Ó Mórna

Cé go bhfuil dáimh Uí Dhireáin leis an gcosmhuintir le haithint ar chuid mhaith dá shaothar, baineann an dán teidil sa chnuasach Ó Mórna agus Dánta Eile (1957) leis an meath a tháinig ar thiarna talún tuaithe.

Tá an dán seo bunaithe cuid mhór ar an bpearsa stairiúil, Séamus Ó Flaithearta, a raibh cónaí air i dTeach Chill Mhuirbhigh ar Inis Mór agus a bhásaigh sa bhliain 1881. Rialaigh Ó Flaithearta an t-oileán leis an lámh láidir, mar a bheadh rí ann, agus bhí olc ar an bpobal faoina ndearna sé fós nuair a bhí Máirtín óg.

Aithnítear ‘Ó Mórna’ mar cheann de na saothair is tábhachtaí leis an Direánach. Cuireann an dán míshuaimhneas ar léitheoirí fós, áfach, mar gheall ar an léiriú báúil atá déanta ar Ó Mórna mar chreachadóir gnéis rófhireannach atá ar nós Übermensch Nietschach sa chaoi go ndéanann sé neamhshuim iomlán de dhlí an phobail.

I gcomórtas le haimride na bhfear oifige sa saol uirbeach maorlathach, is cosúil go gcuireann Ó Mórna múnla ‘níos fearr’ den fhearúlacht ar fáil don fhile.

Tuairimí an fhile féin ar an dán:

"Ba dheacair liom mórán a rá ar ‘Ó Mórna’ féin mar dhán, mar cé gur féidir a rá, nach féidir a shéanadh, gur mé a chum é, san am céanna nuair a chumann tú dán den tsaghas sin iompraíonn sé leis thú. Tá tú mar dhuine nach bhfuil stiúir agat feasta ar an rud atá tú a dhéanamh. Imíonn tú leat ar thuile na cumadóireachta."

An bhean nuair a fuair Ó Morna í

Níor rug aon mhac, aon oidhre ceart;

Níor luigh Ó Mórna léi ach seal,

Ba fuar leis í mar nuachair;

Ina cuilt shuain ní bhfuair a cheart,

É pósta is céasta go beacht.

lmíonn Ó Mórna arís le fuadar,

Thar chríocha dleathacha ag ruathradh,

Ag cartadh báin, ag cartadh loirg,

Ag treabhadh faoi dheabhadh le fórsa,

Ag réabadh comhlan na hóghachta,

Ag dul thar teorainn an phósta.

While much of Ó Direáin’s writings demonstrate his sympathy with the plight of the ordinary people, the title poem of his 1957 collection, Ó Mórna agus Dánta Eile [Ó Mórna and Other Poems] tells of the demise of a rural landlord.

The poem is largely based on the historical figure of Séamus Ó Flaithearta who resided in Kilmurvey House on Inis Mór and died in 1881. Ó Flaithearta ruthlessly ruled the island like a king, and the resentment among the community towards him still lingered until Máirtín’s childhood.

‘Ó Mórna’ is considered one of Ó Direáin’s most important works. The poem remains problematic, however, due to its sympathetic representation of Ó Mórna as a hypermasculine sexual predator, who, like a sort of Nietzschean Übermensch, has a total disregard for the laws of the community.

In stark contrast to the emasculated office men of the urban bureaucratic world, Ó Mórna seems to offer the poet a more favourable model of masculine agency.

Ó Direáin’s own thoughts on the poem:

"It’s hard for me to say much about ‘Ó Mórna’ as a poem, because even though you could say, you can’t deny, that I wrote this poem, at the same time, when you write a poem like this, it takes you with it. You are like a person who has no control over what you are doing. You are carried away by the tide of creativity."

“One of the greatest challenges facing me as a translator is undertaking work whose subjectmatter doesn’t appeal to me. Though I’m repelled by the anti-hero Ó Mórna, whose wont is rape and plunder, I admire the richness of language in the poem in question. I understand why, given his banal day job and bland life, Ó Direáin would be attracted to such a character.” Celia de Fréine, poet and translator

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