Máirtín Ó Cadhain: Graveyard Clay: Cré na Cille

Various narrative strands in the novel involve three sisters: Caitríona Pháidín, the chief protagonist, a seventy-one-year-old widow with a married son called Pádraig Chaitríona; Nell Pháidín, Caitríona’s younger sister, who married the young man Caitríona was in love with; and Baba Pháidín, their eldest sister, who has been left a legacy in Boston, whose death is imminently expected, and whose last will and testament is the subject of constant transatlantic correspondence — the Big Master (An Máistir Mór) writing for Caitríona, and the priest (An Sagart) writing for Nell. A relation of these sisters, Tomás Inside, is an easy-going bachelor who avoids any form of labour while drawing a weekly pension, and is playing both sisters against each other, with their eye on his patch of land.

Caitríona was in love with Jack the Scológ, who could enchant the young women of the village with his repertoire of songs and traditional (Sean-Nós, or Old Style) singing. But Nell stole him away from them all, married him in triumph, and has kept Jack and his songs to herself ever since. Caitríona has carried her hatred and envy of Nell into the grave with her, along with her love and longing for Jack the Scológ. Jack and Nell are still above ground.

When reacquainted with Muraed Phroinsiais in the graveyard, Caitríona makes a seemingly innocent statement of intent: “Anything concerning me personally, anything I saw or heard, I brought it to the grave with me, but there’s no harm in talking about it now, as we are on the way of truth.” (Being “on the way of truth,” ar shlí na fírinne in Irish, is a common expression for being dead.)

Muraed functions as a safe foil, allowing Caitríona to engage in full, frank, and extensive disclosure about her relatives and in-laws, safe in the knowledge (for most of the time) that Muraed was a good friend and neighbour above ground. Hardly anybody else escapes the lash of Caitríona’s tongue, but her son Pádraig’s mother-in-law, Nóra Sheáinín, with her aspiring notions of culture and grandeur, is a constant target of Caitriona’s, especially when Nóra boasts of having an affaire de coeur with the Big Master, and puts her name forward as a candidate in the graveyard election.

The Big Master dominates large parts of the book. He marries his assistant but soon after falls ill and dies. Shortly after his burial a new arrival tells him that his widow is being consoled by Billyboy the Post (Bileachaí an Phosta), then he hears that they have married, and after that again that Billyboy is at death’s door, all of which inspires the Big Master to scale new peaks of invective and vituperation, culminating in what is probably the longest litany of curses ever uttered in a graveyard.

Adaptations of Cré na Cille

Cré na Cille has had a life beyond the confines of its covers and has been the subject of several dramatic, stage, and film adaptations in addition to substantial critical documentary features on television and radio. Shortly after the establishment of Raidió na Gaeltachta in 1972 Cré na Cille was adapted as a serialized drama for radio by the poet and writer Johnny Chóil Mhaidhc Ó Coisdealbha (1929–2006). This was an ambitious project for the fledgling Gaeltacht radio service and involved the production of twenty-five separate thirty-minute instalments that were broadcast between 6 February 1973 and 24 July 1973. Recorded by Tadhg Ó Béarra (†1990) and produced by Maidhc P. Ó Conaola, the series required the services of an extended cast, designated as Aisteoirí Chonamara, some of whom were located in Dublin and travelled weekly to the headquarters of Raidió na Gaeltachta in Casla in Conamara for the recording sessions. The part of Caitríona Pháidín was played by Winnie Mhaitiais Uí Dhuilearga (†1982) from Béal an Átha, Mine, Indreabhán, with eloquence and élan. This dramatic version was remastered by Máirtín Jaimsie Ó Flaithbheartaigh and rebroadcast on a weekly basis between January and June 2006 as part of the commemoration of Ó Cadhain’s birth by RTÉ, Ireland’s national television and radio broadcaster. The series was then issued as a publication by Cló Iar-Chonnacht and RTÉ in 2006 and is contained in a set of eight CDs with production notes and short biographies of the cast. Charles Lamb’s portrayal of the graveyard is reworked and reinterpreted by Pádraig Reaney’s artwork on the CD publication.

Cré na Cille has been the subject of a number of successful adaptations as a stage drama, primarily thanks to the intelligent and sensitive reworking of the novel by the actor and writer Macdara Ó Fátharta. The Abbey Theatre premiered an adaptation of Ó Fátharta’s in Coláiste Chonnacht, Spiddal, County Galway, on 29 February 1996. Directed by Bríd Ó Gallchóir, it was apparently the first production of Ireland’s National Theatre to open outside Dublin. Bríd Ní Neachtain (Caitríona Pháidín), Máire Ní Ghráinne (Nóra Sheáinín), Peadar Lamb (Tomás Taobh Istigh) and Breandán Ó Dúill (1935–2006) (An Máistir Mór) formed the mainstay of the cast and the well-received production toured various venues throughout the Gaeltacht in addition to Derry and Belfast. 54A further production by the Irish-language theatre company An Taibhdhearc in March and April 2002 was again based on a script by Macdara Ó Fátharta. The play was directed by Darach Mac Con Iomaire, and the set was designed by Dara McGee. Caitríona Pháidín was played by Bríd Ní Neachtain, and the cast included Joe Steve Ó Neachtain, Diarmuid Mac an Adhastair (1944–2015), and Macdara Ó Fátharta himself — all of whom would go on to feature in the film adaptation in 2006.

Cré na Cille went on to be produced as a full-length feature film by Ciarán Ó Cofaigh of ROSG productions, directed by Robert Quinn. It was first shown in Galway in December 2006 prior to its broadcast by the Irish-language public service television station, TG4, in 2007. Nominated for four Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTAs), the film was based on a script by Macdara Ó Fátharta, with photography by Tim Fleming, production design by Dara McGee, and editing by Conall de Cléir. The role of Caitríona Pháidín was played forcefully and effectively by Bríd Ní Neachtain, who has also played this role in adaptations for the stage. Gearóid Denvir, in a glowing critique of the adaptation, notes the introduction of scenes from life above ground and the absence of Stoc na Cille , and remarks that “the film remains true in the main to the original storyline and overall message of the novel, while at the same time successfully making the genre leap from page to screen to produce what is undoubtedly one of the best — perhaps even the best — film ever made in the Irish language.” 55

A literary portrait of Ó Cadhain with special emphasis on Cré na Cille was the subject of a detailed and nuanced television documentary broadcast on RTÉ in October 1980 to mark the tenth anniversary of his death. There Goes Cré na Cille! was directed by filmmaker Seán Ó Mórdha and scripted by Breandán Ó hEithir (1930–1990). In the absence of a full-scale monograph on Ó Cadhain’s work at the time this film successfully interrogated many of the critical myths associated with Cré na Cille and introduced the novel to a mass audience that was primarily English-speaking. The measured assessment of the film’s contributors combined with the critical insights of both scriptwriter and director did much to introduce Ó Cadhain to mainstream Irish critical and academic culture. Ó Cadhain’s life and achievements were revisited in 2006 in Macdara Ó Curraidhín’s extended television treatment Is mise Stoc na Cille , produced by ROSG and broadcast by TG4, and in 2007 in Rí an Fhocail , an RTÉ commission that was scripted by Alan Titley and directed by Seán Ó Cualáin and Macdara O Curraidhín.