Brooklyn mo Mháthar

Publication Instance Details #964

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	Poverty/Deprivation/Lack of Sustenance
Irish Context	Emigration (from Ireland) Specific Irish place or place-name mentioned
Languages	Irish
Genre	Short Lyric
Medium	Print Collection
Notes	The promises of 'Brooklyn' and the American dream spoiled for the speaker of the poem by the reality of systemic drug addiction and poverty in the city. The Brooklyn of his mother's time, perhaps idealized, has long gone. There are many references to his mother's time in Brooklyn and the experiences of the Irish emigrant there: Baile Átha Brooklyn, An tAthair Ó Riain, and the Irish firefighters department, for example. There are references to Christian theology and figures in the poem, such as Eden and the Fall, as well as the speaker's direct appeal to Mary of the Sorrows to intervene to help the people of Brooklyn.