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Cathal Ó Searcaigh
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Occupation
Poet
Name
Cathal Searcaigh
Role
Poet
Born
12 July 1956 (age 68) Gortahork, County Donegal, Ireland (
1956-07-12
)
Books
Light on Distant Hills: A M, Irish Pages: A Journal of, Irish Pages - No 1 2012: Ir, By the Hearth in Min A\' Lea, Homecoming: Selected Poems
Cathal o searcaigh s poetry
Cathal Ó Searcaigh is one of the most significant poets of modern Irish. His work has been widely translated, anthologised and studied. "His confident internationalism", according to Theo Dorgan, has channelled "new modes, new possibilities, into the writing of Irish language poetry in our time".
From 1975 onwards he has produced poetry, plays, travelogues. His early poetry deals with place, tongue and tradition, with his late work showing a broader scope. His work includes homoerotic love poems. Jody Allen Randolph remarks "his breaking down of stereotypes and new deployment of gendered themes opened a new space in which to consider alternate sexualities within a contemporary Irish context."
The critic John McDonagh argues that "Ó Searcaigh occupies many of the spaces that stand in opposition to the traditionally dominant markers of Irish identity". In his anthology McDonagh goes on to say "Ó Searcaigh's homoerotic poems are explicit, relishing in a sensuality that for many years rarely found explicit expression in Irish literature."
Aboy da kid part 1 jb rap part 2 cathal o searcaigh rap
Upbringing
Cathal Ó Searcaigh was born and reared on a small hill-farm at the foot of An tEaragal (Mount Errigal) in the Donegal Gaeltacht. He was educated locally at Caiseal na gCorr National School and then at Gairmscoil Ghort a' Choirce. He describes his childhood in a remote Irish-speaking community in his memoir Light on Distant Hills.
The first poems that engaged his attention were those of Rabbie Burns, read to him by his father. Tom Walsh, his English teacher at the Gairmscoil in Gortahork, encouraged him to write.
Personal life
In the early 1970s he worked as a barman in London. Later he attended the NIHE (National Institute for Higher Education) in Limerick where he did European Studies for two years (1973–75) and followed that with one year at Maynooth University (1977–78) where he did Celtic Studies.
During the years 1978-81 he worked in Dublin with RTÉ television presenting Aisling Gheal, an arts and music programme directed by musician Tony MacMahon. From the early 1980s has earned his living as a full-time writer and poet.
In the spring of 1995 he was elected a member of Aosdána.
Travels & Controversy
Cathal Ó Searcaigh has travelled widely, often representing his country at literary festivals and gatherings throughout the world. His work has been translated into numerous languages – French, German, Italian, Breton, Catalan, Polish, Danish, Serbo-Croat, Romanian, Russian, Swedish, Japanese, and Nepali.
Nepal has played an important part in his life. He visited the country for the first time in 1996. His Seal i Neipeal has been described as a vivid, insightful account of that country, its people and their culture. It is generally regarded as one of the major prose works written in Irish in the first decade of the 21st century.
Since the mid 1990s he has sponsored the education of many young people in Nepal.
In February 2007 a film documentary (Fairytale of Kathmandu, by Neasa Ní Chianáin) queried his relationships with some of the young men he helped, focusing on power imbalance and financial accountability. At the time it raised a storm of controversy and a tabloid media frenzy. In February 2009 Ó Searcaigh was interviewed in English by Dermod Moore for Hot Press.
Other literary activities
Cathal Ó Searcaigh has donated his archives, an extensive library of books and a valuable art collection to the Irish State. The Donegal Library Service administers this donation at present. His house in Mín a' Leá at the foot of Mount Errigal is often the venue for literary and musical evenings hosted by the poet himself.
Along with poet and literary critic Chris Agee he edits Irish Pages, a literary journal with a worldwide circulation.
"Creativity for me arises out of my deep attachment to this place, out of a reverential affection for its people", he says in his memoir Light on Distant Hills. "My poems are devotional in the sense that they are prayerful celebrations of place, tongue and tradition. My work has become known because of its connectedness with this place. I have become a collector of its oral traditions, an archivist of its memories and its myths, a guardian of its Gaelic. This is, I suppose, a political act, acknowledging the local, recording and registering what is past or passing."
Colm Tóibín wrote in the Times Literary Supplement: "There is a section of landscape in Donegal in the north of Ireland near Falcarragh, overlooking Tory Island, which has been utterly transformed by the poetry of Cathal Ó Searcaigh."
2000: Awarded the Irish Times Literature Prize for Ag Tnúth Leis and tSolas, poems 1975-2000
2007: The Ireland Fund Literary Award for his significant contribution to Irish literature.
2013: He has won many Oireachtas literary awards since the beginning of his literary career, the most recent being the primary prize for a poetry collection with Aimsir Ársa in 2013 and again with An Bhé Ghlas in 2015
His poems have been on the Leaving Certificate Irish language curriculum for many years. His work is studied extensively at university level in Ireland and abroad
Poetry
1975: Miontraigéide Chathrach agus Dánta Eile, Cló Uí Chuirreáin
1978: Tuirlingt (with Gabriel Rosenstock and photographer Bill Doyle) Carbad, Dublin
1983: Súile Shuibhne: with photographs by Rachael Giese, (a Poetry Ireland choice for 1983) Coiscéim, Dublin
1991: An Bealach 'na Bhaile, Cló Iar-Chonnacht, Indreabhán, Co Galway
1996: Na Buachaillí Bána, Cló Iar-Chonnacht, Indreabhán
1999: Fiacha an tSolais
2000: Ag Tnúth leis an tSolas, 1975-2000, Cló Iar-Chonnacht, Indreabhán
2002: Caiseal na gCorr (with photographs by Jan Voster) Cló Iar-Chonnacht, Indreabhán
2005: Na hAingle ó Xanadú, Arlen House, Galway
2006: Gúrú i gClúidíní (artwork by Ian Joyce) Cló Iar-Chonnacht, Indreabhán
2011: An tAm Marfach ina Mairimid (artwork by Ian Joyce) Arlen House, Galway
2013: Aimsir Ársa (artwork by Ian Joyce) Arlen House, Galway
2014: Na Saighneáin (artwork by Ian Joyce) Arlen House, Galway
2015: An Bhé Ghlas, Leabhar Breac, Indreabhán
Bilingual Poetry Editions
1993: Homecoming / An Bealach 'na Bhaile (edited by Gabriel Fitzmaurice), Cló Iar-Chonnacht : winner of the Seán Ó Riordáin Prize for Poetry 1993, this book has been a bestseller and has gone into many editions
1997: Out in the Open: edited and translated by Frank Sewell, Cló Iar-Chonnacht, Indreabhán : this collection was nominated for the Aristeon European Prize for Poetry 1998
2006: By the Hearth in Mín a' Leá: translations by Seamus Heaney and Frank Sewell, Arc Publications : The Poetry Society (UK) Translation Choice for 2006
2015: An Fear Glas / The Green man, with artwork by Pauline Bewick (translations by Paddy Pushe, Gabriel Rosenstock and Frank Sewell) Arlen House, Galway
2016: Out of the Wilderness (translations by Gabriel Rosenstock) The Onslaught Press, Oxford
Prose Works in Irish
2004: Seal i Neipeal (travel writing), Cló Iar-Chonnacht, Indreabhán : winner of the Piaras Béaslaí Prize for Prose in the Oireachtas 2004
2011: Pianó Mhín na bPreachán (novella) Cló Iar-Chonnacht, Indreabhán
2016: Thugamar Féin an Samhradh Linn (novel) Leabhar Breac, Indreabhán : (forthcoming winter 2016)
Plays
2005: Oíche Dhrochghealaí: a verse drama based on the story of Salome, Coiscéim, Dublin
2006: Mairimid Leis na Mistéirí: three short plays, Arlen House, Galway
Writing in English
2009: Light on Distant Hills, a Memoir, Simon & Schuster, London
2014: Soul Space: a book of spiritual wisdom (written under the pseudonym Charles Agnes) Evertype, Westport
History
1994: Tulach Beaglaoich: Inné agus Inniu / Tulach Begley: Past and Present, Glór na nGael, Fál Carragh
As Editor
1997: An Chéad Chló: a selection of the work of new Irish language poets, Cló Iar-Chonnacht, Indreabhán
2013: The Other Tongues: an Introduction to Writing in Irish, Scots Gaelic and Scots in Ulster and Scotland, Irish Pages, Belfast
2013: Margadh na Míol i Valparaiso / The Flea Market in Valparaiso: Selected Poems of Gabriel Rosenstock (selected and introduced by Cathal Ó Searcaigh), Cló Iar-Chonnacht, Indreabhán
2014: An tAmharc Deireannach / The Last Look: the Selected Poems of Colette Ní Ghallchóir (selected and introduced by Cathal Ó Searcaigh), Arlen House, Galway
Collaborations: Music
2005: Tearmann (A sequence of Ó Searcaigh poems put to music by Neil Martin and performed by the poet himself with the West Ocean String Quartet), live performance, Cliften Arts Festival
2009: Oileán na Marbh (Song cycle with composer Neil Martin, sung by Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill and accompanied by the West Ocean Quartet) Ae Fond Kiss, West Ocean Records
2012: Síle an tSléibhe (opera monodrama with composer Derek Ball, sung by Elizabeth Hilliard with chamber group and electroacoustic sound) live performances at the Back Loft (La Catedral theatre) Dublin in Sept 2012, and the Contemporary Music Centre, Dublin in Jan 2013
2013: Rhapsody na gCrann (words by Cathal Ó Searcaigh, music by Ciarán and Pól Brennan, sung by Clannad) Clannad Nádúr Arc Music
Cathal has also collaborated with Altan, Brian Kennedy, Diana Cannon and many other well-known musicians.
Collaborations: Art
2003: Trasnú, a collaboration with artist Maria Simonds Gooding which included an exhibition, public forum and book (published by An Gailearaí, Gaoth Dobhair)
2004: Luxury of a Skylight, collaboration with artist Janet Mullarney: a limited boxed edition, numbered and signed, with poems and drawings. Published by Edizioni Canopo, Prato, Italy
2005: Dialann / Diary, a collaboration with artist Barbara Lea and book-maker Paulette Myres-Rich, a limited boxed edition, numbered and signed. Published by Traffic Street Press, St Paul, Minnesota
2012: The Green Man, A portfolio of 10 lithographs created and printed by Aoife McGarrigle at Cló Ceardlann na gCnoc, Co Donegal, with 10 poems by Cathal Ó Searcaigh: a limited boxed edition, numbered and signed
2004: The View from Bealtaine, based on Cór Úr, a much anthologised poem by Ó Searcaigh, designed and printed by Barbara Tetenbaum at Cló Ceardlann na gCnoc, Co Donegal. Limited edition, numbered and signed
Books about his poetry
2000: Modern Irish Poetry: A New Alhambra, Frank Sewell, Oxford University Press
2002: On the side of Light: Critical essays on the poetry of Cathal Ó Searcaigh, edited by James Doan & Frank Sewell, Arlen House, Galway
2005: Na Buachaillí Dána: Cathal Ó Searcaigh, Gabriel Rosenstock by Pádraig de Paor, An Clóchomhar, Dublin
Critical Essays on the Work of Cathal Ó Searcaigh – a selection
1993: A Going Back to Sources, Michael Longley reviews "Homecoming / An Bealach 'na Bhaile", Poetry Ireland Review 39
1996: Cathal Ó Searcaigh: a Negotiation with Place, Community and Tradition, Gréagóir Ó Dúill, Poetry Ireland Review 48
1997: Wrestling with Angels, Sean Lysaght reviews "Out in the Open" Poetry Ireland Review 55
1997: The Indelible mark of Cain: Sexual Dissonance in the Poetry of Cathal Ó Searcaigh, Lillis Ó Laoire in "Sex, Nation and Dissent in Irish Writing", editor Eibhear Walsh, Cork University Press
2000: Irish Writing in the Twentieth Century: A Reader, David Pierce, Cork University Press
2000: Cathal Ó Searcaigh and Aspects of Translation, Nobuaki Tochigi: Éire-Ireland (Spring/Summer 2000) Vol.35
2000: Ag Tabhairt Teanga don Tost, Lillis Ó Laoire, Réamhrá, Ag Tnúth leis an tSolas: Cló Iar-Chonnacht, Indreabhán, Co Galway
2003: Between Two Languages, Frank Sewell, The Cambridge Companion to Contemporary Irish Poetry, editor Matthew Campbell: Cambridge University Press
2005: Trén bFearann Breac, a discussion of Ó Searcaigh's poetry, Máirín Nic Eoin, Cois Life, Dublin
2007: "For Isaac Rosenberg": Geoffrey Hill, Michael Longley, Cathal O'Searcaigh, an essay by Tara Christie in The Oxford Handbook of British and Irish War Poetry, edited by Tim Kendall, Oxford Handbooks, ISBN 9780199282661
2008: The Given Note – Traditional Music and Modern Irish Poetry, Seán Crossan: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne
2009: Préamhachas an Ultachais i bhfilíocht Chathail Uí Shearcaigh, A J Hughes, Filí agus Filíocht: Éigse Cholm Cille, Doire
2010: Cathal Ó Searcaigh: a critical essay in "Scríbhneoirí faoi Chaibidil, editor Alan Titley", Cois Life, Dublin
2010: Cathal Ó Searcaigh, a critical essay by Caitríona Ní Chléirchín in "Filíocht Chomhaimseartha na Gaeilge", editor Ríona Ní Fhrighil, Cois Life, Dublin
2015: A Major Voice, review of "Aimsir Ársa" and "An Bhé Ghlas" by Paddy Bushe, Poetry Ireland Review 117
Anthologies in which he is represented
Ó Searcaigh's work has been much anthologised. He is one of the few Irish language poets to be included in all the major anthologies of modern poetry from Ireland. The following is only a sample selection.
1986: The Bright Wave / An Tonn Gheal, Raven Arts press
1986: Filíocht Uladh, editor Gréagóir Ó Dúill: Coiscéim, Dublin
1991: The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing: Volumes III and IV, edited by Seamus Deane, Field Day
1995: Modern Irish Poetry: An Anthology, edited by Patrick Crotty, The Blackstaff Press, Belfast
1996: Anthologie de la Poésie Irlandaise du XXe siecle, Éditions Verdier
1997: Writing the Wind: The New Celtic Poetry, New Native Press, USA
1998: The Oxford Book of Ireland, edited by Patricia Craig, Oxford University Press
1998: Treasury of Irish Love, editor Gabriel Rosenstock: Hippocrene Books, New York
1999: The Pilot Star Elegies, poetry and some translations, Sherod Santos, W W Norton, New York* 1999: Watching the River Flow – A century of Irish Poetry, edited by Theo Dorgan, Poetry Ireland
2000: The Hip Flask: Short Poems from Ireland, edited by Frank Ormsby, Blackstaff Press, Belfast
2000: Duanaire an Chéid, editor Gearóid Denver: Cló Iar-Chonnacht, Indreabhán, Co Galway
2001: Gaolta Gairide, editor Máirín Nic Eoin: Cois Life, Dublin
2002: A Conversation Piece: Poetry and Art, editors Adrian Rice & Angela Reid: Abbey Press, Newry
2002: 20th Century Irish Poems, selected by Michael Longley, Faber & Faber
2003: The Blackbird's Nest: Poetry from Queen's University Belfast, editor Frank Ormsby: Blackstaff Press, Belfast
2003: Modern Poets of Europe: a Selection, editors Patricia & William Oxley: Spiny Babbler
2005: Lón Anama: Poems for Prayer from the Irish Tradition, editor Ciarán Mac Murchaidh: Cois Life, Dublin
2006: The Ulster Anthology, editor Patricia Craig: The Blackstaff Press, Belfast
2007: Our Shared Japan, editors Irene De Angelis & Joseph Woods: Dedalus Press, Dublin
2008: The Essential Gabriel Fitzmaurice: Selected Poems and Translations: Mercier Press, Cork
2008: Filíocht Ghrá na Gaeilge / Love Poems in Irish, editor Ciarán Mac Murchaidh: Cois Life, Dublin
2008: The New North: Contemporary Poetry from Northern Ireland, Wake Forest Press, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
2008: A Fine Statement: An Irish Poet's Anthology, edited by John McDonagh, Poolbeg Press, Dublin
2010: The Penguin Book of Irish Poetry, edited by Patrick Crotty, Penguin Books
2010: An Anthology of Modern Irish Poetry, edited by Wes Davies, The Belknap Press of Harvard University press, Cambridge, Massachusetts
2011: Voices at the World's edge: Irish Poets on Skellig Michael, edited by Paddy Bushe, Dedalus Press, Dublin
2011: The Willow's Whisper: Poetry from Ireland and Native America, editors Jill M O'Mahoney & Mícheál Ó hAodha: Cambridge Scholars, Newcastle upon Tyne
2014: If Ever You Go: A Map of Dublin in Poetry, editors Pat Boran & Gerard Smyth: Dedalus Press, Dublin* 2016: Leabhar na hAthghabhála / Poems of Repossession, edited by Louis De Paor, Bloodaxe Books, Cló Iar-Chonnacht
