What the Curlew Said: Nostos ContinuedThis autobiography, a sequel to Nostos, concludes the story of John Moriarty's life in Connemara during the 1980s and subsequent return to his native Kerry. He writes with compelling detail about his time at Roundstone and environs, restoring gardens at Leitirdyfe House and Lisnabrucka, and building his own house at Toombeola. He reflects on his Kerry childhood and the death of his father; he describes his adopted family, a sortie to Dublin for Christmas, the writer Tim Robinson, and his neighbourhood and community; he celebrates the returned pine martens and the fauna and flora of a historic landscape; he undertakes a lecture tour in Canada organized by his former students; and throughout he engages with the immensities of the natural and spiritual worlds that form his habitat. In this posthumously published work, completed just weeks before his death, John Moriarty calls to account the literatures and legacies of European thought made manifest in the western extremities of Ireland. They bore witness to his own inner and outer journey, now documented in this compelling, writerly masterwork. |
Common terms and phrases
Ahab anthropus Apophis asked become Birdman Black Elk Bright Angel Trail Buddh Gaia buffalo called Christ Christian coming Conaire Mór Connemara crossed the Torrent Cú Roí culture D.H. Lawrence deinanthropus digging fork Divine Mirum door dream dreamer Dreamtime Earth evolutionary eyes final eureka Fisher King Gaian garden girls happened hear heaven heron holy horses human imagine Ireland Jesus karmic Karmic Canyon knew land Lascaux Leitirdyfe light Lisnabrucka live looking Lorna Manannán Marduk Mary mind Minotaur mirroring morning mountains Nature never night Oisín Old Compton Street ourselves Owenmore Palaeolithic Pequod phylogenetic pine marten psyche ragnarok river road round Sara seeking sense silver-branch perception singing sitting sleep song soul story surely talk tell Tepee Floor thee things thou thought thunder Tiamat Torc Mountain trees turned universe unto Upanishad walking wind wonder wood Yeats