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