Heaney’s digs
Why a visit to Nobel prize-winning writer’s Homeplace will bring out the poet in you
AS the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness fades to a distant memory and the bleak mid-winter beckons, there’s something comforting about being carried away into the cosy world of words. However, instead of Novel Travel I’m on a poetic journey to find out more about one of Ireland’s literary greats in County Derry.
My GPS takes me on the road less travelled through the undulating hills and winding country roads that take me into the heartland of Heaney Country. Passing a derelict house that might well have transported Dorothy out of Kansas, my mind wanders past barns, cottages and hedgerows.
Here are ‘the briars that scratched and wet grass that bleached his boots, round hayfields, cornfields and potato drills’ where Heaney went blackberry picking ‘until the cans were full’.
I soak it all in because I’m able to envisage him standing as a young boy digesting the landscape and turning it into eloquent words that will live long after those who tread the country lanes.
THE Seamus Heaney Homeplace in Bellaghy is more than an arts centre, it is a living breathing homage to literature and inspiration and even if you are not up to speed with work of this Nobel Prize winning poet, anyone passing through school in the last ten years will be familiar with his jewel of the English language, ‘Mid-term Break’, written in memory of Heaney’s brother, Christopher, who died at the tender age of four.
I’m honoured to meet Hugh, another brother at Mossbawn, the farm where the Heaney family grew up and where Hugh lives today.
Seamus Heaney was, of course, inspired by a simple pale of water that rippled in the kitchen when the train passed and this imagery is now transformed into the ceiling of one of the exhibits at the Homeplace.
His attention to detail is replicated in the design of the building. Designers Tandem Partners, worked closely with those who knew Heaney to get it just right.
Heaney’s nephew, Brian Mc Cormick, Director of the Homeplace, ensures that it is a family affair. He informs me that 43,000 visitors have passed through the doors in the first year of opening from September 2016.
The Helicon, an auditorium with sitting for 190, which has the intimacy of a theatre with the calm of a church or library, is about to host an evening with Ardal O’Hanlon in conversation with William Crawley.
Throughout the year poets, writers and musicians fill the Homeplace with inspiring events that are usually sold out well in advance.
I continue walking through sentences and rhymes, a picture painted by words and so cleverly echoing the townland that I drove through on my way to Bellaghy.
Tadpoles’ frog spawn represent the poems’ imagery showing the process from raw materials to finished process that Heaney used to inspire others while he was teaching.
His poetry is explained in simple and clear terms to the nonexpert like myself and many younger visitors who are encouraged to visit and partake in the interactive displays.
Putting a star on your favourite poem or drawing a picture of the poet is all part of the experience for youngsters and the free worksheet means that the little ones can enjoy the displays with a variety of activities.
I breathe in the poet’s voice as he reads the words of some of his best-loved works from headphones dotted around the exhibition.
‘Between my finger and my thumb the squat pen rests, I’ll dig with it.’ The very pen which he took with him to boarding school at the tender age of 12 is encased in a cabinet with a letter to his parents.
There’s plenty of time and space to enjoy the homemade scones and goodies at the counter before slipping off to enjoy whatever else is nearby.
A perfect accompaniment to my poetic pilgrimage is a stay at Ardtara Country House.
Part of Ireland’s Blue Book Directory I’m confident that this property will carry me back in time to the days when linen was the king crop in this part of the world. With only nine rooms this elegant house was once home to Harry Jackson Clarke who owned a factory in the village of Upperlands. Each has its own character and style.
The grandiose driveway with crunchy gravel is exactly what I’ve come to expect from Blue Book properties with a warm familiarity like visiting a wellheeled aunt.
I wake to a sky tinged with pink and the crunch of tyres on the drive outside. The flames are flickering in the hearth and I feel like I’ve been whisked back in time or woken up in the pages of a book.
My room is composed in Victorian elegance with Georgian blue strips and mahogany furniture. The bathroom, a blend of modern shower and vintage standalone bath, looks out on to the lawn.
Ardtara is known for its cuisine and is currently in the ownership of chef Ian Orr and Marcus Rolston. My breakfast is testament to that. I opt for Eggs Benedict, and looking out on to the lawn I really don’t want to leave.
But to truly pay homage to Seamus Heaney you must pay a visit to his graveside which is only a stone’s throw from here in the burial grounds of St Mary’s Church in Bellaghy.
‘Walk on air against your better judgement’ are the words enscribed on Heaney’s headstone from his poem ‘The Gravel Walks’. And they inspire rather than mourn the poet’s passing.
Heady with inspiration I reluctantly leave this beautiful maudlin part of the world.
Heaney, et al, this corner of County Derry is the perfect location to explore much of the northern coast of Ireland.
The Dark Hedges, made famous on the set of Game of Thrones and the Giant’s Causeway are just 30 minutes from here.
The fact that Lonely Planet has rated Northen Ireland as No.1 destination to visit in 2018 is no surprise.
Nor is the enduring quality of Seamus Heaney’s poetry or that The Heaney Homeplace brings it it all to life.