Local Dundalk poet Sean Brannigan set to launch latest book

Local poet Sean Brannigan is gearing up for the official launch of his third collection of poetry entitled: Oriel Observations.

The book is Sean’s first poetry publication in several years and follows on from his two other collections: A Silver Lining (1987) and An Owl Calls (2010).

Since his poems started appearing in the Dundalk Democrat in the 1980s, his work has been featured in the Irish Press, Sunday Tribune, Irish Independent, Sunday Independent and RTE Radio among other places.

“It’s almost forty years now [since I started], which is quite incredible when I think back. In that time it was the Democrat really that got me going. I used to appear in it fairly regularly,” he said.

“The book that I’ve done, there’s sixty pieces of poetry in it, almost all of which have a Dundalk connection.

“It’s really in response to a number of people who over the years have read or heard poetry of mine and who’ve said it would be great to see a collection.

“It’s only now that I’m getting round to it really. The last book was published quite a long time ago.

“I’ve a mountain of material that I’ve accumulated over the years and I’m actually quite well on with the follow-up book to this one.”

With nearly forty years under his belt says his work has evolved over the years:

“I started out all those years ago with the old fashioned rhyming metre type stuff that we used to learn in school when we were kids and I’ve since developed into open verse or free verse, as they call it.

“Though a lot of people still love the old fashioned rhyming stuff, and I quite like it myself, and do both.”

Sean counts W. B. Yeats, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen among his influences, but says his early work was heavily influenced by the Dublin Poet, Austin Clarke.

“My favourite [poet] would have to be Austin Clarke, and he’s a man that seems to have been written out of the literary annals and I’d regard him as second best only to William Butler Yeats in the annals of Irish poetry.

“I actually met him way back in the 1970s. He was from Stoneybatter and was a major literary figure in the 50s and 60s. A lot of his work was banned because it fell foul of the church and the state.

“Now of course I’d never aspire to that greatness, but in the early days he definitely would have influenced my style.“
Echoing Richard Ford’s axiom that: “Art is heavy lifting” Sean says writing is always hard but at the same time always rewarding:

“I’ve done a lot of work since I was 15 years of age, but getting a piece of poetry right is the hardest work I know.

“The thing about it is that it’s never finished. You think you’ve done it well and you’re happy enough with it, but if you come back in a few months or a few years after writing it, you always see a phrase or a word that could have been used differently or changed.

“A poem is never finished. There’s nothing easy about it, believe you and me.

“It’s a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that you’re able to do it, but the curse is the labour pains you go through trying to get the thing born and fill the blank page with something meaningful and hopefully wonderful.

“[The book] is full of Dundalk based themes. There’s a lot of humour in it as well, maybe one or two pieces concerning the troubles in Northern Ireland over the dreadful 35 years we had.

“There’s also depression related pieces which used to afflict me back in the day, thankfully not for a long time now.

“But there’s a whole mixture of things which I hope people will like.”

The book will be for sale for €10 in Central News on Clanbrassil Street, the offices of the Dundalk Leader, Devenneys, Cortex Hair Design on Francis St and in Byrnes Chemist on Church Street.

Seán will launch his book on Thursday the 17th November at 7:30pm in the Oriel Centre, Dundalk Gaol and all are welcome to attend.

One of the poems that will appear in the book is reprinted below:

Wondering

I wonder who dressed the two old gents
collared and tied, supping black stout,
backhandedly wiping stubbled mouths
on an evening loaned to Summer.

I wonder who spick and spanned their shoes
and folded the alpine handkerchiefs
parallel to the razored lapels
on the Sunday style sober blazers.

Maybe they've run away from home
(at pensioner pace) in protest
at the lack of understanding
in their computer grandchildren.

I wonder who combed their historic heads
as they swapped unwritten tales
of quieter days and the penny pint.
I wonder who'll put them to bed tonight.