‘Vulnerability is her superpower, her greatest weapon as a writer’—Áine Ní Ghlinn on Teacht Aniar: Meascra Dánta & Dánta Nua, by Dairena Ní Chinnéide (Éabhlóid)
by Áine Ní Ghlinn
Teacht Aniar is Dairena Ní Chinnéide’s personal selection from the past twenty years of poetry with an extra thirty new poems thrown in for good measure.
Síle Denvir’s excellent introductory essay is worth a read before you delve into the poems themselves.
The reader, she tells us, will be brought on a ‘turas ósnádúrtha atá tairseachúil agus réalaíoch in aon bhuille amháin’, a supernatural, liminal yet realistic journey through the opposites in life. She refers to the ferocity of the poems and to Dairena Ní Chinnéide’s sense of belonging in her native west Kerry. She describes the poet as a brave warrior woman, vulnerable yet strong, on the threshold between the old and new. This warrior woman is, for me, at the heart of this collection.
She describes the poet as a brave warrior woman, vulnerable yet strong, on the threshold between the old and new
According to Google, a warrior woman possesses a determined spirit, especially when faced with challenges. A warrior woman is powerful, inside and out. She rises to action and isn’t afraid to step up to the plate when necessary.
The female warrior energy is different to that of the male. Her words are her sword and in her awareness of the balance of this energy, she will show up to protect our inner child.
Dairena Ní Chinnéide ticks all those boxes. Indeed, in my view, Google’s definition sums up the vast majority of the older poems as well as many of the new poems.
We are constantly met with balance and opposites, light and darkness, hope and despair, happiness and sorrow, courage and fear. Ní Chinnéide is never afraid to show her vulnerability yet that vulnerability is also her superpower, her greatest weapon as a writer. The poems reveal a warrior who is both strong and weak, gentle and fierce at the same time.
The selection opens with poems from An Trodaí (The Warrior), setting the tone immediately.
In An Trodaí – Turas Aigne, we meet the young warrior woman, whose eyes and heart are wide-open, who is searching for meaning. She is described as terrified, strong, weak and fierce – all at the same time.
‘Lán de laigeacht agus d’fhíochmhaireacht in aon turas’
(An Trodaí: Turas Aigne).
As I read through the selected poems from the various collections, I find the warrior woman everywhere – searching for gold under the colourful rainbow
‘Ag tóraíocht óir fé bhogha síne daite’
(An Bogha Síne Gruama);
searching for inner peace in Brónach; celebrating nature and greeting the gods in Cloichear Aistear Anama; struggling at times as thoughts slide into a well of darkness
‘sleamhnaíonn do smaointe isteach i dtobar an dorchadais’
(Scáthán Briste).
Even in the darkness, however, the warrior’s ferocity and power win out.
The poems reveal a warrior who is both strong and weak, gentle and fierce at the same time.
While she covers a wide range of themes from love of her native west Kerry to the magic of the Irish language (Teanga Dúcháis); from a series of poems about the sea (Haikúnna Farraige) to poems honouring and celebrating President Michael D Higgins, Sinéad O’Connor and others, it is always Ní Chinnéide’s warrior persona who draws me back in with her haunting honesty, her independence, her maternal love, her inner strength as a woman.
If I were to choose a favourite, it would be An Trodaí Trédhearcach, where the warrior returns as a middle aged woman, now in her fifties, transparent, invisible and no longer seen as attractive –
‘os cionn an leathchéid
an uair a n-éiríonn
mná trédhearcach
ná tógtar ceann níos mó
díobh mar mhná dathúla’
(An Trodaí Trédhearcach).
Here, the ageing woman is left behind, shunned, ignored. The assistant serves the young man in front of her while she stands unseen at the back of the queue.
‘ní chíonn an freastalaí roimpi
ach bean rocach, throm
tugann seirbhís d’fhear óg
is fágtar an Trodaí
i gcúl an scuaine
ní fheictear í’
(An Trodaí Trédhearcach).
This is a woman who now celebrates the ageing process, who celebrates her femininity, who celebrates every aspect of her life. She celebrates motherhood, she celebrates her independence, she celebrates the woman she greets in the mirror. This is a woman who has fought her way through life, through menopause into middle age. She has struggled and won, she has found her inner power. In the end, the warrior woman is free and in that freedom she finds self-knowledge and understanding.
‘bhí an Trodaí saor is le saoirse tháinig tuiscint’
(An Trodaí Trédhearcach).
This is Dairena Ní Chinnéide’s 12th collection of poetry. Hers is a unique and powerful voice. I look forward to this warrior poet’s next phase and next collection.
With Éabhlóid’s design and Kim Sharkey’s cover artwork, this is a beautiful book to have and to hold. If you haven’t done so already, go out and buy it. Indeed, buy two and gift one to a friend.
Teacht Aniar: Meascra Dánta & Dánta Nua, by Dairena Ní Chinnéide (Éabhlóid)
Áine Ní Ghlinn is a poet and children’s writer and was Ireland’s Laureate na nÓg, Children’s Literature Laureate 2020-2023. She has 39 books published. These include poetry, young adult fiction, picture books and drama.
