{"id":39044,"date":"2024-09-04T13:50:12","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T12:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.anceathrupoili.com\/shop\/look-back-to-look-forward\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T03:36:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T02:36:39","slug":"look-back-to-look-forward","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/www.anceathrupoili.com\/ga\/shop\/look-back-to-look-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Look Back to Look Forward’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Frank O\u2019Connor\u2019s Complete Translations from the Irish |\u00a0NEW PAPERBACK EDITION<\/em><\/p>\n

While Frank O\u2019Connor was known primarily as one of Ireland\u2019s finest short-story writers, he was also an accomplished translator. In the long line of Irish writers given to translating poems in Irish into poems written in English \u2013 a tradition stretching back at least as far as Jonathan Swift \u2013 he stands out above all the rest.<\/p>\n

Between the mid-1920s and the mid-1960s, Frank O\u2019Connor published 121 translations that give voice to the full range of this centuries-old tradition. Collected here in full for the first time, O\u2019Connor\u2019s work shows an uncanny aptitude for carrying over into English verse many of the riches to be found in the originals \u2013 the ancient voice of the Hag of Beare lamenting her decline into old age; the voices of the early monks describing the Irish landscape, Irish weather, their religious faith, and, in at least one instance, their cat; the voice of Hugh O\u2019Rourke\u2019s wife torn between loyalty to her husband and a rising desire for her seducer. All these voices haunted O\u2019Connor throughout his career, whatever else he was doing. The collection includes the Irish-language sources for all 121 translations along with literal translations, enabling the reader to see what O\u2019Connor started from.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor\u2019s translations sprang from a compulsive desire to breathe life into Ireland\u2019s past, to \u2018look back to look forward,\u2019 as he once put it; for him the Irish-language tradition was not for scholars and archives alone, but formed a living body of work vitally relevant to an Ireland that seemed puzzlingly indifferent to it.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Frank O\u2019Connor\u2019s profound love of his country\u2019s language and its rich, literary subsoil \u2013 \u2018a literature of which no Irishman need feel ashamed\u2019, he once said \u2013 these voices from Ireland\u2019s past can still be heard. Strikingly modern in tone, they conjoin flesh and spirit, the sacred and the secular, in a way that speaks to humankind.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u2018Frank O\u2019Connor was the king, the lords and the commons of Irish translators. His passionate love of Irish literature and tradition is captured here in his life-long endeavour to make that tradition available in English. This wonderful collection is a tribute to his skill in transmitting poetry from the earliest period into modernity. It is the best we have.\u2019\u00a0Alan Titley, Emeritus Professor of Modern Irish UCC<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u2018O\u2019Connor\u2019s range in dealing with Irish-language poetry from different periods is astonishing. Moving from the clipped, gnomic lyrics of the early medieval age to the highly formalised compositions of the bardic period to the accentual richness and narrative complexity of the 18th century, O\u2019Connor\u2019s responsiveness to image and his sensitivity to sound are unrivalled \u2026 Gregory A. Schirmer provides an authoritative and informative introduction to the translations and is the most companionable of guides to the work of the Cork translator.\u2019\u00a0Michael Cronin, Irish Times<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u2018A truly astounding collection showcasing the unparalleled translation skills of O\u2019Connor and bringing to life the rich literary subsoil found in our native tongue.\u2019\u00a0Hodges Figgis<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Frank O\u2019Connor\u2019s Complete Translations from the Irish |\u00a0NEW PAPERBACK EDITION While Frank O\u2019Connor was known primarily as one of Ireland\u2019s finest short-story writers, he was also an accomplished translator. In the long line of Irish writers given to translating poems in Irish into poems written in English \u2013 a tradition stretching back at least as…<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":39459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"38021,827,909,2138,39238,44084","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":""},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[252],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-39044","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-novels-short-stories","7":"pa_authors-gregory-a-schirmer-eag","9":"first","10":"instock","11":"taxable","12":"shipping-taxable","13":"purchasable","14":"product-type-simple"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n'Look Back to Look Forward' - An Ceathr\u00fa P\u00f3il\u00ed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Order ‘Look Back to Look Forward’ by Gregory A. Schirmer (Eag) from our Novels & Short Stories shelves. The siopa leabhar ships worldwide! Frank O\u2019Connor\u2019s Complete Translations from the Irish |\u00a0NEW PAPERBACK EDITIONWhile Frank O\u2019Connor was known primarily as one of Ireland\u2019s finest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.anceathrupoili.com\/ga\/shop\/look-back-to-look-forward\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ga_IE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Look Back to Look Forward' - An Ceathr\u00fa P\u00f3il\u00ed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Order ‘Look Back to Look Forward’ by Gregory A. Schirmer (Eag) from our Novels & Short Stories shelves. The siopa leabhar ships worldwide! 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