
The Crying of the Wind: Ireland by Ithell Colquhoun – An exquisitely strange British-Celtic artist's travels in Ireland
Author
:
Ithell Colquhoun
ISBN-13
:
978-1805331568
Publisher
:
Pushkin Press Classics
Guideline Price
:
£12.99
Exquisitely strange, British Celtic surrealist artist, literary writer and occultist Ithell Colquhoun's memoir of her travels in Ireland in the first half of the 1950s is now republished as a Pushkin Press Classic.
Colquhoun's trove of art, writing and the fruit of a lifetime's passionate research into a vast range of esoteric subjects were nearly lost after she died in Cornwall in 1988, aged 81. Fortunately her work was salvaged by a small group of devotees. The Crying of the Wind, The Living Stones: Cornwall, and the alchemical novel, The Goose of Hermogenes, have been republished by Pushkin to coincide with the UK Tate Gallery's 2025 retrospective of Colquhoun's visual work, which runs until October.
Colquhoun's trained eye scans the Irish landscape. She visits prehistoric stone monuments, about whose ritualistic purposes – reflected in the still-living folk traditions of rural people she meets – she speculates evocatively.
Colquhoun's erudition comes alive through her extrasensory perception. She was a druid, witch and magician. As with the work of WB Yeats, who she met and admired greatly, Colquhoun's writing is lit from within by an incandescent glow that derives, I feel, from her deep sensing of the numinous everywhere.
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The linguistic beauty Colquhoun generates with her visionary artist's eye, and her ability to describe what are generally unseen worlds, can carry the reader, for example, from the crumbling grandeur of Protestant Ascendancy culture to panoramic vistas of giant spirit beings who live alongside humans in the Irish landscape.
Colquhoun describes all-night partying with Dublin's bohemians; hanging out in the studio of painter Jack B Yeats; and being brought to meditate inside Newgrange by the now almost forgotten Irish occult artist, Art O'Murnaghan, at a time when you could let yourself into the ancient mound by borrowing the caretaker's key.
The joie-de-vivre of Colquhoun's Cornwall travels is noticeably absent here. Perhaps it was the author's recent divorce, alongside the menace of Catholic theocratic mind control – then reaching fever-pitch – that made the bleak Irish summers and ever-present poverty harder to bear. Nevertheless, the still-existing pagan spirituality of Ireland – the beauty of our skies, our precious extant Gaelic culture and its animistic worldview – seen through the eyes of a genius mystic polymath over 70 years ago, makes this book an enchanting read.
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Irish Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Praising David Clifford's two-pointers simply highlighted Donegal's lack of same
hi Mom,I won't be phoning home tonight as I normally do after the All Ireland final but my love to Spot and, as always, I'm wondering about craic and of the pint in I've lost my voice screaming at the television here trying to find out what on earth was going on all through the second-half from had RTE here for the locals, yer man from Laois, your wan' from Liverpool and the guy with the baseball cap from Hong of us were left wondering are Kerry and Donegal playing different rules?Kerry were kicking two pointers through the first-half, indeed RTE's Darragh Maloney was in thrall as David Clifford pulled successive triggers."This is the first two-pointer in an All-Ireland final," he noted just before the 10th minute. And then as the next score was the same: "This is for two again, that's great from David Clifford, it is just what you'd expect." READ MORE: Shane MacGowan's love for Tipperary GAA, the Shannon Rovers funeral jersey - Siobhan MacGowan reflects on a brother less ordinary... A little later he was even more complex about it: "Who said 'Hammer the Hammer'?" before Clifford, taking his time, executed a perfect two-pointer on half-time, the poise, the timing, the it was Tomas O'Se who, talking in 2021 of the 'hammer' explained "In Kerry, it is how we describe going after the opponent's strongest point."O'Se is also a man who said "One man's grief is another man's punchline."And he called it at the half-time break speaking with Joanne Cantwell: "I would say Jim McGuinness is livid," and "unless Donegal can come up with a couple of two-pointers and a goal I'd still be favouring Donegal."The former Nemo Ranger with five All-Irelands and five All Stars was bringing up a reasonable point; why was he the only one?The second half began, mom, and it was as if Donegal had never heard the new rules, did they not get the memo from Jim Galvin's people?It seems inconceivable that Maloney with Eamonn Fitzmaurice on co-comms didn't want to discuss this, just why were Donegal not trying to score two-pointers - Kerry had 11 two-point attempts in the have come from a time when even RTE tired of a succession of Statler and Waldorf argumentative begrudgers engaging in a series of never-ending pre-game, half-time, full-time spats with the emphasis on the they at least asked questions about games, just as somebody needed to ask just why Donegal were not pursuing two-pointers/goals.I'm willing to bet 50 percent of the estimated viewing audience were experiencing the same sense of what on earth are we watching."This day last year we were talking about a seagull," offered Maloney at one point in the first-half, "well I know I've mentioned it now...".The commentary nearly got to analysis when offering "Eight points (behind) is a long way off from Kerry even with two-pointers and that sort of thing." And just as the 66th minute of the 70 was about to tick in: "They may as well start throwing the kitchen sink at Kerry, it's 26-19! Turned out David Clifford's punchline was Donegal's has been three winners of this year's All Ireland series, the 2025 Dairygold and Kerrygold double. That's Tipperary, Kerry and the RTE hurling commentary team who were excellent analytically, technically. See you soon, love to all at home and to Sally at Peadair's and the way she'd look at you PS: My best moment?: RTE's Damien Lawlor getting the last word in at half-time, wondering if we had already seen the 2025 'memory'. "We had a situation in the noughties, do you remember Joanne, Henry Shefflin was only on the ball for 16 seconds and scored 1-7, 1-8 - it is looking like this for David Clifford already." Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts.


Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
‘Unbelievably poignant' Katie Taylor message strengthened Lions' will to win
Jack Conan's seasonal finale has delivered in spades. After captaining Leinster to the United Rugby Championship title, the Lions ever-present from four years ago was in ebullient form after Saturday's 29-26 win sealed a series triumph that he will remember forever. The result was all that mattered as Conan reflected on an imperfect training week and what he felt was a far-from-perfect display by himself and the Lions, but one that had additional meaning for the man from Bray. 'We were not at our best by any measure, but physically the lads dug in unbelievably well,' said Conan, who turns 33 on Tuesday. He revealed: 'We had a video from Katie Taylor earlier in the week and it was unbelievably poignant and powerful. It spoke about being prepared to win with skill, but be ready to win by will. 'I think that was something that summed up today massively because we were not at our best at all. Pretty disappointing how we played, but we played for 80 minutes. READ MORE 'Barry ( Hugo Keenan ) getting over the line last minute was just unbelievable. I think the celebrations and the crack and changing room, if we went out and we won by 20, it wouldn't be the same,' he admitted. 'Everyone's just over the moon. To be part of a Lions winning series team is just incredibly special. I feel incredibly humbled and honoured to be part of it all. Not my best game, but a lot of us weren't at the races at all, but we stuck in there. You can't fault the effort. I thought the defensive sets we put in, just whacking people and just staying in there, was unbelievable. I think everyone loved it, even the English and the Scottish boys and the Welsh boy — Jack Conan 'It's something that will go down in history,' he continued, random thoughts pouring out amid the immediate euphoria of reaching one of the true highs of his rugby career. 'They weren't writing the history books about how s**t we were, but they'll say that we won and that's all that matters. Just so special to be part of it.' Jack Conan (left) and Tadhg Furlong celebrate the Lions' victory over Australia in Saturday's second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Photograph: Martin Keep/AFP via Getty Images Taylor's message was particularly poignant for Conan given they both hail from Bray. 'Massively. Huge. Someone to come from the town I'm from, I'm incredibly proud of where I come from and I know Katie is as well. She's gone on to achieve incredible feats in the boxing world and to be such a superstar and be just incredibly humble and driven and knock it out of herself is something that we kind of leant on as well. We knew that Australia are a hugely proud nation and they showed it today in spades. 'They were unbelievable, they really were, but we just stuck in it for 80 minutes and [I'm] just incredibly proud of the effort from the lads. I know things didn't click and we weren't flowing properly, but we were getting off the line, trying to hit people, trying to make it count every chance we got. And I think we did that and that's why we got the result in the end.' [ Australia head coach Joe Schmidt unhappy at match officials over Jac Morgan clearout Opens in new window ] It transpired that the Irish performance coach Gary Keegan, who is also part of the extensive Lions backroom team, was the key figure in asking Taylor to provide a motivational video. 'Gary Keegan would have been very close with her and helped her through her amateur career into professional career; he's the link there. It meant a lot to me being from the same place and seeing her on the world stage, but I think everyone loved it, even the English and the Scottish boys and the Welsh boy. It resonated with everyone. 'It was unbelievably poignant, it was class. It really hit home for us, it was brilliant.' Conan was one of a record nine Irish players in the starting line-up who contributed to this series-clinching second Test win, as well as Rónan Kelleher and James Ryan off the bench, with three of them among the Lions try scorers. In another ever-lasting image, Keenan was the match-winner. Putting down one of the two cans of Guinness he had been holding in each hand, Conan said of Keenan: 'Delighted for him, because he had a bit of a rocky start to the campaign with the sickness that derailed him for a while and it's a testament to his professionalism and staying in it. I was delighted for him. Jack Conan came close to scoring a try in the series-clinching victory against Australia. Photograph:'Now in saying that, I would have liked it more if he gave me the ball on the edge and I scored the try,' joked Conan, who helped give Keenan the space to beat Len Ikitau on his outside shoulder by holding his depth. 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I'm not sure if I'll be playing next week after my performance but we'll see what happens, but yeah, absolutely class. 'You can't take these things away from people; [they] go down in history. I know people don't have the best things to say about Australia but I thought they were class today, they were unbelievable, they played above themselves. 'We saw Valetini and big Willie Skelton come back into the side, they were unbelievable. They made a huge difference and we struggled with it at times. A little bit high in the contacts, a little bit soaking, whatever else. But it doesn't matter, we got there in the end, didn't we. 'The win's a win. Series win; Lions series winner. You can't take that away from us, so I'm delighted for everyone. Delighted for the coaching staff, delighted for the lads who played, the lads who didn't play because everyone's played their part. Roll on the celebrations, roll on next week and one more 80 minutes to go and then a bit of well-earned time off.'


Irish Daily Mirror
7 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Line of Duty star hails ‘elite' David Clifford as a ‘joy to watch'
Actor Martin Compston was blown away by David Clifford's first-half performance in the All-Ireland final, hailing the Kerry forward's 'elite' showing against Donegal. Line of Duty actor Compston joined a string of celebrities which included comedian Kayleigh Trappe as he featured on the BBC's coverage of this afternoon's All-Ireland final. Clifford was sensational in the first-half, racking up seven points, the last of which was a sensational two-pointer right on the hooter after a long spell of possession from the Kingdom. At the interval, Compston - who played professional soccer before becoming an actor - was asked what might be going through the Donegal players' heads at half-time, to which he responded: "Your man Clifford is a joy to watch, he genuinely is elite level. "There's just some times when you need to get out of your own head. Simple ones Murphy would normally stick away (He missed) and you're thinking like 'it's just not going to be your day.' "But you just need to get that out of your head and keep going." Clifford's score on the stroke of half-time made it a seven point game at the break and put Kerry just 35 minutes away from a first All-Ireland in three years and a 39th in their history.