“Nollaig na mban”

… “A few words” from Ireland

On 6 January 2023 over 130 swimmers participated in a Full Moon Nollaig na mBan cold water swim at Clontarf baths as part of a Fundraiser for Women’s Aid. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times.

This phrase, which translates as ‘Women’s Christmas’ refers to the Irish tradition where on 6 January women, having worked hard over the Christmas period, ‘got a day off’ and men took over the domestic tasks. Times have changed, but in recent years the tradition has been revived and re-imagined, with women gathering together informally to celebrate or to attend public events, such as the Irish Writers Centre evening of readings and music.

In 1990 I was working as a translator in Geneva when a momentous event for Irish women took place, the election of our first female president, Mary Robinson (now an Elder). While the role is primarily that of a figurehead, she, and subsequent presidents, Mary McAleese (there’s something about Marys…), and currently Michael D Higgins, have transformed the position into a more engaged and active one, and each has achieved popularity ratings that other leaders could only envy.

There have been many other changes for Irish women in my lifetime. I escaped the ban on trousers at university (yes, really), and the marriage ban in the Civil Service but I do remember the surprise at seeing women bus drivers and women news presenters. 

The status of women in Ireland has undoubtedly improved; according to the europa.eu report of 2022, the country’s gender equality index score at 73.4 points is above the EU average. However, it finds there is more to be done, particularly in the area of political decision making and pay parity. And, as elsewhere, there is worrying evidence of continuing misogyny, a development called out by our current president, Michael D Higgins, who is a Global World Leader of the UN Women HeForShe campaign.

Nonetheless, Irish women are making their mark at home and abroad in politics (Samantha Power), sport (Rhasidat Adeleke), inclusivity activism (Sinéad Burke), international law (Siofra O’Leary), business (Ailbhe and Izzy Keane); fashion (Simone Rocha)…the list goes on and on. As Mary Robinson pointed out back in 1990, “the hand that rocks the cradle can rock the system”.

Ireland Through the Lens

Please note, the Irish have a much more ‘accepting’ relationship with strong language than many other nationalities. 

By Movie Emporium, Fair use, Wikipedia

Although there is still a gender imbalance, Irish women are involved in film at every level. Emer Reynolds is a multi-award-winning director whose documentary The Farthest, about the Voyager spacecraft, has won plaudits worldwide. Oscar winners include Michele Burke for make-up and Josie MacAvin for set design, while experimental film artists such as Cléa van der Grijn have won numerous international awards. And of course there is acting – think Saoirse Ronan, Ruth Negga, Kerry Condon…in fact, far too many to mention. However, a small number have been the story itself.

Veronica Guerin was an investigative journalist whose pursuit of criminal activity in Dublin resulted in her being shot in her car in 1996, an event which shocked the nation and led to the establishment of the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB), which was referenced as a role model in the establishment of Europol’s equivalent body. In 2003, Cate Blanchett took the role of Guerin in the eponymous film.

Philomena (2013) is based on the true story of an Irish woman in the 1950s who, as an unwed mother, was forced to put her child up for adoption and who then was sent to the now infamous Magdalene laundries. The film focuses on her search for her child many years later. 

Noble (2014) tells the story of children’s rights campaigner, Christina Noble, whose traumatic childhood and adolescence informed her decision to start a shelter for homeless children in Vietnam. In the film she is played by Irish actor, Deirdre O’Kane, who once paid me a lovely compliment – I was an extra on the set of Moone Boy, a tv sitcom – which has nothing to do with anything, really, I just love mentioning it !

A Living Tradition

The source of the title of this section, Shane McGowan, died at the end of 2023. In true ‘living tradition’ style, McGowan blended a range of genres, and wasn’t averse to the old ballads either : in this clip he sings On Raglan Road with Imelda May and Finbar Furey. The lyrics of On Raglan Road were written by Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh and is believed to relate to his real-life obsession with Hilda Moriarty, a much younger student whom he met when in his forties. 

There have been a number of Irish songs written about real-life women, the backgrounds to which are entertainingly related in Gerard Hanberry’s book, On Raglan Road (Collins Press, 2016). Among tunes familiar to Irish ears at least are Sarah (Phil Lynott), Galway Girl (Steve Earle) and Down by the Salley Gardens, based on a poem by W B Yeats. 

But what about women composers? Many of the contemporary singers are also songwriters, but less well known are women such Gráinne Mulvey working in electronic and acoustic forms and Síobhan Cleary who has created orchestral, choral and film pieces. 

The one area of musical endeavour in which I have been unable to find an Irish woman is in the actual making of the instruments, but that is more than made up for by the number of instruments many of the singers, professional and amateur, can play. Andrea Corr, for example, plays piano, tin whistle and ukelele, Sharon Shannon is known for her fiddle and accordion playing , and Radie Peat’s repertoire includes the concertina, tin whistle, accordion, harmonium, banjo and harp! 

Quark

With kind permission from Penguin Random House UK

“I had a very happy childhood, which is unsuitable if you are going to be an Irish writer.” Despite this unfavourable beginning, Maeve Binchy went on to become one of Ireland’s most popular writers, whose novels were translated into 37 languages and sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, with several being made into films. Binchy was known for her generosity of spirit and sisterhood, a theme that often runs through discussions about Irish women writers. 

Following in Binchy’s footsteps are writers like Marian Keyes, whose novels have been translated into 36 languages. Keyes’ novels are sometimes categorized (dismissed?) as ‘chick lit’ for their lightness and humour and generally happy endings, but as Keyes points out in a Guardian interview, “laugh[ing] at your misfortune…[is] an immensely Irish thing”.

Keyes admires the young Irish women writers now making their mark. In the interview she comments about Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World, Where Are You, “The utter thrill that there were people queueing outside bookshops around the world for the third novel from a young, female, Marxist, feminist Irish writer. Who would have thought?”

Rooney is just one of a plethora of young Irish women writers along with Anna Burns, Naoise Dolan, Emma Donohue, Anne Enright, Nicole Flattery, Claire Keegan, Eimear McBride, Megan Nolan, Louise O’Neill, Emilie Pine – the list could just go on…and on. See below for some of these contemporary writers’ works in translations. 

Anna Burns // Milkman // Danish, Dutch

Naoise Dolan // Exciting Times // Danish, French, German

Anne Enright // The Gathering // Albanian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Dutch, French, Finnish, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Latvian, Vietnamese

Nicole Flattery // Show Them A Good Time // German

Claire Keegan // Small Things like These // Dutch; Slovak; Swedish

Eimear McBride // A Girl is a Half-formed Thing // Dutch; French; German; Italian

Megan Nolan // Acts of Desperation // Spanish

Emilie Pine // Notes to Self // Danish, Finnish, Swedish, Turkish

Sally Rooney // Beautiful World, Where Are You // Catalan, Dutch, German, Polish, Serbian, Swedish, Ukrainian