In Glencolmcille (II)
Posted: March 23rd, 2002 | Filed under: Ireland | Tags: altar boy, bolger, civil servant, counties dublin, donegal, dublin 4, fybrosis, irish kings, irish literature, irish school, irish society, james joyce, john waters, local pub, magical realism, meat eaters, michael collins, o neills, roddy doyle, tea breaks, Travel | Comments Off
(part I)
In the local pub, Biddy’s, the drinks are poured by an elderly bartender. His arms look like they have been broken and wrongly set, stiff and twisted. Here we meet the other students. A lot of attention goes out to Michael Collins from Limerick, a Chicago resident. He looks a handsome 18 year old, but he’s 28, married, runs a software company with his wife, lectures literature at University, wants to set up an Irish school in Chicago and wants to run up Glen Head. He is one of three published writers in our company. He tells us about his first book ‘The Meat Eaters’ which has just been published in Europe. His Canadian companion John doesn’t say anything, but we later learn that he too has a novel to his name. He’s here to write a tribute to James Joyce, before it is too late. John has cystic fybrosis, and has already lived longer than he thought he would. Every day is a miracle to him. We talk about modern Irish literature, and agree on a lot of things: Roddy Doyle’s funny and accomplished but rather superficial, Dermot Bolger’s almost magical realism is the work of a genius and we praise John Waters for his insight in Irish society. And we drink a few more pints. We clique together during tea breaks. Michael tells stories about the time he was an altar boy. What to do when the host is dropped? ‘Get the Holy Hoover!!‘ we shout. It becomes our running gag.
