Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [33]
Contemporary poets are in a rich vein of form, with the likes of Justin Quinn (b 1968) and Caitriona O’Reilly (b 1973) offering a thoughtful and perceptive critique of modern Ireland in all its complexities. Eavan Boland (b 1944) is a prolific and much-admired writer who combines Irish politics with outspoken feminism; In a Time of Violence (1995) and The Lost Land (1998) are two of her most celebrated collections.
If you’re interested in finding out more about poetry in Ireland, visit the website of the excellent Poetry Ireland (www.poetryireland.ie), which showcases the work of new and established poets. For a taste of modern Irish poetry in print, try Contemporary Irish Poetry edited by Fallon and Mahon. A Rage for Order, edited by Frank Ormsby, is a vibrant collection of the poetry of the North.
Cinema
Ireland’s film-making tradition is pretty poor, largely because the British cinema industry drained much of its talent and creative energies and the Irish government pleaded poverty any time a film-maker came looking for some development cash. The last decade has seen a change in the Irish government’s attitudes, but what has long been true is that the country has contributed more than its fair share of glorious moments to the silver screen, as well as a disproportionate number of its biggest stars.
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John Boorman’s film The General (1998) about Dublin’s most notorious crime boss is both horrific and uneasily funny in its portrayal of the mindless brutality and childlike humour of Martin Cahill.
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Hot on the heels of such luminaries as Gabriel Byrne (Miller’s Crossing, The Usual Suspects), Stephen Rea (The Crying Game, The End of the Affair), and the Oscar-winning Liam Neeson (for Schindler’s List), Daniel Day-Lewis and Brenda Fricker (both for My Left Foot), are the late-arriving but always excellent Brendan Gleeson, who has had supporting roles in literally dozens of films; the very handsome Cillian Murphy (Breakfast on Pluto and The Wind That Shakes the Barley, among several others) and the reformed bad-boy Brando-wannabe himself, Colin Farrell, whose recent personal best in an up-and-down career was the well-received In Bruges. Close behind him is Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, whose most notable work to date is his Henry VIII on the TV hit The Tudors, but has also been seen in Woody Allen’s Match Point (2005) and 2009’s From Paris With Love.
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The Oscar statuette handed out at the Academy Awards was conceived by set designer Cedric Gibbons, born in Dublin in 1893 and winner of his own statuette 12 times.
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The re-establishment of the Irish Film Board in 1993 was part of the government’s two-pronged effort to stimulate the local film industry. Big international productions (Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan etc) were tempted here with generous tax incentives in order to spread expertise among Irish crews, while money was pumped into the local film industry – with mixed critical results.
Ireland has been working hard to cast off its ‘Oirland’ identity – that sappy we’re-poor-but-happy version so loved by Hollywood’s plastic Paddys – but the local film industry is under phenomenal pressure to come up with the goods. And in film, the ‘goods’ means a commercial success. Exit the creative space to make really insightful films about a host of Irish subjects, enter the themed film designed to make a commercial splash in Britain and the US. Favourite themes include Mad and Quirky – The Butcher Boy, Disco Pigs and Breakfast on Pluto; Smart-arse Gangsters – I Went Down and Intermission; and Cutesy Formulaic Love Story – When Brendan Met Trudy. Never mind the Irish Welles or Fellini, where’s the local equivalent of Loach, Leigh or Winterbottom?
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Patrick McCabe’s The Butcher Boy is a brilliant, gruesome tragicomedy about an orphaned Monaghan boy’s descent into madness. It has received several awards and was made into a successful film.
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Well, say the film board, they’re called Jim Sheridan (In the Name of the Father,