farmers, were jailed for obstructing the laying of a high-pressure gas pipeline as part of the Corrib Gas Field project in north County Mayo, on Ireland’s west coast.

The men say that the pipeline, which will carry untreated gas from off the Mayo coast to a refinery 6 miles inland at Bellanaboy, puts the lives of locals at risk.

Michéal Ó Seighin, 65, a renowned local historian and an exponent of sean-nós, an ancient type of Irish folk singing, said that his imprisonment, along with Vincent McGrath, a retired teacher and musician, his brother Philip, Willie Corduff and Brendan Philbin, was an act of treason.

All of Mr Ó Seighin’s family were in court, including his wife, his son and three daughters. One of his daughters, Bríd, said that the family was worried about her father’s health while in prison. He underwent a triple heart bypass operation four years ago.

The pipeline crosses land belonging to the men which was compulsorily purchased in 2002 after the Irish Government ruled, for the first time in the state’s history, that the Shell construction project was in the national interest.

The five were jailed for breaching an injunction preventing local residents from blocking trucks belonging to Shell Ireland, the company building the pipeline. Their stay in prison is indefinite as they must purge their contempt before they can be released. More objectors will appear in court today for allegedly breaching the same order. Talks to resolve the crisis were taking place between Shell, which said that it deeply regrets the mens’ imprisonment, and politicians and church leaders.

Bertie Ahern, the Taoiseach, who had previously met some of the protesters, said: “The company, as I understand it, are fully within their rights as well. It is regrettable that it has come to this stage.”Hundreds of protesters were staging protests yesterday in Mayo and Dublin, demanding the mens’ release and the relocation of the Shell terminal 46 miles offshore. A move that both Shell and the Irish Government have said would be too costly.

Lily O'Briens Chocolates

One of the best things I got the last time I went to Ireland was the
Lily O'Briens chocolates, which I bought at Dublin Airport. Though
they have an online shop, shipping cost will be the same as the price of the chocolates. (sigh)

http://michealie.blogspot.com/

Posting by E-mail

This blog enables me to post an article by e-mail, which I'll try
while in Ireland.