A Sense of Place

Post date: Sep 13, 2011 11:32:33 AM

The Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh (1904-1967) told us in his poem ‘Epic’ that he ‘lived in important places’, and for him every place was special. A sense of place is special for most people, especially the place associated with a person’s early years, with its memories of home, family, friends, neighbours and community, as well as the local landscape and its morphology. It establishes a sense of identity, and childhood memories last a lifetime. Every person has an archive of memories from their intimate connection with their home place. Life is a perplexing journey for everyone, influenced by many factors: background, circumstances, education, aspirations, ability, opportunities, work ethic and, indeed, by fortune. However, in every generation there are complex political, economic, social and cultural factors which affect the lives of people. A sense of place, identity and context can help people understand themselves and provide links to the wider world.A sense of place is celebrated in literature by great Irish writers like Brian Friel, Seamus Heaney, James Joyce, Patrick Kavanagh, John McGahern, Liam O’Flaherty, William Butler Yeats and many others. That interest enabled these writers to understand themselves and their connection with the world. People are expected to engage with the modern world without fully understanding where they have come from and their sense of identity. A sense of place and identity are not insular concepts, but ones which can help people engage creatively and constructively with the past, present and future on a global scale. The forty-fourth President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, told us in his fine book, Dreams of my Father (1995), how important it was for him to trace his African-American roots. It gave him a keen sense of identity, self-confidence and the ambition to try to effect change which brought him to the White House. Appreciating one’s own inheritance and culture, and respecting those of others, are now more important than ever when it is so easy to become docile acceptors of a homogenised mass culture, easily promoted by modern media. A sense of place has inspired me to write my latest book about my native parish in the West of Ireland entitled Killasser: Heritage of a Mayo Parish, to be published by the end of the year.