September 2019 - Wild Atlantic Way


Created by Tourism Ireland, this 2,500 km driving route encompasses the whole of Ireland’s Atlantic Shore from Ulster to Cork. As varied as it long, the route is also synonymous with the West of Ireland (along with the North and much of the South coasts). American travelers always speak romantically of the West of the Ireland – untamed and more “traditionally” Irish. It wasn’t well controlled by the British and indeed you can still find enclaves where the natives speak the Irish Language better than they do English. But the Atlantic Coast marries this rugged living with the rugged and awesome forces of nature.
            Oh, and this is where puffins live.
            In late August, when the light starts to slant toward Autumn and the shadows length, my mind wanders back to my 2010 trip with my father and I long to go back again and again and again.

Finally, this edition introduces some changes in format. The Murray Reader will continue to be a literary journal sharing writings and stories from Ireland (in the public) but it will also begin to feature more original content. One of the readers suggested that the Murray Reader grow into a podcast. While it is a fun idea, that would take a great redesign of format and resources that are just not available. But I will take this chance to open things up a little and share what makes Ireland so prominent in my psyche and imagination. And I encourage you to share your responses too. I would be flattered to include personal testimonies in the future reflecting what Irish identity means to you. Two new columns will focus on travel experiences to Ireland and how Irish heritage and identity influences our love for the Emerald Isle.
            In continuing effort to reach my readers where they are, some of the publication will be presented online. While the original content will only appear in the email edition, there will be links and such to some of the featured work in the public domain. If you have any other suggestions on how to make the magazine more accessible, please do not hesitate to let me know.


Online Contents



Further Reading

  • J.M. Synge’s travelogue The Aran Islands tells of the stories and storytellers he encountered on his trip.
  • Martin McDonagh’s Aran Island Trilogy comprised of the plays: The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, and Banshees of Inisheer (unpublished).
  • J.M. Synge’s Riders to the Sea.
  • W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory took much of their material for the collected folklore from the traditional storytellers.
  • Puffin Rock – look it up on Netflix. You’ll be glad you did.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

November 2019 - Climate Change

It’s hard to get away from the constant drumbeat of bad news – especially surrounding climate change. If you follow the Irish weather at all (apparently since I like Ireland, my phone also thinks I need its weather reports), they have been experiencing the ping-pong effect of the changing weather going from drought to flooding to hurricane to flooding again. And while the drought was helpful in exposing previously undiscovered archeological sites, the rest is not good for anyone. Without trying to sound like an Irish version of John Oliver (Last 10,000 Year This Month) I am going to talk about some of the stories that have been passed down through the millennia about how a change in climate affected the Emerald Isle.             Because Ireland is an island, they are more vulnerable to many things. Much of what is needed to sustain a modern society cannot be found on the island and has to be imported from mainland Europe or elsew...
Read more

December 2019:Yule

The Viking influence upon Ireland cannot be overstated – so much to the fact that Hiberno-Norse nearly becomes a redundant statement. From the iconic red hair to the founding of Ireland’s three largest cities (Dublin, Cork, and Limerick), many things that we think of ironically Irish have heavy Scandinavian origins.             It is no small thing then that the American Swedish Institute here in Minneapolis chose to feature Ireland in their Christmas display this year. Every year they show a living room and its settings from a particular decade for each of the five Nordic Countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and Finland) as well as a rotating European country. This year, it just happens to be Ireland.             This has been a huge blending of backgrounds for me. The obvious is my Irish and Finish heritage. But also, when Mary and I lived in Chicago, we lived in...
Read more