Oíche mhór

Maítear gur cuireadh fáilte roimh thart fá 60,000 cuairteoir. Bhí na hóstáin lán go doras agus bhí na sráideanna dubh le daoine. Ní raibh trioblóid ar bith ann: tá ardmholadh tuillte ag an Chomhairle agus an lucht eagraithe. Tá dul chun cinn iontach déanta i gcomparáid le cúpla bliain ó shin nuair a bhí fadhb mhór ann maidir leis an ól, go háirithe le daoine óga glan ar meisce i lár na cathrach i rith an lae. Léiríonn seo duit gur féidir ócáid shultmhar a eagrú le tinte cnámha agus tinte ealaíne nuair atá plean ann agus nuair atá na heagrais éagsúla ag obair as lámha a chéile. Téann an oíche mhór i nDoire tríocha bliain siar ach téann Oíche Shamhna i bhfad níos faide siar, ar ndóigh. Féile Cheilteach a bhí ann, ag marcáil tús an gheimhridh nuair a fhaigheann an dúlra bás – titeann na duilleoga, geimhríonn na hainimhithe. Féile na Marbh a bhí ann, agus rinne an Eaglais féile dá cuid féin di. Aimsir na dtaibhsí agus na vaimpírí is ea í. Is é Dracula an vaimpír is clúite ar domhan agus chruthaigh scríbhneoir Éireannach é – Bram Stoker as Baile Átha Cliath. Foilsíodh an leabhar den chéad uair sa bhliain 1897. Cé go raibh ráchairt ar an úrscéal agus go ndearnadh scannáin de, níor shaothraigh Stoker a lán airgid as: bhí seisean agus a bhean chéile beo bocht. D’aistrigh Seán Ó Cuirrín go Gaeilge é (1933).

Rinneadh atheagrán de i 1997, curtha in eagar ag Maolmhaodhóg Ó Ruairc. Chuir Gabriel Rosenstock amach gearrinsint an scéil i nGaeilge do dhéagóirí i 1997 fosta. Scríobh Aodh Ó Canainn ‘An bhfaca tú Dracula?’, cur síos ar an am a chaith sé sa Trasalváin, áit a roghnaigh Bram Stoker mar dhúiche shamhlaithe an Chunta Dracula cé nár leag sé

cos ar an réigiún Rómánach riamh ina shaol. Más mian leat an leabhar seo a cheannach ná bíodh dul amú ort faoin teideal. Tá leabhar eile ann le Micheál Ó Ruairc: ‘An bhfaca éinne agaibh Roy Keane?’. Leabhar difriúil ar fad atá ann.

Translation

A Great Night

Hallowe’en in Derry was a huge success this year. It is claimed that around 60,000 visitors were welcomed to the city. The hotels were full and the streets were thronged with people. There was no trouble: the council and the organisers deserve the highest praise. Great progress has been made from a few years ago when there was a huge problem with drink, particularly with young people blind drunk in the city centre during the day. This shows that an enjoyable event with bonfires and fireworks can be organised when there is a plan and when the different

organisations are cooperating closely with one another.

Derry’s big night goes back thirty years, but Hallowe’en goes much further back, of course. It was a Celtic feast, marking the beginning of winter when Nature dies – the leaves fall from the trees, animals hibernate. It was the Feast of the Dead, and the Church made it one of its own feasts. It is the time of the ghosts and the vampires. Dracula is the world’s most famous vampire and he was created by an Irish writer – Bram

Stoker, who was born in Dublin. The book was first published in 1897. Although the novel was very popular and despite the fact that film versions of the book were produced, Stoker did not make much money out of it. He and his wife lived in dire poverty. Seán Ó Cuirrín translated the book into Irish (1933). A new edition was published in 1997, edited by Maolmhaodhóg Ó Ruairc. Gabriel Rosenstock produced an abridged version of the story in Irish for teenagers in 1997 also. Aodh Ó Canainn wrote ‘An bhfaca tú Dracula?’(‘Did you see Dracula?), an account of the

time he spent in Transylvania, the place that Bram Stoker chose as the imaginary homeland of Count Dracula although he never set foot in the Romanian region in his life. If you want to buy the book, be sure you get

the title right. There is another book by Micheál Ó Ruairc: ‘An bhfaca éinne agaibh Roy Keane?’(Did any of you see Roy Keane?’). It is a completely different book.