Léachtaí Uí Chadhain

Liam MacAmhlaigh agus Caoimhín MacGiolla Léith

Cailleadh Máirtín Ó Cadhain (1906-1970), mórscríbhneoir an nuaphróis sa Ghaeilge, leathchéad bliain ó shin. Deich mbliana i ndiaidh a bháis, i 1980, cuireadh tús le sraith léachtaí bliantúla in ómós dó sa Choláiste Ollscoile, Baile Átha Cliath, sraith atá faoi lánseoil i gcónaí. Dírithe ar phobal na Gaeilge trí chéile a bhí Léachtaí Uí Chadhain ón gcéad lá, bíodh nach beag an chomaoin atá curtha ag an tsraith ar léann na Gaeilge ó shin. Dhá thrá a bhí le freastal ó thús: athléamha a sholáthar ar shaol agus ar shaothar an Chadhnaigh agus athmhachnamh a dhéanamh ar na mórcheisteanna cultúrtha, sóisialta agus polaitiúla a bhí ag déanamh scime dó ar feadh a shaoil. Sa mhórchnuasach seo de na léachtaí ar fad a tugadh go dtí seo aimseofar an flosc agus an faobhar, an cur agus an cúiteamh, an saibhreas agus an ghaois agus, go háirithe, an ilchineálacht chéadach chéanna ba dhual do scríbhinní Uí Chadhain féin riamh.

The fiftieth anniversary of Máirtín Ó Cadhain (1906-1970), one of the great writers of modern prose in Irish, took place last year. Ten years after his death, in 1980, an annual lecture series was established in his memory in University College Dublin, a series that builds to this day. The Léachtaí Uí Chadhain series was aimed at the entire Irish community from the beginning and, since then, it has greatly contributed to Irish language scholarship. The lectures had two main focuses from the outset: to provide a re-reading of the life and works of Ó Cadhain and to examine cultural, social, and political questions that troubled the writer throughout his life. In this complete collection of the lectures given to date, you will find the zest and the sharpness, the back and forth, the richness and the wisdom and, especially, the same hundredfold diversity that is always to be found in Ó Cadhain’s work.