Awards

• Winner of Prose prizewinner at Oireachtas na Samhna 2016, (under the title 'Cen Dochar? Cinnte!') 2016

Overview

""I have run the gauntlet of many borders in my time, but the border I grew up with at home was far and away the most trying,"" writes Seamas O Cathain (Professor Emeritus at University College Dublin, and former Director of the National Folklore Collection). Born in Drumquin, County Tyrone, to a family of Catholic business people and farmers, he grew up ""a stone's throw"" from the border that separates Donegal in the Republic from the six counties of Northern Ireland - - ""a border policed by little corporals that was the bane of our lives."" - ""Is iomai sin ait sa domhan a bhfuil cursa na slat thar teorainn rite agam ach dheamhan dath nios measa a chonaic me riamh na an teorainn a bhi sa bhaile againn"" a scriobhann Seamas O Cathain (Ollamh emeritus de chuid Cholaiste Ollscoile Bhaile Atha Cliath agus Iar-Stiurthoir Chnuasach Bhealoideas Eireann) faoin teorainn in Eirinn - ""mar ar ghnach leis na ceannairi beaga custam a bheith ina dtiarnai uirthi agus orainne."" JUMPING THE BORDER is an engaging account of his experience - as a child and as a young man - in three distinctive cultures, now radically changed. He describes the Tyrone of the 1940s and 1950s where Protestant and Catholic neighbours shared their lives at a personal level, but where institutions were divisive. His father's prosperous business was ruined because of a political event he supported. The schools and the curriculum were dividers of the two communities. The border was a nuisance to everyone. As a post-graduate student in the 1960s, he took up residence in the Donegal Gaeltacht of ""Na Cruacha"", where ""real old Irish"" was still spoken. He did a study of the area's place names, and recorded the distinctive music and speech of ""Na Cruacha"". Shortly afterwards his research took him to the far north of Europe, to Sapmi (known as Lapland), a cultural rather than a political territory which spreads over four countries, and where he immersed himself in the culture and language of the Sami people at a time when their native language and customs were under threat and belittled. Seamas's many international distinctions and awards include: Knight (First Class) of the Order of the Lion of Finland; the Dag Stromback Prize of the Gustavus Adolphus Academy, Uppsala, Sweden; and the Ruth Michaela-Jena Ratcliff Prize, Edinburgh. He is an honorary member of the Finnish Kalevala Society; a member of the Folklore Fellows of the Finnish Academy of Sciences, Helsinki; and a sometime member of the Advisory Board of the Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Aberdeen.

Full Product Details

9781908420282

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Reviews

'A Gem...' - Tristan Rosenstock, RTE Radio 1; 'Leabhar an-bhrea Jumping the Border - bhaineas an-taitneamh as, agus taim cinnte go mbainfidh na leitheoiri sult as.' - Raidio na Gaeltachta; 'Is beag duine nach mbainfeadh taitneamh as an gcuntas beathaisneise seo ... is blaiseadh iontach e an leabhar seo de shaol eachtruil.' - Iris Comhar; 'A timely look at borders here and elsewhere, written in an engaging style. ...OCathain provides fascinating insights ...he got to do research among the Sami (Lapland people) of Norway and Finland. In this remote area, far from Ireland, he encountered many of the same issues he grew up with in Tyrone. Here, too, was a minority-language community struggling to maintain their identity and language in face of an officialdom determined to assimilate them.' - Books Ireland Magazine; 'The descriptions of the people and life of the shrinking Gaeltacht area Na Cruacha in Donegal ... and the Sami people high above the Arctic Circle, stand out for their insights into lives and living that few of us might get the chance to glimpse. ...This warm book - a memoir of insights and inspirations ...across many borders.' - Bealoideas, Journal of the Folklore of Ireland Society.

Author Information

Rugadh an Dr Seamas O Cathain i nDroim Caoin, Contae Thir Eoghain sa bhliain 1942 agus bhain se ceimeanna amach ag Ollscoil na Riona i mBeal Feirste, ait ar ceapadh ina Ollamh le Ceiltis e. Bhi se ina Ollamh le Bealoideas Eireann agus ina Stiurthoir ar Chnuasach Bhealoideas Eireann i gColaiste Ollscoile Bhaile Atha Cliath. Is e an tudar e ar Uair a Chloig Cois Teallaigh / An Hour by the Hearth (Comhairle Bhealoideas Eireann: 1985) agus The Bedside Book of Irish Folklore (Dufour Editions: 1988). Bhi se ina eagarthoir ar Northern Lights: Following Folklore in North-Western Europe (UCD Press: 2001) agus ina chomheagarthoir ar Treasures of the National Folklore Collection / Seoda as Cnuasach Bhealoideas Eireann (Four Courts Press: 2010). Bhi se rannphairteach i gclaracha faoin bhealoideas a craoladh ar RTE agus an BBC sna 1980di agus bhi se ina bhall de ghiuire Fheile Idirnaisiunta na Clairsi Orga agus ina eagarthoir ar Bealoideas, Iris an Chumainn le Bealoideas Eireann o 1996-2005. Airitear ar na gradaim agus duaiseanna idirnaisiunta ata gnoite aige - Ridireacht (Cead Grad) d'Ord Leon na Fionlainne (1986), Buaiteoir Dhuais Dag Stroembaeck, Acadamh Rioga Gustavus Adolphus, Uppsala, An tSualainn (1994) agus Duais Ruth Michaela-Jena Ratcliff, Dun Eideann (1985). Ball Oinigh e de Chumann Kalevala na Fionlainne, o 1981 agus o 1990 i leith ta se ina bhall de Folklore Fellows Acadamh Eolaiochta na Fionlainne; iarbhall e de Choiste Comhairleach Institiuid Thaighde Leann na hEireann agus na hAlban ag Ollscoil Obar Dheathain. Ta conai air i mBaile Atha Cliath o 1973 lena bhean Maj Magnusson, a casadh air sna 1960di agus e ina Leachtoir le Focleolaiochta agus Bealoideas in Ollscoil Uppsala sa tSualainn. Ta beirt clainne acu - Padraig agus Sorcha.

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