Co.Cork. Frances Macaulay Forde © 2003
The Folly
Gaeltacht – Irish-speaking area.
Teanga – living language, tongue.
My Gaeltacht friend explained ‘Ye should go t’ see the folly…’
So, like tourists, my man and I actually took a clear-day,
no rain so far drive. A determined scenic dalliance
in sunny sections flashing green and historical grey.
Eventually – with no clear direction, journeying
quite far out of our way… we appreciated the Anglo
interpretation on the road signs, because as foreigners,
we don’t speak the traditional language of Ireland.
Not wanting to barstardise or pronounce phonetically
in error, ‘so’. We enjoyed the lilt and musicality of her
tumbled, seemingly conscientious explanation – story-
telling at a 100 miles an hour. ‘Ah well ye know, ta
get t’da place dat ‘tis, you just go along dis
road, don’t ye know, ‘tis a sort of a wind-y road, den
up t’ hill, don’t ye know and dere’ll be a turn off t’
da right – de left would it be, no, ‘tis definitely
da right… but don’t you be going dat way, d’ye know
‘cos dat’ll get ye into all sorts a troubles, sure
t’ will and all…’ Pictograms pointing to a past not
forgotten although many have tried to suppress their
uniqueness… The soft emphasis or not. A language
echoed through 400 years… the charming emotional
push of Ireland. ‘So’, we go on death-defying strips
of beaten earth, slicing through fields, carelessly carving
up gently rising hills dotted with dwellings, puffing
grey smoke evidencing crisp cold air, we journeyed
on by-ways bordered by stones. Intrusion bands – neatly
trimmed piles of manual labour carefully selected and placed
one on top of the measured other… in spite of wars and cars,
surviving like the teanga, rebelliously, resolutely, knowingly
employed at home in private, upright and proud though sagging
in some areas, often bent by forces who moved on and forgot.
Those walls still exist in places – repaired now, to allow
journey. Showing a path around a sparkling gem waiting…
We chanced intrusion of some one’s private personal space,
a rutted homely driveway – questions of culture, seeking
an un-shy, proud demonstration of Celtic heritage. We
wanted a clearer vision of soulful insistence – difference.
A sculptural acknowledgment, including the heroic past,
clear evidence of resistance – of residence. The Folly!
Frances Macaulay Forde © 2003
@FrancesMForde #FrancesMacForde #POEM:TheFolly #SketchingInIreland #Poems #Co.Cork #Ireland
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