Conamara Chronicles (EPUB) von Seán Mac Giollarnáth

— Tim Robinson was a cartographer, artist, and writer whose scrupulous and lovingly-detailed records of the West of Ireland, its landscape, its people, and its distinctive languages were lauded, hugely influential, and are revered in Irish studies. These publications include Pilgrimage (1986) which won the Irish Book Awards literature medal, and what is referred to as his "Connemara Trilogy," a prize-winning trio of books which studies the link between place and people in the West of Ireland. Robinson died in 2020 from COVID. Liam Mac Con Iomaire was a writer and broadcaster who served as Director of the Modern Irish Language Laboratory at University College Dublin. His previous publications inlcude Ireland of the Proverb (Townhouse, 1988). He is particularly well-regarded by those who work in the Irish language. He died unexpectedly in May 2019. In their previous collaboration, the translators earned the MLA's Louis Roth Award for Cré na Cille / Graveyard Clay (Yale UP 2016).

— There are some books which are of enduring cultural, critical, and historical importance to their field, and this is one. After centuries of colonization and concerted efforts to eradicate Irish language, folklife, and culture from Ireland, the importance of artifacts such as this work cannot be overstated. It is of critical academic and general interest.

— As a new series, Irish Culture, Memory, Place has included the work of one rising Irish star, the innovative collaborative work of two established and highly-regarded American academics, and an edited volume which speaks both to the memorialization of Irish history as well as to the issues facing women in the current moment. What we are lacking as we establish ourselves is an engagement with the Irish language. With the publication of this title, the final work of two luminaries in the field, we will secure a beautiful and important work which honors the language and culture from which it stems.

— The work will appeal to scholars, students, and general readers interested in Irish history, language, folklore, and culture. It will also be of academic interest for cultural geographers, anthropologists, and folklorists. It is important that we have a strategy in place to get this title into Irish bookshops as this audience will be the largest and most eager for the work.

A Personal Note
Acknowledgments
Nomenclature
Reading this Volume
Space, Time& Connemara, by Tim Robinson
TheBrief Annals: An Introductory Note, by Liam Mac Con Iomaire
1. The Holy Men and the Islands
2. Troubled Times
3. The Year of the French (1798)
4. The Tories / Vigilantes
5. Big Men
6. Robbers and Treasures
7. Smugglers
8. Poor Scholars
9. Priests
10. People and Places
11. Boatmen and Timber
12. Food
13. Wisps of Straw
14. Custodians of Traditional Lore and Storytellers
Reading this Volume: Meet the Storytellers, by Liam Mac Con Iomaire
Bibliography
Maps
Index

"I find him to be a kindred spirit, a sympathetic but shrewd enquirer, a companionable stroller, and a lover of anecdotes gathered by the wayside." 

So Tim Robinson described folklorist, revolutionary, and district justice Seán Mac Giollarnáth, whose 1941 book Annála Beaga ó Iorras Aithneach revealed his sheer delight in the rich language and stories of the people he encountered in Conamara, the Irish-speaking region in the south of Connemara. From tales of smugglers, saints, and scholars to memories of food, work, and family, the stories gathered here provide invaluable insights into the lives and culture of the community. This faithful and lovingly crafted translation, complete with annotations, a biography, and thoughtful chapters that explore the importance of the language and region, is the final work of both Robinson and his collaborator, the renowned writer and Irish language expert Liam Mac Con Iomaire.

Translated into English for the first time, Conamara Chronicles: Tales from Iorras Aithneach preserves the art of storytellers in the West of Ireland and honors the inspiration they kindle even still. 

Seán Mac Giollarnáth (18801970) was a writer, judge, and folklore collector in his native County Galway. A key figure in the Irish cultural revival, he combined a long career as a district justice with the compilation of folktales and traditional lore from collaborators in Conamara and beyond.

Liam Mac Con Iomaire (19372019) was a teacher, journalist, and writer from Casla, County Galway. Major publications include biographies of Breandán Ó hEithir, Seosamh Ó hÉanaí, and, in collaboration with Tim Robinson,Graveyard Clay, the translation of Máirtín Ó Cadhain's 1949 novelCré na Cille. He was an acknowledged authority on Irish language usage and traditional singing in Irish.

Tim Robinson(19352020) was born in Yorkshire, studied mathematics at Cambridge, and worked as a visual artist in Istanbul, Vienna, and London. He moved to the Aran Islands in 1972 and commenced a multidecade project of mapping and writing about Aran, the Burren, and Connemara. He was author of the two-volumeStones of Aran and the Connemara trilogy.