Tóraíocht ar Lorg Chríost sna Tionóntáin i 'gCistin Ifrinn'

Publication Instance Details #963

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	Poverty/Deprivation/Lack of Sustenance Racism/anti-Semitism/Sectarianism State Violence
Irish Context	Specific Irish place or place-name mentioned Emigration (from Ireland) Other
Languages	Irish
Genre	Long (narrative) Poem
Medium	Print Collection
Paratext Text	Deireadh Fómhair 1987
Notes	This poem describes in detail the neighbourhood of 'Hell's Kitchen' in New York City, which was closely associated with Irish emigrant communities until the 1970s. The speaker of the poem describes the hardships and poverty of various characters in Hell's Kitchen. There are references to the oppression of police and prisons, with the 'Pharisees of truth' on the lookout to push people out of the area with the rule of law. This is one of many religious references in the poem - another is the comparison between Hell's Kitchen and 'Calvary', where Jesus was crucified. There is an interesting description of an Irishman, Ruairí Ó Conghaile and his slow death from cancer, as well as the unspoken racism of the Irish community areas, in which those with Irish surnames are prioritized over Jewish or Black people. There are references to 'Spailpín' labourers and 'Margadh na Saoire', at which landless Irish labourers would sell their labour in Ireland. The poem sympathizes in Christian terms with the people of Hell's Kitchen, and the speaker of the poem's compassionate descriptions of the residents of the area underline the deprivation and poverty in which they live.