Micheal Ua Ciarmhaic; poet, painter, storyteller, folklorist and fisherman
Hyfler/Rosner
April 16, 2005
HEADLINE: Writer and artist who found inspiration in sea,
land and nature
Micheal Ua Ciarmhaic: Micheal Ua Ciarmhaic (Michael Kirby),
who has died aged 98, was a poet, painter, storyteller,
folklorist and fisherman. He came to painting and writing
late in life but over three decades amply made up for lost
time.
His writing is noted for combining description with
narrative, anecdote and poetry, and vividly depicting his
native Ballinskelligs, its islands and birds, its fishing,
husbandry, crafts, customs, migrant experience, history and
folklore, in testimony to a vanishing way of life.
While he wrote mostly in Irish, two volumes of memoir in
English, Skelligside (1990) and Skelligs Calling (2003),
introduced his work to a wider audience. In these books he
set out to present "a picture in story" of life in
Ballinskelligs during the first half of the 20th century.
Reviews were positive. Aodhan Madden compared his writing to
that of the Blasket writers, referring to it as "one of the
last authentic expressions of the Gaelic tradition,
artlessly fusing the worlds of flesh and spirit". Michael
Viney in this newspaper wrote: "His intense feeling for the
natural world speaks for sensibilities nourished and
protected within the dwindling habitats of the Gaeltacht,
wrapped as they are in sea and raw weather."
Born on May 31st, 1906 in Ballinskelligs, Co Kerry, he was
the youngest of the seven children of John Kirby, fisherman
and small farmer, and his wife, Mary (nee Cremin). A native
Irish speaker, he was educated bilingually at the local
national school. As a boy he helped his father, who had a
rowing boat for line and lobster fishing, and he later
worked on trawlers.
But working long hours for low pay held little appeal, and
he resolved to follow his siblings to the United States. His
fare paid by one of his brothers, he left Ireland with high
hopes for the future.
Unfortunately his arrival in the US coincided with the
beginning of the Depression. Nevertheless he succeeded in
getting work in New Haven, Connecticut, as a member of a
maintenance crew in a railway freight yard.
But he was soon on a three-day week, and much of his spare
time was spent at the Peabody Museum in Yale University,
where he developed an interest in natural history - and kept
warm.
After three years in the US he returned home to visit his
dying father. Afterwards he decided to stay at home to look
after his mother. Returning to the sea, he worked "long
hours of slavery" on a trawler.
He also worked occasionally as a boatman and guide for
visitors to the area. He remembered a German folklorist who
made a field trip in the late 1930s, who had no time for
Christianity and constantly mocked the idea of a Supreme
Being. Her argument was that all was chance, and she took
umbrage when he suggested that if chance was all-embracing
it meant that everyone was a born chancer. In 1951 he opted
for self-sufficiency.
"I divested myself of my oilskins on Ballinskelligs pier and
vowed I'd be my own boss from then onwards. There is an old
saying in Irish - Is olc an chearc na scriobann di fein -
'It's a bad hen that can't scratch for herself'."
He made his living fishing, farming and doing maintenance
work for the Board of Works.
In Dublin in the late 1970s at Club an Chonartha in Harcourt
Street, he met the novelist and translator, Padraig Ua
Maoileoin, who encouraged him to write. His first book of
poetry, Iochtar Tra, was published in 1985. Three volumes of
poetry followed, Barra Taoide (1988), Ceol Madai Ramha
(1990) and Chuireas mo Lionta (1993) and three poems were
included in the anthology, Fearann Pinn: filiocht 1900 go
1999 (2000).
Four volumes of prose contain observations and reflections
on the sea, the land and nature. In the mid-1990s An Gum
commissioned him to write an adventure story for teenagers.
The result was Inion Keevack (1996), which won an Oireachtas
prize.
He was also a painter, painting with acrylics on canvas. He
did not exhibit his work in commercial galleries but sold it
privately. Shortly before his death he completed a
commission of eight paintings for a local inn. His last sale
was to a German buyer.
His interest in nature is reflected in the fine garden he
kept.
Widely read, he had a keen interest in news and current
affairs and followed with interest the course of the recent
Udaras na Gaeltachta elections.
He is survived by his wife, Peggy (nee O'Sullivan);
daughters, Anne, Martina and Margaret; and sons, Declan and
Tim.
Micheal Ua Ciarmhaic: born May 31st, 1906; died April 6th,
2005