Seán Pádraig Ó Ríordáin (3 December 1916 – 21 February 1977), sometimes referred to as an Ríordánach, was an
Irish language
Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...
poet and later a newspaper columnist. He is credited with introducing European themes to Irish poetry, and is widely regarded as one of the best Irish language poets of the 20th century.
Biography
Early life
Ó Ríordáin was the eldest of three children born in
Baile Mhúirne,
County Cork
County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...
, to Seán Ó Ríordáin and Máiréad Ní Loineacháin.
English was his first language. His mother spoke English; his father spoke Irish and English. His father's mother, a native Irish speaker, lived next door. His next-door neighbour on the other side also spoke Irish, something Ó Ríordáin attributed to contributing to his own acquisition of Irish. It wasn't long before Ó Ríordáin gained some knowledge of Irish.
When Ó Ríordáin was ten, his father died of tuberculosis. Five years later, in 1932, the family moved to Inniscarra, on the outskirts of
Cork city
Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...
. After settling there, Seán and his brother Tadhg were sent to school in the
North Monastery Christian Brothers School, on the northside of Cork city.
Professional career
Ó Ríordáin worked as a clerk in the Cork Motor Tax Office from 1936 until his early retirement due to health issues in 1965.
In 1967, Ó Ríordáin was made a part-time lecturer in
University College Cork
University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork.
The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...
. Between 1969 and 1976. Ó Ríodáin was UCC's writer in residence. Concurrent with his time in UCC, he wrote a weekly column in
The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...
, which he continued until 1975.
Health issues
Ó Ríordáin contracted pneumonia at the age of thirteen, and was afterwards ill for most of his life. He was diagnosed with
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
in 1938, and made frequent visits to
sanatoria throughout his life thereafter. Ó Ríordáin never married, and died in Sarsfield Court Hospital in 1977. He is interred in
St. Gobnait's cemetery, Baile Mhúirne, alongside his father and paternal grandparents.
Poetic works
''Eireaball Spideoige''
(''A Robin's Tail'') is Ó Ríordáin's first and largest collection of poetry, published in 1952. It was published by ''Sáirséal agus Dill'' who would serve as publishers for all of his later works as well. ''Eireaball Spideoige'' contains Ó Ríordáin's best known poem, (''My Mother's Burial''), from which the collection's title is derived. ''Adhlacadh mo Mháthair'' is an intimate exploration of Ó Ríordáin's grief following the death of his mother. According to scholar Louis de Paor, this poem created a new frisson in Irish language poetry when this poem was first published in 1945. In the introduction to ''Eireaball Spideoige'' Ó Ríordáin describes his poetry as an attempt to capture "the immediacy of the moment". In the preface he asks "What is poetry?", and answers "A child's mind."
Though now regarded as an integral part of the Irish literary canon, ''Eireaball Spideoige'' received mixed reviews on publication in 1952, being criticized for its deviation from traditional Irish poetry in terms of subject matter and personal use of language.
Other works
Three booklets of Ó Ríordáin's poetry were subsequently published: (''Kindling'') in 1964, (''Limbo Lines'') in 1971, and the posthumous (''After my Death'') in 1978. His later works are marked by a notable dropping of the sentimentality and romanticism of his first collection. In ''Brosna'' Ó Ríordáin examines his difficult relationship with the Irish language, and in ''Línte Liombó'' he details the conquering of the individual by dispassionate destiny. His collected poems were released in 2011, under the title .
Interpretation
Ó Ríordáin delineates his personal aesthetic and theology in the preface to his first collection of poetry, ''Eireaball Spideoige'', in which he highlights the relationship between artistic expression, poetry in particular, and being. He argues that poetry is to be under the aspect of another and without that relationship one can only ever produce a prosaic narrative. In that same preface, Ó Ríordáin considers an appropriation of an infant's mind as a prerequisite for the poetic act. The poem ''An Peaca'' (''The Sin'') reveals that Ó Ríordáin's ability to write poetry is at once lost if his immediate relation to nature is interrupted.
According to Gearóid Denvir, Ó Ríordáin's poems "seek to answer fundamental questions about the nature of human existence and the place of the individual in a universe without meaning".
Ó Ríordáin has been described as a
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
an poet. The clash between traditional Irish and contemporary European influences was one of the most consistent conflicts in his work. As with all 'modernisers' of tradition, Ó Ríordáin received considerable opprobrium from traditionalists, most notably
Máire Mhac an tSaoi.
These attacks, particularly by Mhac an tSaoi on the standard of his Irish, did considerable damage to Seán's confidence and added to his already ill health. He never forgave Mhac an tSaoi. In a 1970 'Writer in Profile' television interview with Ó Ríordáin, Mhac an tSaoi phoned the station to say that she 'had never heard better Irish spoken than that by Seán Ó Ríordáin tonight'. Ó Ríordáin's response, as recorded by his biographer Seán Ó Coileáin: 'my bowels moved in disdain'.
As well as writing poetry, he wrote a column in ''
The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...
'' during the latter years of his life in which he spoke vehemently about national affairs. A number of his poems have appeared in English translation, for example, ''Modern Irish Poetry: An Anthology'' (ed. Patrick Crotty).
Along with Mhac an tSaoi and
Máirtín Ó Direáin, Ó Ríordáin is considered part of "an triúr mór".
Popular Poems
Ó Ríordáin's poems have enjoyed constant popularity, due in part to the exposure gained by the inclusion of his work in the standard Irish curriculum. Poems such as "
Fill Arís", "Cúl an Tí" and "
Tost" are widely known, and "
Fill Arís" was short-listed in a competition run by
RTÉ
(; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...
in 2015 which sought to identify "Ireland's best loved poem". "Toil" is a contemplation on the limitations of human will.
"Cúl an Tí" in particular is often taught in
Gaelscoileanna throughout Ireland.
Legacy
The writings of Ó Ríordáin were a "seminal influence" on the
Innti poetry movement.
Gaelscoil Uí Ríordáin, an Irish-language primary school in
Ballincollig, County Cork, is named after Ó Ríordáin.
References
Notes
Sources
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:O Riordain, Sean
1916 births
1977 deaths
20th-century Irish-language poets
Irish modernist poets
Writers from County Cork
The Irish Times people
20th-century Irish male writers
Irish male poets
People from Ballyvourney
Irish columnists