Tortured Poets (Seamus’ Version)

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The Craic is back in fine form this Friday, bringing you what news and views we could find concerning the Irish at home and on foreign shores. Know anyone who wouldn’t mind a wee email every Friday, too, ask them to sign up for free craic here.

News from Home

Big Seamie. In a week where everyone is talking about Nobel Laureates and Taylor Swift’s new album, we are glad to report that new material has, as the kids say, dropped from one of our own Nobel Prize Winners, the late and very great Seamus Heaney. The poet’s estate has released a raft of unpublished works that “represent the full arc of his writing life in one place,” including 25 poems that have never been seen before. The new poems will be part of a collected works edition, titled The Poems of Seamus Heaney. A superb early Christmas present for any literary fans in your life.

Rocking Cashel. The Blas na hÉireann Irish food awards took place last week, crowning the artisans who make the nation’s most delectable bites. The top awards went to Cashel Farmhouse Cheesemakers from County Tipperary, makers of the iconic Cashel Blue (It’s ike Roquefort 🇫🇷, only better. Non, non. C’est vrai) and Bon Chocolatiers of County Offaly (of all places). What we love about the latter is that it was a wee business that started as a hobby during lockdown in 2020. We just spent our time rewatching Breaking Bad and doing Zoom quizzes.

Rocking Castle. US country music star Luke Combs has been snapped up to headline the festival at Slane Castle next summer. Combs will be the first-ever country musician to be given the honor of headlining the iconic venue. The relationship between Ireland and country music is interesting: about half the population (we counted) LOVES it, whereas the other half couldn’t care less. Nonetheless, if the panic over Garth Brooks’ gigs a few years back, when the country seemed to lose its collective mind, is anything to go by, Mister Combs will have no problem selling a ticket or two.

The Craic Recommends. While books, music, and movies tend to feature heavily in this section, we don’t mind dipping into the wider spectrum of entertainment when it’s merited. As such, this week’s recommendation is a video game, an Irish-made video game, no less. Eyes of Hellfire is based on the real-life Hellfire Club, a secretive masonic-lodge-style club that located in the Dublin Mountains in the 18th century. The game, by Dublin studio Gambrinous, is a co-op (ask your kids what that means) gothic horror that’s getting rave reviews. You can check it out here on Steam (again, ask your kids).

The Irish Influence

JAM Media’s headquarters are on the unassuming Kevin Street in Dublin. The studio doesn’t look like much from the outside, but there’s plenty of magic going on inside. JAM mostly makes kids’ programs with a bit of heart and soul, including the delightful BAFTA-winning Roy. It’s also hit the big time this week after signing a deal with Big Disney Corp for the rights to its ultra-cute preschool show, Beddy Byes. We’ve watched a bit of it (research, you know?) and, oh boy, we can see why this is a hit with the toddlers. The wonderful Dawn French gets 11 out of 10, too, as the soothing-voice-to-send-us-to-sleep narrator.

Cúpla Focal

Filíocht {FIL-yukht} – Poetry. The Seamus Heaney announcement has us feeling all warm and fuzzy, so we thought filíocht was a fitting word to highlight on a day we are celebrating new works from the finest Irish file (poet – pronounced FIL-eh) since WB Yeats.

Blast from the Past

On October 12th, 1984, the Conservative Party, headed by then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, had its annual conference at the Grand Hotel, Brighton. The three-day conference had gone as planned until the early hours of the morning of the 12th, when a massive IRA bomb ripped through the hotel, killing five people, including MP Sir Anthony Berry, and injuring dozens more. Mrs. Thatcher – the target of the attack – was unharmed, later receiving the following chilling message from the IRA Army Council, “Today we were unlucky, but remember we have only to be lucky once, you will have to be lucky always.” It is, of course, important that we don’t glorify or make light of these events – they were horrific – but they remain an important part of Irish history and should not be forgotten, uncomfortable as that might make us feel.

And One Last Thing….

One of the joys of putting out The Craic each week is stumbling across those lesser-known men and women who’ve added their stitches to the wonderful tapestry of Irish arts down the centuries. Big Seamus Heaney is known the world over, and rightly so, but there are so many unheralded gems. One such example is Charlotte Riddell, tagged as Queen of the Ghost Stories. Riddell, from Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, published over 50 novels in her lifetime, many of which tapped into – and influenced – the Victorian obsession with gothic horror. Fans of Riddell believe she should be up there with the likes of Stoker and Le Fanu in the pantheon of Irish horror writers. For now, though, she’s been honored with a Blue Plaque in her hometown. Just in time for Halloween 🎃.

Go on ya good thing! You made it to the end. If you enjoyed The Craic, remember to share the love. Everyone who gets The Craic will get early access to the Shift mobile app, which is coming very, very soon! And if those friends or family are doing alright for themselves, if ya know what I mean, let them know we’re still looking for investors to help us come out of the traps roaring ike a Celtic Ti- eh… Horse. 🐎 Hit us up on [email protected].