Cork poet who taught Kneecap star lands documentary on BBC

The process of creating a poem by a Cork-based poet is the subject of a documentary to be broadcast on BBC World Service and as a podcast on BBC Sounds.

Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh, who writes poetry in Irish, having been reared in an all-Irish household in Tralee by parents from the west of Ireland, was up every morning at 6am for the making of the documentary.

Ailbhe’s poetry, deeply rooted in the literary tradition of the Irish language but contemporary in its outlook, has been translated widely so that it reaches readers in English, French, Spanish, German, Greek, Macedonian, Czech and Gallician.

The English translations are often done by Ailbhe’s husband, English language poet Billy Ramsell, who attended the North Monastery Secondary School and has excellent Irish.

For the documentary, Ailbhe recorded short audio diaries using a dictaphone. She would work out a line or a verse, playing with words and listening back. When she got stuck, she would walk around The Lough to figure out what she was trying to say.

“The process is interesting,” says Ailbhe. “I hadn’t really considered it before but the practice of writing is so crucial in that you don’t just sit around waiting for inspiration.

“My deadline for the documentary was the Franco Irish Literary Festival in Dublin, which was in April.”

The producer of the documentary, Dualtagh Herr, came over to Ailbhe and Billy’s home near The Lough and recorded Ailbhe talking about childhood imagination, motherhood, and the creative process. He also spoke to Billy about how he approaches translation. The couple have two daughters; Léan (9) and Éabha (6).

The poem that Ailbhe wrote for the documentary was inspired by Léan’s obsession with Greek mythology.

“Léan taught herself the Greek myths. She is a great reader. One day, she started speaking to me about Persephone, asking me if I knew about her.”

Persephone was the daughter of Demeter who was abducted to the Underworld by Hades. Her cyclical return to earth each year symbolises the rebirth of spring and summer. For Ailbhe, the myth is also about motherhood.

“As a parent, I’d have huge anxiety. In the context of the Greek myth, Persephone is becoming aware of the world around her.”

Of her own daughter, Ailbhe says she often ‘disappears’ into her imagination. “We have to sometimes bring her back and say, ‘brush your teeth’.

“There was one day when she was bopping around the place, murmuring to herself. I asked her where she was. ‘The Iliad,’ she replied. You can see how the poem (for the documentary) wrote itself!”

Given that she is so enthralled by Greek myths, a recent trip with family to Greece must have been like a dream come true for Léan.

“We went in May because it was First Holy Communion season and Léan wasn’t participating. We gave her an alternative. We had ten days in Athens and Rhodes. We went to Delphi and the Acropolis; it was the trip of a lifetime.”

While Ailbhe acknowledges that it’s hard to withstand the pressure on children to make First Communion, she says Léan is “quite independent”, adding: “When we were in Greece, she used to leave little offerings for Apollo, bits of bread. She’s a very proud Pagan.”

Léan’s sister is a keen painter and very good at drawing.

Ailbhe’s day job is as senior lecturer in the department of Modern Irish at UCC. Billy is self-employed, running an educational publishing company.

“Billy is used to having deadlines,” says Ailbhe. “I really appreciate having a permanent and pensionable job. Billy knows the importance of showing up for poetry. Whether you write anything or not is irrelevant. It’s about being there and getting the pen moving.

“That’s something that Billy – and motherhood – have taught me.”

Early motherhood in particular gave writing an urgency with its ability to realise the self, observes Ailbhe.

In her teaching career, Ailbhe taught Móglaí Bap from Kneecap Irish literature. She knew him as Naoise Ó Cairealláin and says she has “nothing but good things to say about him”.

Kneecap, with its rapping in both English and Irish, is an example of how Irish has become trendy in recent times.

“I think the trendiness of Irish at the moment can distract us from the real crisis which is in the Gaeltacht,” said Ailbhe.

“It’s very difficult for native speakers to get planning permission to build homes. The Gaeltacht areas need our support.

“There’s no point in having pop-up Gaeltachts in the cities. Getting planning permission depends on the county councils. Some of them have been slow to acknowledge that Irish speakers should be granted planning permission.

“Take, for example, the Kerry Gaeltacht, Corca Dhuibhne. It’s over- touristy. There are so many Airbnbs that it’s difficult to rent there, never mind build a house.”

When it comes to the question as to whether Irish should continue to be compulsory at school, Ailbhe is strident.

“I think that to not have Irish compulsory is to make it exclusionary. We should be inclusive and have everyone learning it.

“Learning maths isn’t a walk in the park but it fires up neurons and it’s the same with Irish. To deprive a child of that is a real shame.”

Ailbhe never had to learn Irish formally. “I’m delighted to make that happen for my kids as well and it makes learning other languages a lot easier,” she says.

In The Studio: From Kitchen Table To The Underworld: The Poetry Of Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh is on BBC World Service on June 30 at 4.32am and will be on BBC Sounds as a podcast.