As Trasna continues to celebrate National Poetry Month, we also note that this week marked the one-hundred and ninth anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. The ship was constructed by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and its last port of call was Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland.…
Whether a reader concurs with Chaucer’s view of Aprille as inspirational or agrees with Eliot’s claim that it “is the cruelest month,” April is National Poetry Month in the USA and April 29, 2021, is National Poetry Day in Ireland. This week we introduce four poems by Kerry Hardie, from…
Whether a reader concurs with Chaucer’s view of Aprille as inspirational or agrees with Eliot’s claim that it “is the cruelest month,” April is National Poetry Month in the USA and April 29, 2021, is National Poetry Day in Ireland. So, we begin the month by introducing four poems by…
For the month of March we have been showcasing writers and writing who have engaged with the Irish language. On the final post for this month Trasna is pleased to share the work of poet, Dairena Ní Chinnéide, a bilingual poet from the West Kerry Gaeltacht of Corca Dhuibhne. Ní…
Throughout the month of March, Trasna is featuring Irish language writers. This week, we are pleased to share the work of Doireann Ní Ghríofa. Included in this post is a video of her poem: “Under a Fridge Magnet is a Photo of Grandmother as a Schoolgirl.” The poem is read…
Throughout the month of March, Trasna is featuring Irish language writers. This week, we are pleased to share the work of Aifric Mac Aodha, an accomplished Irish-language poet. We are also pleased to share the spoken word, two readings, each in Irish and English, by the poet. For many Americans,…
It is the oldest vernacular language in Europe; it is “unique,” “complex,” and “primal.” Those are some of the words author Manchán Magan uses to describe the Irish language. Throughout the month of March, Trasna is featuring Irish language writers. We begin with Manchán Magan and his recent 2020 publication,…
Moira Linehan has produced four collections of poetry, two of them in 2020: Toward from Slant Books and & Company from Dos Madres Press. Many of the poems the award-winning poet shares with Trasna were begun during her residencies at the Cill Rialaig Project in Co. Kerry and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Co. Monaghan. In these…
In recognition of Black History Month, this week Trasna features an excerpt from a new publication by Joann Malone, Awake to Racism. Malone, an Irish-American, shares her experiences as a Catholic nun in Alabama in the 1960s. There, while teaching, she begins a lifelong involvement in the Civil Rights movement.…
This week Trasna is pleased to feature Irish poet, Frank Farrelly, who is based in Waterford city. Frank’s poems here are from his first full collection, The Boiler Room, and reflect on childhood, place and a growing towards an understanding of the complexities of life and living. The poem, Against the…