Blianta an Chogadh / The War Years
Blianta an Chogaidh
Blianta an Chogaidh
Nuair a bhris an dara cogadh domhanda amach, aistríodh Máirtín chuig Sráid an Chiste, i mBaile Átha Cliath, le bheith ina chinsire poist. Dúirt sé níos deireanaí gurbh iad seo “na cúig bliana is seisce” dá shaol, agus léiríonn a chuid filíochta an lagmhisneach a bhí air faoi neamhbhrí an tsaoil sa chathair agus faoi na hathruithe sóisialta a bhí mar thoradh ar an gcogadh.
Mar sin féin, ba thréimhse bhisiúil í an tréimhse 1939-1945 do Mháirtín. Idir 1941 agus 1943, scríobh sé colún aorach rialta don nuachtán nuabhunaithe An Glór faoin ainm cleite Ruairí Beag. Ba aithris a bhí sa cholún ar ‘Cruiskeen Lawn’ le Myles na gCopaleen a bhí á fhoilsiú ar The Irish Times san am céanna, agus chaitheadh sé maslaí magúla ar bhodaigh mhóra na litríochta, ar an nGúm agus ar ghluaiseacht na Gaeilge trí chéile.
Bhí sé gníomhach i gCraobh na hAiséirí, brainse de Chonradh na Gaeilge a d’eagraíodh mórshiúlacha, agóidí sráide, agus léirithe scannán ar fud na cathrach, ach a thit as a chéile níos deireanaí de bharr an luí a bhí ag cuid dá bhunaitheoirí leis an bhFaisisteachas.
Liostáil Máirtín freisin san Fhórsa Cosanta Áitiúil. Cuireadh oiliúint air sa druileáil agus sa ghartharrtháil, agus múineadh dó cén chaoi le pléascáin a chur ó rath.
Ní slán ar fad ón gcogadh a bhí Éire neodrach ach oiread, agus nuair a thit na buamaí ar an Trá Thuaidh ar an 31 Bealtaine 1942, dúisíodh Máirtín i lár na hoíche ag torann na dtromphléascanna agus na n-eitleán báis.
The War Years
There was one who understood women,
We got our cheques, bits of parchment,
[Translation by Peter Sirr]
The War Years
With the outbreak of World War II, Máirtín was recruited as a postal censor on Exchequer Street, Dublin. He later commented that these were the five most ‘barren’ years of his life, and his poetry points to his disillusion with the futility of life in the city and the social changes produced during those years.
Nevertheless, the period of 1939-1945 was very productive in Máirtín’s career. Between 1941 and 1943, he wrote a regular satirical column in the newly founded journal An Glór [The Voice] under the pseudonym Ruairí Beag. The column mimicked and interacted with Myles na gCopaleen’s column ‘Cruiskeen Lawn’ which was published at the same time in The Irish Times and contained humorous jabs at the literary elite, at the publishing house An Gúm, and at the language movement more generally.
He was active in the dynamic Craobh na hAiséirí, a branch of the Gaelic League which organised rallies, street protests, and film screenings across the city, but which later split due to the Fascist leanings of a number of its founders.
Máirtín also signed up as a member of the Local Defence Forces and was trained in drilling, first-aid and how to deactivate bombs.
Neutral Ireland did not escape untouched from the war either. When the bombs fell on the North Strand on 31 May 1942, Máirtín awoke in the middle of the night to the sounds of the heavy explosives and death planes.