The Death and Rebirth of the Mermaid

Publication Instance Details #795

Publication Overview

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

Details

Human Rights Issues	Displacement/Forced Migration Gender-based violence
Irish Context	Emigration (from Ireland) Irish Language/Culture Specific Irish place or place-name mentioned Great Famine (Ireland)
Languages	English
Original Language	Irish
Original Poem	Bás agus Aiséirí na Murúiche
Original Author	Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill
Genre	Part Of Lyric Sequence
Medium	Print Collection
Notes	This sequence of poems, 'Na Murúcha a Thriomnaigh', makes use of the international folk tale of the mermaid to construct an allegorical world in which the merpeople have left the water and now live uneasily among humankind on earth. The speaker of this poem describes an event in which the jealous mother of a mermaid murders her after discovering her relationship with a local man. Appealing to the devil and Adam and Eve, the man revives the mermaid, and they both flee to Galway. The mermaid is plagued by physical and mental trauma due to these events for the rest of her life, and not willing to discuss it. The Great Famine and Irish cultural loss is understood to be implicit in this sequence of poems.