Mullen’s book a treasure County View
John Healy For any Mayo person seeking a broader knowledge of his or her own county, who wants to learn more about the county, its people, its history, its landmarks, then a book just published this week is the answer.
‘The Road Taken’, written by Michael Mullen, is subtitled ‘A Guide to the Roads and Scenery of Mayo’. But it is a subtitle which falls short of doing full justice to a book which is at once informative, entertaining and a delight to read.
Nobody knows his own county better than Michael Mullen does; and none is better qualified or talented to weave such a delightful web of history, ancient and modern, as the celebrated author.
Launched by Nonsuch Publishing, the book runs to 160 pages and uses a network of road journeys as the pegs on which to hang the narrative. From Nephin Beg to Achill, from the Céide Fields to Cong, the book is a motoring guide, a potted history of Mayo, and a compendium of people and events which sparkles with the author’s knowledge of his favourite subject. Michael Mullen’s prose is as gentle and unhurried as the timeless landscape he describes so well, and his story is laced with his accounts of the famous – and sometimes infamous – personalities who have left their mark on the Mayo of today.
Primarily meant as a guide for the visitor, ‘The Road Taken’ is much more than that, and the greater would be the loss if it were to be tidied away on the travelogue bookshelf. The book is an invaluable guide for anyone who wants to explore the story of Mayo or to become better acquainted with our native place. In fact, ‘The Road Taken’ would have good claim to be distributed to every school and college student in Mayo to be utilised as a working text for young learners who so often complete their education knowing little or nothing of the county of their roots.
What might have been a challenging task of presentation is made considerably easier by the author’s tactic of using each road journey as a self-contained chapter of the book. Within those parameters, each chapter becomes a leisurely journey over terrain which is described with the poetic touch of the master, stopping here and there to listen to the story of some historical event or personality which adds colour to the telling. Nothing is left out; nobody is forgotten; and the events of history come alive again at the touch of the Mullen pen.
Monastic history, land agitation, famine and evictions, deeds of nobleness and deeds of treachery, Lord Lucan and George Birmingham, Delia Murphy and John Healy, Captain Boycott and Michael Davitt, Emily McManus and Hennigan’s Heritage Centre, Fr Peyton and George Moore and James Daly and Fighting Fitzgerald, all the colour and richness and scenic beauty of our county is honoured by Michael Mullen.
For example, how poignantly accurate is his account of Doolough on the road from Louisburgh to Leenane.
“It is a black lake, and one should not linger too long here, for the sadness of the place enters the soul. For the tourist, looking down upon the narrow sheet of water with the mountain rising sharply on either side, it is breathtaking.
“It is bare and bleak and possesses an elemental beauty. But the Valley of Doolough, with its high mountains and narrow lakes, is filled with sad voices for those who know its history. Certain historic events stain landscapes, and this landscape has been stained by a most tragic event.”
Generously illustrated with stunning photographs, ‘The Road Taken’ is a guide, a reference book, and an invaluable companion for anyone who wishes to explore the wonders of our magnificent county. Michael Mullen and his publishers have done Mayo some service; their achievement is worthy of the highest recognition.
CHARLIE GAFFNEY REMEMBERED The poet, Michael Longley, has recently written a moving piece about an old Louisburgh friend which, not unlike Riverdance, seems to have caught the imagination of readers far and wide.
Titled ‘The Lifeboat’, the poem reads:
“I have imagined an ideal death in Charlie Gaffney’s
Pub in Louisburgh; he pulls me the pluperfect pint
As I, at the end of the bar next the charity boxes,
Expire on my stool, head in hand, without a murmur
I have just helped him to solve his crossword puzzle
And we commune with ancestral photos in the alcove
He doesn’t notice that I am dead until closing time
And he sweeps around my feet.
But it’s Charlie Gaffney who has died.
Charlie, how do I buy a fishing licence?
Shall I let the dog out? Would the fire take another sod?
The pub might as well be empty forever now. I launch
The toy lifeboat at my elbow with an old penny.”
PATSY’S PARTRY GARDEN
One of the most admired pieces in Padraig Flynn’s recent ‘Lifescapes’ exhibition at the Linenhall was that glorious array of floral colour titled ‘Patsy’s Garden’.
And if for anyone who travels the road by Partry from either Castlebar or Westport it looked familiar, then that was not by chance either.
The painting was the artist’s tribute to local woman, Patsy Heverin, who has turned the approach roads to Partry village into a garden of colour with a roadside flourish which causes many a passing motorist to stop and enjoy. The Partry roadside garden is indeed a delight with a fashion parade of colourful plants and flowers to lift the spirit as well as enhancing the environment.
The Flynn painting was a worthy reproduction of the green-fingered magic of Patsy Heverin, with the rolling green fields to the horizon providing the backdrop to the colourful, endless display of flowers dancing in the breeze.
As the artist himself wryly commented, most of his paintings get spirited away to the homes of his offspring almost as soon as the oils dry on canvass. ‘Patsy’s Garden’ is no exception, and discreet enquiries reveal that that piece of Partry now adorns the wall of a house in County Kildare, where Turlough Flynn is adamant that is where it will remain.
The exhibition itself, meanwhile, which ran for seven days, proved to be one of the Linenhall’s most popular. Well over a thousand visitors passed through the doors to see the work of the politician-turned-artist, while the extensive media coverage provided valuable spin-off advantages for Marie Farrell and her management team. ‘Lifescapes’ opened the doors of the Linenhall to many who would not normally regard a gallery visit as a priority, but who are sure to be enticed back now that they have seen what an asset is the Linenhall to the town and the community.
A TAOISEACH FROM THE WEST? With Ciaran Cannon now installed as new leader of the PDs, the west of Ireland’s surprising dominance in the matter of party leaders is set to continue.
Cannon, from Galway, succeeds Mary Harney, also a native of Galway, and now joins Eamon Gilmore and Enda Kenny to form a western trio of national party leaders. That in itself should be a strong argument in favour of a Connacht Taoiseach, but then we are well aware that coming from the wrong side of the Shannon does not endear a politician, however competent, to the influence makers of the Pale.
James Dillon, Joe Blowick and Sean MacBride were three who were also honoured by election as leaders of their respective parties, but for whom the final prize remained unattainable.
Maybe the accession of the man from the boggy midlands can give us hope.
