Gaoth Anoir

Publication Instance Details #215

Publication Overview

Translation	Is Multilingual	Explicit Irish Context?	Ekphrasis	Has Paratext?	Reference to News, Media or Technology
No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No

Details

Human Rights Issues	Health HR & Weapons of Mass Destruction (incl. nuclear) HR & Environment Displacement/Forced Migration
Irish Context	Other
Languages	Irish
Genre	Lyric Sequence
Medium	Print Journal
Paratext Text	GAOTH ANOIR, the east wind; GAOTH DHEARG, idem; GAOTH RUADH, idem; also a blasting wind. - Pádraig Ua Duinnín, Foclóir Gaedhlige agus Béarla
Notes	This is a long lyric sequence, divided into sections, written in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. This wide-ranging poem addresses different aspects of the disaster: radiation in Ireland, the fallout in Chernobyl, the abandonment of Pripyat, and the future of humanity in the face of our own hubris. The speaker of the poem describes his experience of the radiation in Ireland, speaking about his terror in terms of Irish mythological character such as the badhbh and the bean sí. The sections about Chernobyl are based on an article in the Irish Times by journalist Conor O'Clery, from which the poet clearly derived inspiration. In these sections, the speaker describes the aftermath of Chernobyl in the areas surrounding it, as well as the implications of the explosion for the future of civilization.