Two online workshops in Scottish and Irish Gaelic and Manx by Pól Mac Cana, Paayl Rogers and Ruaraidh MacIlleathain, organised by Conradh na Gaeilge Boirche Íochtair as part of the Cassan Project.
Lusanna/Lussyn/Lusan & Feamainn Famlach Feamainn
Film Première: Calman nan Loch 9th November, An Lanntair, Stornoway
In the film we discover how, through the singing of the Gaelic psalms the people of Lochs keep the spirit of the Celtic Church alive to this day. The film takes inspiration from the amazing story of the traditional sailing boats resounding with the iconic sound of the Gaelic psalms as they once set off from the services in Keose to their villages up and down Loch Erisort. The film is based on a community-arts project, and marks 1500 years of Colmcille’s influence in the Gàidhealtachd lands and farther afield.
The première will be at 7.30 on Friday the 9th December. Tickets are available here, and the film can also be viewed here. The director and artist Déirdre Ní Mhathúna gave the following account of how the project came about:
“It is a great honour to release the film “Calman nan Loch – The Dove of Lochs” to mark 1500 years of Colmcille’s influence in the Gàidhealtachd lands and farther afield. This is a wonderful story from Lochs in the Isle of Lewis which came to light while I was showing my artwork in the small village of Keose, on the north side of Loch Erisort, in 2007. On that day I had intended to say a grateful and fond farewell to the people who had made me welcome over several years.
“But it was on that very day that we heard the amazing story of the traditional sailing boats resounding with the iconic sound of the Gaelic psalms as they set off from the services in Keose to their villages up and down Loch Erisort. We were all completely taken with this image and it wasn’t long before the name ‘psalmboats’ was coined to describe it.
“Over the years an open, welcoming community of psalmsingers, sailors, artists and friends developed. The project members came from different island churches and welcomed those with no faith at all. We collected funny and fascinating lore from folk who were still young in the days when the boats were the “Austins and Fords of their day”.
“Without a doubt, The Psalmboat Project altered what was ahead of me as an artist. Although I had no inkling that I’d be involved in such a long-lasting project on Lewis, nor that I’d forge such deep friendship through the Gàidhlig language, at the time I met the people of Lochs and heard the story of the psalmboats I was on a quest for a meaningful artist’s practice as a Gael. It was there, in that wee village on Loch Erisort that I found my lodestone which finally connected my Irish identity and my creative life in Scotland. I will forever be grateful for this unexpected gift.”
In the film you will come with me into the heart of a faith journey that has Colm Cille’s Island and the iconic image of the dove at its centre. We discover how, through the singing of the Gaelic psalms the legacy of the pre-Reformation monks endures and how the people of Lochs keep the spirit of the Celtic Church alive to this day.
Laa Columb Cilley
Today in the Isle of Man, is the feastday of Columb Killey or Colm Cille, and celebrations take place in the parish of Arbory. Composer and educationalist Aalin Clague has made a special composition Y Folliaght (the secret) to lyrics by Marie Clague. You can listen to it here, and the lyrics in Manx and English are available below. Choose Gaeilge and Gàidhlig tabs to see the lyrics in those languages.
S’eunyssagh dou dy ve er cronk aalin er baare carrick.
Dy voddym mennick fakin er yn ‘aarkey kiune.
Delightful to me to be on an island hill on the crest of a rock,
that I might often watch the quiet sea.
Dy voddym fakin ny tonnyn trome erskyn yn ushtey
myr t’ad cantal kiaull da nyn Ayr dy bea veayn,
kiaull da nyn Ayr dy bea veayn.
That I might watch the heavy waves above the water,
as they chant music to their Father everlastingly,
music to their Father everlastingly.
Dy voddym fakin ny tonnyn trome,
Dy voddym fakin yn traie gial-oirrit,
Dy voddym clashtyn cronnane ny tonnyn,
Dy voddym fakin possanyn eanlee, possanyn eanlee.
That I might watch the heavy waves,
That I might watch the bright-bordered shore,
That I might hear the murmur of the waves,
That I might see/watch flocks of birds, flocks of birds.
My vees my ennym, folliaght ta mee ginsh
Eshyn chass e chooyl er Nerin
Eshyn chass e chooyl er Nerin
that my name should be–it is a secret that I tell–
“he who turned his back upon Ireland.”
“he who turned his back upon Ireland.”
S’eunyssagh dou dy ve er cronk aalin er baare carrick.
Dy voddym mennick fakin er yn ‘aarkey kiune.
Delightful to me to be on an island hill on the crest of a rock,
that I might often watch the quiet sea.
Dy voddym fakin yn yindys mooar,
Dy voddym fakin muic varrey niartal,
Dy voddym clashtyn eam taitnyssagh
Dy voddym clashtyn eanlee joarreeaght, eanlee joarreeaght.
That I might see the great wonder,
That I might see the mighty whales,
That I might hear a pleasing [bird]call,
That I might hear strange birds, strange birds.
My vees my ennym, folliaght ta mee ginsh
Eshyn chass e chooyl er Nerin
Eshyn chass e chooyl er Nerin
that my name should be–it is a secret that I tell–
“he who turned his back upon Ireland.”
“he who turned his back upon Ireland.”
Dy voddym clashtyn cronnane ny tonnyn
er oaie ny carrickyn, eam ny faarkey myr keayney liorish oaie.
That I might watch the heavy waves
against the rocks, the sound of the sea like mourning beside a grave
My vees my ennym, she folliaght ta mee ginsh,
Eshyn chass e chooyl er Nerin
Eshyn chass e chooyl er Nerin.
Columb Killey.
Imagine there were no poets …
Colmcille and the poets
In the year 575 the High King of Ireland Aodh Mac Ainmire invited dignitaries to attend an important gathering in Droim Ceat, county Derry. Among the topics up for discission was the question of what should be done with Ireland’s poets, who had become, in his view, rather impudent. One of the measures proposed was the banishing of poets from Ireland.
Colm Cille was in attendance, and took a stand on behalf of the poets. But what would have happened had he not intervened and what would we have lost as a nation?
These are the questions that prompted poet Daire Ní Chanáin as she began working on a specially-commissioned poem as part of Colmcille 1500. The resulting poetry video received its premiere on Poetry Day Ireland on April 28th 2022.
Daire Ní Chanáin says: “Before I began working on this piece I had little knowledge of Colm Cille and it was exciting to discover so much about him. I feel I have a stronger connection with him having undertaken this work and I now notice more and more of his legacy all around me, especially given that I live in Derry.
In the poem I wanted to pay homage to the poets who have gone before me, and also to those who continue to write in Irish. I am greatly indebted to them. And we are all greatly indebted to Colm Cille.”
Tristan Rosenstock, co-ordinator of Colmcille 1500, adds:
“Daire belongs to a new generation of poets who present their work in new and exciting ways. Her poetry itself is highly artistic, as is the way she presents it. When you view the video and hear her words it is immediately apparent that she is a poet who has a deep understanding of the tradition, but that she is following her own path and has a unique voice of her own. We were thrilled to have a young Derry poet involved in Colmcille 1500”
You can watch the video here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z-IhodljN8
#Colmcille1500
Colmcille 1500 @ Éigse Uladh 2022
Colmcille 1500, the commemoration of 1500 years since the birth of Colmcille continues until June 2022. Among the events is Éigse Uladh, from the 25th to the 27th February.
Colmcille is the subject of the play Ar thóir m’Anama which will run on the three nights of the festival. This is an Irish language version of Brian Friel’s play The Enemy Within. The Irish language play is a classic from a period in the 1970s when the company Aisteoirí Ghaoth Dobhair were at the height of their fame. It is being revived in the refurbished Amharclann Ghaoth Dobhair.
The Éigse’s lectures are in partnership with the Royal Irish Acadamy, and will take place on Saturday afternoon. The lecturers are Ailbhe Nic Giolla Chomhaill, on Colmcille in the oral tradition, and Colm Ó Cuaig on Mánus Dónaill and his great work of 1532, Beatha Cholm Cille.
The other events include a bus tour of historic sites in the northwest on the Saturday with Dr Seosamh Ó Ceallaigh as guide, and a visit to Tory Island and guided tour there. Mass will be broadcast from the Éigse on Raidió na Gaeltachta, and the Éigse will conclude at 5pm on the Sunday in Machaire Rabhartaigh Community Centre with an ecumenical service. The full programme is available here .
Tickets for Ar thóir m’Anama can be bought at Amharclann Ghaoth Dobhair.
