Cathal Ó Searcaigh
Cathal Ó Searcaigh is a poet, travel writer, dramatist and novelist from Mín an Leá in County Donegal.
Cathal Ó Searcaigh was born in 1956 and raised in Mín 'a Lea, near Gort an Choirce, an Irish-speaking district in Co Donegal. His poetry collections include Súile Shuibhne (1983), Suibhne (1987), the bilingual An Bealach 'na Bhaile/Homecoming (1993), Ag Tnúth Leis an tSolas (1993), Na Buachaillí Bána (1996), and the selected Out in the Open (2000). A selection of English translations of his poetry, By the Hearth at Mín a' Leá (Arc), appeared in 2005. He continues to live in Mín 'a Leá.
"If Ó Searcaigh digs deep, he also digs wide. Arabic poetry, the poetry of Li Bai, innumerable references to the Gaelic song tradition, these and other sources are all part of his poetic context." — Paddy Bushe, Poetry Ireland
This is the story of a young man and the fateful summer he spent in the Gate House in Mín na Móna in the Donegal Gaeltacht as he tries to make sense of his complicated life and find his own way. You won't easily forget this summer in Mín na Móna. In this novel brim-full of uplifting humour, of compassion with one's fellow man and with nature, of flashes of insight and inspiring ruminations. A witty style, a thought-provoking story.
It is a long time since we’ve had a novel from the Donegal Gaeltacht, and there is no doubt that this book announces the arrival of a new novelist in a direct line from the Mac Grianna brothers.
