An Ceallach

Publication Instance Details #894

Publication Overview

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

Details

Human Rights Issues	Racism/anti-Semitism/Sectarianism Forced Labour (incl. slavery & child labour)
Irish Context	Emigration (from Ireland)
Languages	Irish
Genre	Short Lyric
Medium	Print Collection
Notes	A poem describing the conditions for emigrant Irish and black workers on the Chicago docks, where the speaker of the poem himself worked. He acknowledges that the Irish were on top, while the black workers were essentially 'slaves'. An incident with one of these black workers is described, in which the speaker of the poem comes upon him in a coconut sack. Scared by his white interloper, the speaker of the poem has to calm him down. They share a conversation, during which the black worker divulges that he is an 'Ó Ceallaigh' himself - an Irish surname. He is ignorant of where Ireland or even Europe is, however, despite the speaker's hints. The black man's name being 'Ó Ceallaigh' appears to bring him closer to the speaker of the poem, and remind him of their similarities, despite their different skin colours.