Cré na Cille
Cré na Cille ) is an Irish language novel by Máirtín Ó Cadhain. It was first published in 1949 and is considered one of the greatest novels written in Irish.
Title
Cré na Cille literally means "Earth of the Church"; it has also been translated as Graveyard Clay, Graveyard Soil, Graveyard Earth, Church and Clay and The Dirty Dust.Summary
The novel is written almost entirely as conversation between dead characters who are buried in a Connemara graveyard. The talk is full of gossip, backbiting, flirting, feuds, and scandal-mongering.Reception
The novel is considered a masterpiece of 20th century Irish literature and has drawn comparisons to the work of Flann O’Brien, Samuel Beckett, and James Joyce. In its serialised form, Cré na Cille was read aloud and gained classic status among Irish speakers. Cian Ó hÉigeartaigh, co-author of Sáirséal agus Dill, 1947-1981, claims that it invigorated the revival of Irish language writing in the 20th century.Publication history
Cré na Cille was serialised by The Irish Press newspaper and then published by Sáirséal agus Dill in 1949.It was translated into Norwegian by Professor Jan Erik Rekdal and published in 1995 by Gyldendal Norsk Forlag as Kirkegårdsjord - gjenfortellinger i ti mellomspill, and translated into Danish by Ole Munch-Pedersen and published in 2000 by Husets Forlag as Kirkegårdsjord - genfortælling i ti mellemspil.
English translations of the novel were published in 2015 by Yale University Press and in 2016 by Cló Iar-Chonnacht. The first translation, The Dirty Dust, was by Alan Titley; the second, Graveyard Clay, was by Liam Mac Con Iomaire and the British cartographer Tim Robinson. An earlier translation by Joan Keefe was completed in 1984 as a doctoral dissertation, but never published.
The lack of an English translation for such a long period of time after the book’s first publication became part of its renown and was a matter of speculation. Three early attempts at translation by publisher Sáirséal agus Dill were thwarted, the first when the young woman selected as the translator joined a convent, the second by the refusal of the poet Thomas Kinsella, and the third by an unsatisfactory effort by a former prison-mate of ÓCadhain's.