poet

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Dead poet’s society

Sometimes a person walks into life or into the fabric of a town  and leaves an indelible mark, a lasting legacy if you will – that seems to sum up Aidan Hayes in Falcarragh.

Taking his last breath last week at the age of 78, Aidan led a fascinating and colorful life, one in which he was by degrees, father, poet, translator, singer, and teacher in schools and prisons in Ireland and France.

“What a lovely man,” said Ger De Róiste (Gerardine Roche), a talented singer, songwriter and multi-instrumental musician who co-hosts a very popular Sunday seisiún in The Shamrock bar in Falcarragh with her friend, Tara, also a talented singer-songwriter-musician. “He spent a joyful time in Falcarragh and we were all lucky to have met him and enjoyed a poetry night in the Shamrock. A father, a poet, a teacher, a singer, a friend to many, Aidan was a joy to spend time with.”

Musician-songwriter, singer Ger De Róiste and Aidan Hayes enjoy a warm moment of joy.

Originally from Cork as was Ger, she met him first in Donegal, “He brought a lot of laughter and could be completely himself without any worry about what others thought of him. He worked with many people helping them with their writing and poetry. He never judged. He was rich in kindness. He completely adored his family, his children and grandchildren he was extremely proud of and spoke fondly of them always. He was fluent in French and had a passion for that language as well as the Irish language. He spoke fondly of the Poets House here in Falcarragh and the wonderful Irish poets he admired.”

Ger was one of many people admiring the quality life Aidan led.  “He was a delightfully lively, flamboyant, creative addition to the Falcarragh community from his arrival at the Poets House in 2001,” said Ian Gordon, an artist from England, who left frantic urban London for the rural idylls of Dunlewey more than four decades ago. “I was fortunate to attend his monthly poetry sessions at the Shamrock for about ten years, where he spread his knowledge and humour copiously. Unfailingly generous with his time he launched two of my art exhibitions with wise and welcoming words.”

Talented artist Ian Gordan holds aloft books of poetry written by Aidan Hayes.

In 2014 and 2017, Ian published, through Ashlemon Press, volumes of Aidan’s poetry, such as ‘Like the Winter’ and ‘Staccato.’  “I believe poetry is about saying profound and beautiful things using a small number of words,” said Ian. “I said to him at one point, ‘Aidan! Surely it’s sensible, as a poet, to not write a poem every single day? But, happily he completely ignored this. From his shoes to his hat and his non-stop utterances, he was the complete poet. And we all loved him.” 

Andrew Roddy, musician-actor-songwriter and close friend of Aidan’s, said, “My fondest memory of Aidan is when I called in to Brenda Hewitt’s shop, ’The Mermaid’s Purse’ in Falcarragh about fifteen years ago, and I had my dog in the car and my dog was dying, and I had finally got around to realising that I couldn’t just sit and watch the animal suffering, I had to do something about it, and I’d made an arrangement to go to the vet in Ramelton to have him put down, and I was heart-broken, completely heart broken,”  recalled Andrew. “And I don’t know what I was in talking to Brenda about, it was just I was just distressed about the whole situation and as I was chatting to her Aidan came into the shop carrying two bags of shopping and he stood there silently picking up on what I was sharing with Brenda. He didn’t say anything, but when there was a lull in the conversation, he stepped forward and he put the two bags of shopping on the counter and said, ‘Here Brenda, will ye take care of those.’ Then he turned to me, and said, ‘Okay, Andrew, let’s go.’ He then accompanied me and metaphorically held my hand through something that was essentially painful and would have been much lonelier without his company. What really impressed me was the spontaneity of his kindness. I have a very clear memory of our journey together and the drive back.”

Aidan Hayes was laid to rest Sunday in the grounds of the charming St. Anne’s Church in Killult overlooking the Atlantic Ocean not far from his ‘sleeping’ poet friend, Joe Kane. His children, grandchildren, brothers and sister, nieces and nephew, family and friends miss him very much.

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Good writing gives me goose-bumps

Having arrived in picturesque west Donegal – Bun na Leaca to be precise – over six years ago and recognizing it for the artists’ haven that it is, my wife, Columbia, and I thought about establishing a creative writers’ retreat.
After all, surely such a pristine and bucolic landscape could inspire great prose. 

Ireland Writing Retreat participants enjoy a special Celtic legend coastal walk with guide, Seamus Doohan.

Not that such an idea hadn’t been done before.  Poet partners, Janice Fitzpatrick Simmons and her late departed husband, James, had done so many years previous, setting up a ‘Poet’s House’ in a refurbished cottage at Clonbarra, outside Falcarragh.

Then funding was more generous and tens of thousands of euro annually wasn’t much of a problem for Udaras na Gaeltachta, the Arts Council, Donegal County Council, LEADER, and other sources.
Times have changed, however, and the public funding pump is dripping slowly, a mere trickle at best. Seanie FitzPatrick and Co. and Fianna Fail made sure of that.

Rose Sweeney teaches future members of the ‘Riverdance’ cast the basic ‘sevens’ of Irish ceilidhe dancing.

County Librarian and Divisional Manager of Cultural Services, Eileen Burgess, a keen supporter of our idea, issued warnings: “It’s a wonderful project but there’s simply no money in the kitty. You’d pretty much be on your own.”

But you know how it is – an intriguing idea comes along, sticks to you like furze in a meadow and simply won’t fall away no matter how hard you try.
So, even though there are more than one hundred creative writing conferences and book festivals throughout Ireland – many in the much-publicized, tourist-centric counties of Dublin, Cork, Galway and Kerry – we took the plunge.
After all, isn’t Donegal the prettiest of them all?

Washington-based triple book author and former CNN editor, John DeDakis, enjoys a leisurely trip on ‘The Cricket’ to Gola Island with other writing retreat participants.

Of course, wisdom told us to delay until better economic times were upon us. But passion drove us forward, screaming, ‘tempus fugit.’ We swayed for a while between the two.

We’re going into our third year now and have managed to attract participants from far off fields, many of whom had never been to Ireland before never mind the back-roads of the Donegal Gaeltacht – Wyoming, Sydney, Utah, Perth, Stoke-on-Trent, New Jersey to name but a few.
Not bad for a project without public funding of any kind.

Guest speakers at the Ireland Writing Retreat held at Teac Jack, Gaoth Dobhair. (l to r) Singer-songwriter-guitarist, Ian Smith; Mark Gregory, forensic editor; actor/director Murray Learmont.

Imagine where it could go with a bit of financial support – but perhaps only if it’s located in one of the aforementioned counties.

As for this year, international stars of the week-long retreat included John DeDakis, triple book author and former senior editor at CNN for 25 years who flew directly from Washington to be at Teac Jack’s, the retreat location; Anthony Quinn, experienced author of crime fiction with a crafty literary twist; and Mark Gregory, a much-heralded forensic editor (the person who reads book manuscripts minutely word by word, syllable by syllable).

Plot, character, suspense – (l to r) Authors John DeDakis and Anthony Quinn discuss the challenging task of writing novels.

But committed locals also loaned their weight enthusiastically to the endeavor – actor and drama group director, Murray Learmont, guided participants on improving their public reading skills; singer-songwriter-guitarist, Ian Smith granted insights into the challenging task of lyric writing; Rose Sweeney taught participants their ‘sevens’ in preparation for a ceilidhe in the backroom of the popular Glassagh venue; Pól Ó Muireasáin gave an enlightening tour of Gola Island; and Seamus Doohan led participants on a Celtic legend coastal walk – all of which was grist to the mill for writers’ creativity.

Eddie, the uncrowned King of Gola Island (in blue) with walking guide, Pol O’Muiresean, (r) talk about life on the west Donegal island many years ago.

The ‘Donegal News’ considered this year’s ‘Ireland Writing Retreat,’ which ended last week, worthy of an article in today’s edition.
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Onward to 2016.