Shining the spotlight on a fantastic Birr poet

AN EVENT celebrating the life and work of Birr poet Susan Mitchell was held in Birr Library last week.

Birr ladies Jackie Lynch and Rosalind Fanning have teamed up once again to produce a town trail, this time featuring ten all weather boards with ten of Susan's poems. The two women believe that Susan wrote top class poetry which deserves to be better known.

Jackie warmly thanked Julie Spollen of Anam Beo and Karen Grey of Creative Ireland for providing finance for the project. Julie pointed out she was delighted to back the project. She said Anam Beo began its life at a gathering in Rosalind's Tin Jug Art Studio many years ago. Anam Beo provides social engagement through the Arts for older people.

She said that when it comes to Art and being creative, “the process is just as important as the outcome.”

She congratulated Jacky and Rosalind for coming up with the idea for this poetry trail, which will be in situ before the end of the year. She thanked Offaly County Council's Creative Ireland programme for providing finance and to the various property owners for agreeing to have the boards erected outside their premises.

Karey Grey said Offaly County Council and Creative Ireland are “thrilled to be supporting this very worthwhile project.” She also welcomed one of Susan Mitchell's descendents, Mary O'Donoghue, to the occasion. “Mary has brought with her an original portrait of Susan and it's really nice to see it.”

Mary O'Donoghue said she was connected to the Mitchell family by marriage. “Susan died before my time, but I still referred to her as Aunt Susan even though she wasn't my aunt.

“It's wonderful to see that funds are going towards this project. It is a very good sign of a country when funds are being channelled towards such worthwhile artistic projects. That wasn't always the case.”

She pointed out that the painting of Susan Mitchell was painted by Countess Markiewicz “who was a very good friend of Susan's. There are quite a few copies of this portrait but this is the original one. I got it because Susan's niece lived with me during the last few years of her life. She was very careful with it and thought a lot of it. It was exhibited in an exhibition in New York. Experts have examined the painting and have confirmed that it is the original. I have also brought a copy of the magazine 'United Irish Women' of which Susan was the editor.”

Mary said Susan lived through a tumultuous period and believed passionately in Ireland's right to self-governance.

Jacky said she and Rosalind erected 27 Blue Plaques around Birr as part of the Famous and Notables (FAN) Trail. Susan was one of the 27 famous and notable people. Jacky said people can read the biography of Susan called “Redheaded Rebel.” It is available in Birr Library and is a fascinating read, revealing not only her life but the details of the daily lives of those living in Birr.

“Susan lived in Emmet Square but we weren't exactly sure where. Therefore because there's a strong Mitchell connection with Walcott House we decided to place her blue plaque there.”

Rosalind said there is only one copy of Susan's poems in the whole of Ireland. “The library kindly lent me the copy for a while and I photocopied the poems,” she said. She and Jacky read out a couple of the poems including 'Ireland' and 'Amergin'.

Susan Mitchell lived from 1866 to 1926. Her father was a bank manager in Carrick on Shannon. She moved to Birr at an early age and lived here for several years. As poet and mystic, she was a part of the Irish Cultural Renaissance and a friend of William Butler Yeats and his family. She was sub-editor of the Irish Statesman under George Russell and one of the founding members of the United Irishwomen, later renamed the Irish Countrywomen’s Association. Her portrait was painted by renowned artists Sarah Purser and John Butler Yeats.

Her poetry is beautiful, uplifting and it's a pity more people aren't familiar with it. Here, by way of an example, are a few lines from her poem “Immortality”:

“Age cannot reach me where the veils of God
Have shut me in,
For me the myriad births of stars and suns
Do but begin,
And here how fragrantly there blows to me
The holy breath,
Sweet from the flowers and stars and hearts of men,
From life and death.

Awhile we walk the world on its wide roads
And narrow ways,
And they pass by, the countless shadowy troops
Of nights and days;
We know them not, O happy heart,
For you and I
Watch where within a slow dawn lightens up
Another sky.”