Manchán's newsletter

1st edition - March 2024

Conas ‘tá sibh?

I promise I’ll be keeping this short…

This is not a substack, more an occesional newsletter. The aim is to let you know of things I’m doing in the months ahead, or thinking of… and to share some stuff I have done over the last 3 decades. I promise I intend to post very seldom, ideally twice or three times a year, unless there is some urgent announcement in between.

First to note is that I’m doing less events and appearances this year as I’ve a health issue and have felt the need to take more time to look after my garden, my vegetables bed, fruit frees, hens, bees and oak trees. I’ve also just gotten some pigs on the land again too, and am considering adding some sheep for company. They animate the soil and the entire ecosystem in a remarkable way. I also hope to rear some broiler hens for the pot, alongside my layer hens that offer eggs every day. I am practically vegetarian, but I’m being advise to eat some meat for health, and I want to know it was reared in an honourable way.

My hens, sheep, bees and pigs - photos from 2017 to today

1. Arán & Im - to UK in Autumn

Having toured Arán & Im widely along the West coast of North America in 2023, and the east coast in 2022, and all over Ireland numerous times since 2018 I’m not planning many shows in Ireland this year (maybe none), though I will likely tour the show in the UK in the autumn with support from Once Off Productions & Culture Ireland. No dates or details yet.

Arán & Im (Bread & Butter)

I have a complete video recording of Arán & Im and I will share it at some point for some special occasion. News of that will be shared here and on my social media platforms. In the meantime, the trailer is here.

2. UK edition: Thirty-Two Words For Fields

A new UK & Australia edition of Thirty-Two Words For Fields was published in early March. It has a brand new opening chapter. Below are some paragraphs from it . No plans yet for a North American edition, but it will happen. Also an audiobook version must come soon. (It’s crazy there hasn’t been one. )

For articles and interviews about Thirty-two Words For Field check my website.

FOREWORD

The book you hold in your hands is in English, a

relatively recent West Germanic language that is

closely related to Frisian, German and Dutch. It developed

when gangs of land-hungry Angles, Saxons, Jutes and

Frisians arrived in Britain around the sixth century, seeking

a new start. Since then, it has achieved some success and,

as such, is an ideal medium through which to convey my

own native tongue, which ironically was the first to be

displaced by English.

My Celtic-speaking kinsmen were among those who were

sent fl eeing by these hordes of Germanic settlers. They

retreated north and westwards towards their relatives in

Ireland, Scotland and Wales and we’ve been here ever since.

Somehow, we managed to keep our language alive through

the ordeal and we’re still speaking it today, though it has

morphed slightly over the centuries into what are now

known as Irish, Welsh and Scottish Gaelic.

By the time English was beginning to shape itself from

its mish-mash of German dialects, Irish was already a few

thousand years old and contained insights and elements

that reached further back again to a Proto-Indo-European

language that was spoken five thousand years ago by

nomadic tribes roaming the southeast European plains.

3. Oct 2024 - my next book

In Oct 2024 I will launch a new illustrated book on the links and commonalities between Irish and Vedic Indian culture. It will be illustrated by Aurélie Beatley and will be relatively short. Around 12,000 words. It will be published by Mayo Books Press.

Sky Cow 1 & 2 by Aurélie Beatley

Mayo Books also published Focail na mBan (Women’s Words), a book of Irish words for vagina, vulva, periods, etc that I did with 30 artists in November 2023. Some of my favourite words from that were Ribe an tsiabhrán - Clitoris (a colloquial, euphemistic term). Its literal meaning is bristle of delusion, or hair of derangement, or tuft of mental confusion. Pis/Pit - Vulva. Roe. Pea. A shell-less crab. What you say to attract a cat’s attention. Faighin - Vagina. Scabbard. Sheath. Shell.

Art from Focail na mBan: Artwork by Bebhinn Eilish, Cadar by Arisleyda Dilon, Broinn by Ursula Foley, Cnúthacha by Carmel Winters

4. Upcoming dates:

27th March, In a Word, public interview, Sligo Library, 6.30pm

28th March, ‘Let All Languages Live: Celebrating Language Revitalization’, Museum of Fine Arts, Florida State University, online panel talk with Manchán and cultural elders from the Seminole Tribe and Nation

15th April: UCDVO film ‘Twice Colonised - guest speaker, 5.30pm

16th April: Nicole Masters & Manchán talk on soil rejuvenation and paradigm shifts

20th April: Granard Book Festival

21st April: Stradbally Garden Festival

23rd-28th April, Icelandic Travel writing

11th-12th May: The Everyday Otherworld, online workshop at Animate Earth

31st May-2nd June: Ardnacoula, Hometree festival

8th & 9th June: Borris House

14th & 15th June: Dalkey Festival

22nd June: John Moriarty Festival, Moyvane, Co Kerry

5. My new theatre show

In Spring 2025 I’ll reveal details of the third in my trilogy of one-man theatre shows (or ritual installations). The first two are, Gaeilge Tamagotchi, and Arán & Im.

The new work will consist of me on stage with a replica of the cloak of crimson bird feathers that my great-granduncle, four generations back, Aogán Ó Rathaille, was permitted to wear in recognition of his status as the last of the old Bardic school of poets, with a lineage stretching back potentially to druidic times.

Who among us dare to wear this cloak today? It is all of ours to carry. This new project is being supported by the Arts Council of Ireland and the Canada Ireland Foundation.

6. My Trilogies

I like to work in trilogies. My travel books were Angels & Rabies, Manchán’s India, and Truck Fever. They can still be got in libraries, and Angels & Rabies is available from me directly at www.manchan.com

I intend to publish the third in my trilogy of books about Irish language, lore, and landscape in 2026 or 2027. It will compete the work began in Thirty-Two Words For Field, and Listen to the Land Speak. The third book is about 20% written. It will explore the Irish coastline and, from there, radiate outwards to focus on Irish connections and similarities with cultures throughout the world.

In the meantime, I’ll be publishing three shorter illustrated books: one about commonalities between Ireland and India (due Autumn 2024), then a book about similarities between Irish and Aboriginal culture and lore (due Autumn 2025), and finally a book about similar cultural aspects shared by Irish and Native American mythology and culture (due Autumn 2026). Though, the third book in the series may focus on Ireland and Iceland instead (mainly because this would be a lot easier and quicker!).

I’ve also written three books in Irish. Manchán ar Seachrán, Baba-ji & TnaG and Bí i nGrá.