Often, a country-breeze in the city
lovingly blows from a land I cannot see.
Today, on Dublin’s Sandymount Strand
I smell the fruits of Ireland’s green land.
Far from the Shannon, Suir, Bann and Lee
I am breathing wafts of nature’s purity:
lovely fragrances of rural hedgerows,
hills and woods. Well-worked fields and meadows
are preserved in the balmy breeze
that gives us gentle summer-ease.
It often sweeps across the emerald plains
Carrying earthey odours of plants and grains.
Oh let us bless the countryside; it sends
to concrete city, its fine essence!

Máirín Diamond grew up in Renvyle, Co. Galway. She started writing when she was seventeen and went on to study literature and philosophy at the University of Sussex. She now lives in Dublin. Her first collection of poems ‘The Testimony of the Bones’ was published by WideAwake Press in 2000.

Her second and recent volume of poetry, ‘Rock Shadow’, is a collection of fifty-six poems written over a period of thirty years. It is essentially a celebration of nature, people and place with many of the poems attempting to catch the drama of the changing light in Ireland through the four seasons.

But what perhaps is most interesting about the writer’s work is her attempt to literally preserve a rapidly changing Ireland, which in the writer’s view has seen Irish culture and traditions become increasingly under threat since the nineteen sixties.

Although Máirín does not frown upon the progress of land development, she does lament the sacrificing of beautiful landscapes in favour of boastful mansions. Nature is the life blood of many artists’ work so it’s not surprising one might seek to protect it any way one can.

But it’s not just natural landscape Máirín seeks to protect and preserve through her latest collection of poems. Modern times has seen a decline in traditional Irish craftmenship.

Building currachs was a common skill to learn as a young man. Nowadays, the skill is rarely practised thanks to the use of trawlers which have also put the livelihood of small fishermen under serious threat. There are also fears for the art of basket weaving in Connemara as, according to Máirín, the only man still practising the art is now in his seventies.

But Mairin admits that change can be a positive thing too. She welcomes the fact that the Catholic Church is a less dominant influence on Renvyle people. This is partly due to the disenchanting legacy Bishop Casey left behind him but more so because of the influx of tourists and new residents who constantly inject the area with new energy and spiritualism.

Máirín Diamond’s ‘Rock Shadow’ is a beautiful collection of poems capturing fond memories of her undying affection for the Connemara ponies and the young men who toiled in the bogs.

Máirín’s personal favourite from the collection is a written tribute to the Irish heroine, Grace O’Malley.

I was proud of the majesty of my mind,
and blessed with the grandeur of life at sea.
I needed no palace, all clustered and rife
With luxurious excesses of life!

(GRANUAILE, SEA QUEEN OF THE WEST, Grace O’Malley c.1530-1603)

‘Rock Shadow’ is on sale at Books on the Green, Waterstones and Easons. You can also order a copy of the book by emailing WideAwake at maida@eircom.net