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Seamus Heaney HomePlace, in conjunction with University College Cork, is delighted to host a screening of The Great Book of Ireland.
This extraordinary 278-page single volume vellum manuscript contains the original work of 121 artists, 144 poets, and 9 composers. It includes poems by Seamus Heaney, and by one Michael D. Higgins, current President of Ireland, who was a poet in his late forties.
Commissioned by University College Cork (UCC) and directed by Alan Gilsenan, The Great Book of Ireland documentary tells the story of the book and its original conception in 1989 to help fund the capital plans for two support organisations for artists and writers.
Theo Dorgan of Poetry Ireland and Gene Lambert of Clashganna Mills were the original architects of the idea and editors of the book. They invited artists, poets, and composers to contribute representations, each in their own medium, of the hopes, fears, dreams, and imaginings in the Ireland of that particular time, which would have resonance in a thousand years – as the longevity of vellum allows.
The Great Book of Ireland took two years to complete. Contributors worked directly onto large vellum pages, with their work unified by calligrapher Denis Browne.
Contributing artists include Louis le Brocquy, Barrie Cooke, Rita Duffy Patrick Scott, Tony O’Malley, Dorothy Cross, Pauline Bewick, and Sonja Landweer.
Among the contributing writers are Michael Longley, Eavan Boland, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Dennis O’Driscoll, and John Montague. Bono and Daniel Day-Lewis also feature.
UCC acquired the book in 2012 at a cost of $1 million, all raised from philanthropic sources.
Following the screening of the documentary, Crónán Ó Doibhlin, Head of Research Collections at UCC will host a pre-recorded panel discussion featuring the documentary director Alan Gilsenan, poet Theo Dorgan and the artist Rita Duffy to discuss this fascinating project.
The link for this event will be sent to customers on Friday 21 May and it will be available to view for 5 days.
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