31/08/2023
Words written ten years ago today on the death of Seamus Heaney.
ππ ππππππ π‘βπ πππ‘πβ: πππ’π ππππππ‘π πππ πππ’π πππππππ π‘π ,
πβππ‘ π€ππ πππ.
Place. Itβs important, you know. Today, the poet and ambassador for a nation, Seamus Heaney, has returned to the place, and the land, that was the source of much of his inspiration.
Like the Gaelic games he played in his teenage years, the poet is of a place. In the poem, βMarkingsβ, the metaphoric βpitchβ is said to be known locally in the Broagh area as βSally Anneβs fieldβ, where an enactment of the poem was filmed some years ago by the London Weekend programme, with young Gaelic footballers from the area taking part.
Heaney attended, and remained devotedly loyal to, Anahorish primary school, where the current headmaster is former Derry All-Ireland winner, Danny Quinn. Born in the same year as the founding of the club he played for, St Malachyβs Castledawson, his relocation at the age of fourteen to only a few miles away took him across one of the many invisible borders he spoke of, and into the Bellaghy area. That he continued to represent his original club after he moved is one of the most unique and special aspects of the GAA.
Heaney maintained a special bond with the communities of Bellaghy, Castledawson and neighbouring areas. Following the awarding of the Nobel Prize for literature, Heaney was honoured with a special reception at Bellaghy GAA where he was presented with a painting of Lough Beg and the surrounding countryside, which he knew and loved, and brought to a worldwide stage.
πβπ πππππππ πππ π‘βπ π ππ’ππππ
ππππ π‘βπππ ππππ ππππππ‘π’ππ πππ πππ‘ππ‘π’ππ
πππππ π‘βπ ππ’πππ¦ ππππ’ππ, π‘π ππ
π΄πππππ ππππ’π‘ ππ πππ ππππππ ππππ’π‘
πβππ π‘βπ π‘πππ ππππ.
Heaneyβs association with the GAA and our local community was never clearer than in the aftermath of the shocking and brutal murder of Sean Brown in Bellaghy in 1997. In Greece at the time, Heaney had just visited the stadium where the first Olympic Games had been held when he learned of the news. Months earlier, SeΓ‘n Brown had been one of the chief organisers of the function β which was attended by all sections of the local community β to mark Heaneyβs achievement.
The collision of where he had been, and the spirit and ideals represented by Sean Brown, and the GAA, triggered a resonance in his mind and prompted the poet to pen a letter to the Irish News in which he described the act as βa crime against the ancient Olympic spiritβ. That spirit is one where sportsmen confine their battles to the athletics arena and one which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.
In Heaneyβs own words, the Bellaghy GAA chairman was: βa man of integrity and good willβ and βrepresented something better than we have grown used toβ. βThe murder of Sean Brown hurt my soulβ, Heaney is quoted as saying.
π΄ππ π‘βππ π€π ππππππ π‘βπ π‘ππππ
π΄ππ ππππ π ππ π‘βπ ππππ ππ’π ππππππ πππππ ππππ€ πππ‘π€πππ π’π .
Seamus Heaney traveled extensively and was known throughout the world. However, his sense of place was omnipresent and he never ever shirked an opportunity to describe to people the community he came from, and the ordinary lives of the characters so formative to his makeup.
Speaking in Belfast in 2008 at a reading of βAt the Wellheadβ, Heaney spoke about some of those influences:
βThe woman who brought the first sense, really, of beauty and art and the possibility of that in the midstβs of the everyday into my life, into my work; a blind woman called Rosie Keenan who lived next door to us.β
That Rosie Keenanβs nephew is the current Derry GAA chairperson once again illustrates linkage of our local community and Heaneyβs work.
To many, Heaneyβs appeal is that the life he expresses is part of a collective shared spirit of a time, place and sense of belonging. In his own words: βthe world of state scholarships, the Gaelic Athletic Association, October devotions, the Clancy Brothers, buckets and egg-boxes where I had had my beingβ. A world now much changed but with the same collective spirit bonded as strong as ever.
Poet, scholar, and ambassador for a nation, Seamus Heaney was known world-wide as a Derry man. His passing is extremely sad. He gave us the gift of his words and also his humanity and his passion for place and the everyday. His spirit is an affirmation, if any were needed, about the inherent importance of the role that the GAA plays in our communities today.
A county and a people mourn, but are deeply proud.
Ar dheis DΓ© go raibh a anam uasal.
πππ’πππ π‘πππ π βππ’π‘πππ π‘βπππ βππππ πππ ππ π πππππ
π΄π π‘βπ πππβπ‘ ππππ πππ π‘βππ¦ ππππ‘ ππ ππππ¦πππ
π΅ππππ’π π ππ¦ π‘βππ π‘βππ¦ π€πππ ππππ¦πππ ππ π‘βπππ βππππ
