A NEW play based on a book by a Manchester-Irish academic will visit Manchester and London at the end of this month.
My English Tongue, My Irish Heart, written and directed by Martin Lynch, is based on a critically acclaimed study of the writers of the Diaspora by Dr Liam Harte, senior lecturer in Irish and Modern Literature at the University of Manchester.
The play tells the story of Irish emigration to England through the generations, exploring the perplexities of living with, and between, two worlds. “We wanted to look at different narratives,” says Dr Harte, “because there is a huge diversity of experience shared by those who emigrate.
Not all people regard emigration in the same way — for some it is a tragedy, particularly when it’s forced emigration. But some see it as a positive thing.” Harte's play also deals with the different ways emigration has affected to clearly definable groups — second generation Irish people, and Protestants from the North.
"Without giving too much away, both these issues are explored. One of the protagonists is a Protestant from Tyrone — and of course Protestants would tend to view emigration differently from say emigrants those from Kerry or Mayo."
Harte is from a small village in Mayo, near Knock, and relocated to Manchester in 2004.
Author Liam Harte (Image: Jonathan Booty)His book Irish in Britain: Autobiography and Memoir, 1725-2001 (2009), is the first critical survey of what he believes is an unjustly neglected body of literature: the autobiographies and memoirs of writers of Irish birth or background who lived and worked in Britain from 1725 right through to the present day.
Woven around annotated extracts from the work of over 60 autobiographers, it challenges received views of the Irish in Britain as more at home with the spade and the hod than with the pen.
President Higgins, on his many pronouncements about the Diaspora, has quoted extensively from Dr Harte’s work.
Dr Harte explained his reasons for embarking on the very tricky business of turning a scholarly study into a dramatic piece of work for the stage: “Although much has been written about the Irish emigrant experience, it’s never been portrayed dramatically.
My first idea was to put on an exhibition, but then decided a play would be much better. This is the first time a play of this kind has ever been staged anywhere in these islands.”
After deciding that a drama was the best option Dr Harte got in touch with the Belfast playwright Martin Lynch.
“When I put the idea to him, he liked it, and thus began the project. Of course we’ve had to whittle down the original 60 stories…”
The play includes a soundtrack of the best of Irish music from Count John McCormick to Paul Brady and The Pogues, sung by the five great actor singers.
The tour kicks makes its way round Ireland before crossing the Irish Sea.
"We wanted to begin in the areas most closely associated with emigration - places like Mayo and Leitrim; then finish up in cities closely associated with the Diaspora — London and Manchester."
My English Tongue, My Irish Heart: May 26 – May 27, Irish World Heritage Centre, Manchester and May 29- 31, London Irish Centre, Camden Town.
