Thursday, February 28, 2013

John C. Messenger & briseadh an Plassy

Thagair mé an mhí seo caite do bhád darbh ainm Plassy a briseadh in Inis Oírr. Baineann blag na míosa seo leis an scéal sin agus le taifead an-áithrid den eachtra chéanna.

Íomhá: John & Betty Messenger. Le caoinchead ó Áras Éanna, Inis Oírr
Go moch ar maidin ar an 8 Márta 1960, agus í ag seoladh as Luimneach go Gaillimh, bhuail an long lastais Plassy faoi Charraig na Finnise sa Sunda ó Dheas.  Chruinnigh muintir Inis Oírr agus d’éirigh leo criú an bháid – aon duine dhéag ar fad – a thabhairt slán le baoi osánach.  Is féidir an t-eolas áitiúil faoi bhriseadh an bháid a léamh ar bhlag a scríobh an t-iriseoir Caomhán Keane (arbh as Árainn dá mháthair agus Inis Oírr dá athair).  Gheobhaidh sibh anseo freisin eolas ó fhear a tháinig slán ón mbád, Mick Tobin, mar a bhreac Michael Kirwan uaidh é.

Inniu, aithnítear an bád go forleathan mar go bhfuil a creatlach le feiceáil i dteidil chreidiúna na sraithe clúití teilifíse Father Ted, sraith atá i ndiaidh féile neamhghnáthach bhliantúil a bhronnadh ar Inis Mór gach Feabhra ó 2007 i leith. Ach aithnítear freisin í mar gheall ar na grianghrafanna a ghlac John agus Betty Messenger an mhaidin chinniúnach úd. Nár thráthúil go raibh siadsan ar an oileán agus go raibh ceamaraí agus fearas don scannánaíocht thostach acu chun a gcuid íomhánna a chruthú.  Tugann siad léargas iontach dúinn ar chomh cáite corraitheach a bhíonn farraigí Árann, farraigí ina bhfuil an rialtas ag brath ar fheirm mhór mhillteach éisc a chur go luath.  Ach sin scéal eile.

 Chinn John Messenger go gcruthódh sé taifead eile den mhór-eachtra oileánda seo – amhrán, nó bailéad ba chirte dom a rá.  D’fhoilsigh sé téacs an amhráin i 1983 ina leabhar An Anthropologist at Play: Balladmongering in Ireland and Its Consequences for Research. Is féidir an léirmheas géar a rinne D.K. Wilgus uirthi sin a léamh anseo ach is é mo phríomhsprioc-sa inniu ná taifead den amhrán a roinnt go poiblí don chéad uair. Seo mar a chan Murchadha an Phosta Ó Donnchadha as Inis Oírr The Song of the Plassy.

Mo bhuíochas le Betty Messenger agus le Cartlanna an Cheoil Thraidisiúnta, Ollscoil Indiana, Bloomington (EC3997) a thug cead an taifead a roinnt anseo.

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This month’s blog concerns the story of a shipwreck on Inis Oírr and reveals how the episode was documented in a most unusual way.

Early on the morning of 8 March 1960, as she sailed from Limerick to Galway, the freighter Plassy struck Finnish Rock in the South Sound. Islanders gathered on the eastern shore of Inis Oírr and, using ropes and a breeches-buoy, they succeeded in rescuing all eleven crew members. Local accounts of the rescue are documented here by the journalist Caomhán Keane (whose mother is from Árainn and whose father is from Inis Oírr), while Michael Kirwan documents here the testimony of the last surviving crew-member, Mick Tobin.

Today, the rusting skeleton of the boat is recognised far and wide from the opening credits of the cult TV series Father Ted, a phenomenon that has brought an unlikely annual festival to Inis Mór every February since 2007. But the ship is also known from the photographs taken that fateful morning by John and Betty Messenger, who happened to be on the island with their photographic and film cameras. Their images capture well the ferocity of the seas around Aran, seas in which the Irish government is now planning to put a gigantic salmon farm. But that’s another story.

John Messenger decided to compose a song about the incident and, in 1983, he published it in his book An Anthropologist at Play: Balladmongering in Ireland and Its Consequences for Research. You can read D.K. Wilgus’ cutting review of the book here but the real goal of this blogpost is to share with you another world premiere, a recording of Messenger’s song, sung by Murchadha an Phosta Ó Donnchadha of Inis Oírr: The Song of the Plassy.

My thanks to Betty Messenger and the Archives of Traditional Music, Indiana University, Bloomington who kindly granted permission to share this recording (EC3997) here.