Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: Brian Peters
Date: 25 May 10 - 07:25 AM

I thought 'Pincher Martin' was a brilliant book - and it looks like the scriptwriters for both 'Ashes to Ashes' and 'Lost' admired it as well, since they seem to have based their respective concluding episodes on Golding's basic premise.

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: The Sandman
Date: 25 May 10 - 07:03 AM

I think Lord of the Flies was a very good book,Pincher Martin I was not impressed with,Golding is[generally speaking] of course in adifferent league to Irwin, but both seem capable of writing tedious books

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: NICKB
Date: 24 May 10 - 07:51 PM

GSS - I'm guessing you're not a great fan of 'The Life of Pi' either

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: NICKB
Date: 24 May 10 - 07:45 PM

Pincher Martin is a WONDERFUL book. It's a very odd comparison to make. I read Colin Irwin's book some years ago and didn't immediately think to compare him to Golding. I would guess also that Golding didn't aim for the same market that Irwin was.

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: Betsy
Date: 24 May 10 - 07:09 PM

Thanks Steve for quoting the full sentence "Sure, some of his accounts of festivals and the musicians he knows best (Christy Moore, for example) are well written and enjoyable, but there tends to be an over-emphasis on the big figures of the past to the exclusion of those more recently relevant."
As far as I am concerned CM is still a leading light and certainly was in 2003 when the book was released.

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 May 10 - 06:55 PM

"Guest Betsy" wrote:

"Colin is a fairly honest man and if it was written in 2003 , times have changed , Colin has changed, and the whole thing of selling Irishness throughout the world is a difficult Subject. I read the Irish Music Review ( blue clicky) and it infers " Christy Moore ............big figures of the past ........".
Not nice at all - at all.

There is no inference that Christy is a big figure of the past. Your chopping-up of the quote from the review serves to misrepresent what Geoff Wallis said. To clarify, here's the salient part of the review:

"Sure, some of his accounts of festivals and the musicians he knows best (Christy Moore, for example) are well written and enjoyable, but there tends to be an over-emphasis on the big figures of the past to the exclusion of those more recently relevant."

He isn't really saying what you imply he's saying, is he?

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 24 May 10 - 06:39 PM

I thought Robin Denselow and Michael Grosvenor-Myer (who posts on Mudcat)both wrote about folk in the sixties..? But Karl of course published song anthologies.

Kitty

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 24 May 10 - 03:21 PM

He must have done some research Dave, he did repeat at one time.

In the sixties there were only two journalists writing about folk, Colin Irwin and Karl Dallas, who being a musician himself was far better than Colin Irwin.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: The Sandman
Date: 24 May 10 - 03:10 PM

no , he didnt have a long wait for his breakfast.,read the book
Famous Grouse would have been a better name for this book,Colin Irwin is possibly a very nice bloke, I dont know him,I have never met him, I am criticising the book ,not him as a personality.
this book is marginally more riveting that Pincher Martin, his references to Mrs Colin are irritating and tedious,as is all the nonsense about Tommy Peoples,and The Fields Of Athenry

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 24 May 10 - 02:43 PM

From a post above -

Colin Irwin is a plonker, he is one of the wankers who perpetuate the story that Ewan MacColl was born in Auchterarder.

From Colin Irwins book 'In search of Albion' -

Less famously, Salford was also the birthplace of Ewan MacColl. Not many people know that. I was nearly excommunicated from the family after a quiz in which I callenged a mass of impeccable documantation insisting that Ewan MacColl was a true Scotsman. It certainly suited his purpose to let people assume that and, the son of a Stirlingshire iron moulder and militant trade unionist, Ewan was fiercely proud of his Scottish heritage. But the fact is that MacColl was born in a two-up-two-down in Salford in 1914, and originally answered to the name of Jimmy Miller.

Sorry, Dave. I appreciate that some people do not like Irwin's work. I have no axe to grind myself. But I think it best to quote facts rather than rumour if getting involved in such things. No hard feelings, I hope, it was I had recently read it and the MacColl thing stuck in my mind.

Cheers

DeG

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: Edthefolkie
Date: 24 May 10 - 02:17 PM

Poor old Colin, gunned down by the mighty power of Mudcat.

Since when did literature have to be correct to the second and precise latitude/longitude? It's called selection and creative licence. I don't think Laurie Lee, Norman Lewis, Paul Theroux et al would have got very far with certain Mudcatters.

Valid point about lack of proof-reading though, but no publisher seems to bother with it these days.      

I suppose Mr Irwin should really have gone to Geordieland. "CRACK" originated in Northern England and Scotland didn't it? Diarmaid Ó Muirithe in the Irish Times: "The constant Gaelicisation of the good old English-Scottish dialect word crack as craic sets my teeth on edge." Looks like the barman in Wexford was right.

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: Rain Dog
Date: 24 May 10 - 01:12 PM

"The poor fellow even had to knock someone up to ask for breakfast"

He would have had quite a wait for breakfast then. No wonder he groused about it.

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: The Sandman
Date: 24 May 10 - 12:05 PM

The Knocker up man,what I meant was wake, someone up for breakfast

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: matt milton
Date: 24 May 10 - 11:45 AM

"The poor fellow even had to knock someone up to ask for breakfast"

The mind boggles!

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 24 May 10 - 11:24 AM

I enjoyed 'In search of Albion'. Not likely to read this one as I have no real affinity for things Irish. Apart from a very pleasant trip to Finugue a few years back. I think he is a pretty good writer but, as a jornalist, I suspect he does write to the lowest common denominator. In the case of 'Albion' I guess I fit that bill:-)

Cheers

DeG

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: The Sandman
Date: 24 May 10 - 10:34 AM

because I had just read the book,no other reason,
.I am not responsible for anyone elses comments about Colin Irwin, all I am doing is criticising the book

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: GUEST,Betsy
Date: 23 May 10 - 08:08 PM

Colin is a fairly honest man and if it was written in 2003 , times have changed , Colin has changed, and the whole thing of selling Irishness throughout the world is a difficult Subject. I read the Irish Music Review ( blue clicky) and it infers " Christy Moore ............big figures of the past ........".
Not nice at all - at all.
I have been to many many "Irish pubs" throughout Europe a few are delightful - e.g Kellys in Groningen , the rest are the most unpleasant place on earth - miserable Irish people behind the bar who despise " diddly diddly music ".
Published in 2003 ? Lets move on for goodness sake .
I wonder why this thread was started in 2010 !!!!!!

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 23 May 10 - 06:51 PM

Sorry Dick, I didn't have an agenda, but a friend gave me the book for Christmas a few years ago, and in addition to the review from Folk Roots there's also a quote from a barman in Wexford saying that "There's no such thing as the craic. It doesn't exist. It's just for the tourists." I just wondered why you started this thread now?

Kitty

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: Paul Burke
Date: 23 May 10 - 05:39 PM

If it approaches Ciaran Carson's "Last Night's Fun", it's worth reading. Is it?

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: The Sandman
Date: 23 May 10 - 03:37 PM

Kitty,why does it matter when it was written, in answer to your question, I expect something better than what we have been given.
I cant comment on anything else written by Geoff Wallis on this forum [I am not allowed to] but I agree with his review of this book.

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: GUEST,Saoirse
Date: 23 May 10 - 02:22 PM

Geoff was spot on as he often is. He's about the only writer on Ireland's music who isn't afraid to pull any punches. Please don't mention the blessed Siobhan Long!

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 23 May 10 - 01:56 PM

What did you expect from a book subtitled "One Man's Pub Crawl through Irish Music"?

It seems to have taken GSS 7 years to get around to reading it though, as it was first published in 2003.

Kitty

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 22 May 10 - 10:57 PM

Colin Irwin is a plonker, he is one of the wankers who perpetuate the story that Ewan MacColl was born in Auchterarder.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: The Sandman
Date: 22 May 10 - 06:45 PM

good god, Joe,Colin Irwin is certainly not GeoffWallis.
I am Flabbergasted to be in agreement with Geoff Wallis,Great minds think alike ,i suppose

Subject: RE: Book: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 May 10 - 06:16 PM

There's a similar evaluation of the book in the Irish Music Review. I can't tell whether the article was written by Colin Irwin, Geoff Wallis, or both. I take it that one name is a pseudonym for the other.

-Joe-

Subject: In search of the craic by Colin Irwin
From: The Sandman
Date: 22 May 10 - 05:55 PM

This book which has some references to Irish Music,and has[on the back cover] a glowing recommendation by Folk Roots,might better have been called in serach of a map or alternatively in search of a good grouse.
This book is faintly amusing on occasions,despite some very irritating Irwinisms[why does he refer to his wife as Mrs Colin]does she not have a name of her own,or an identity of her own.
Irwin is clearly a hopeless map reader,the [Irwin route from Killarney via black valley to Glencar on my map does not exist,neither does it exist in reality,IRWIN musat have driven along a cart track[for some of the route.]
Irwin comes across as a pretty good grouser,he even manages to complain about being served a full Irish breakfast,The poor fellow even had to knock someone up to ask for breakfast, and grouses about the fact the employee said she had a head like a cows udder,
oh for the days when the sun never set on the British empire,and Brittania ruled the waves.
he grouses about not being able to find Tommy Peoples,he grouses about Wexford not being the sexiest town in the western world[for god sake people go to Amsterdam for sex [not Wexford].
He grouses about The Irish having road signs in kilometers as well as Miles [its all dont to confuse himself and mrs Colin,or other tourists]and so on.
plus much talk about The Fields Of Athenry,and where is Tommy Peoples
I recommend that this book should be in every dentists waiting room.
what Colin does not understand is that going in search of the Craic is a waste of time,the whole point about Craic is that you have to make it happen yourself,it is not a voyueristic sport.
This book is faintly amusing but it Illustrates how English ,Colin Irwin is.
it is occasionally humourous ,although it gives an inaccurate overall picture of irish music,of course places do exist such as those Irwin describe,they have to be to satisfy people,such as Colin who go looking for the craic.
Colin you should GO to Ballydehob,a Trad festival[TommyPeoples was booked] plus a Jazz festival,guests have included Joe Davidian,Michael Buckley,Andreas Varady etc etc