The real poetry of Dunquin

Perched above the breathtaking coastline of Dunquin, Iain O’Leochain blends poetry, photography, and heritage into a singular artistic vision. Through his work, he not only captures the soul of the landscape but also helps revive the Irish language, one verse at a time.

If you venture out the Dingle peninsula and continue on past Dingle itself, you can see some of the most stunning views of Ireland. The bluff over Dunquin gives you an unspoiled panorama of the turquoise blue water, the rocky coastline and a remote beach, plus a grand a sense of history.  If you venture down the 50 stone steps to get to that remote beach, you will most likely run into Iain O'Leochain and he will most likely have with him an array of his artwork.

Iain comes from a family of poets. His father, Sean O'Leochain has recently published his 18th book of poetry.  Iain has put his own spin on the family talent, starting with the beautiful photographs he takes of the surrounding landscape.

When an image captures his imagination, he writes a poem about it, in Irish, and prints it on the matte surrounding the photograph. He carefully puts the English translation on the back. It's a way of sharing his art and nudging the Gaelic Revolution just a bit.

Iain O’Leochain’s artwork at Dunquin Credit. ErinsIsle.org

"I do sell these for money," he says. "But it's not about the money as much as it is my way of helping bring back the Irish language...one poem at a time. For decades, the English took our language and our culture and our art and we had to comply, out of deference. But now the Irish language is making a comeback and this is how I am doing my part."

He reads his poetry to admirers of the photos he lines up along the Dunquin Lane to that remote beach. And he explains the photos and recites the poetry to anyone interested. And if they can learn a few Irish words from it, he feels successful. 

Dunquin : credit. ErinsIsle.org

He lives on the bluff just above Dunquin, where he sees all that happens there. He collects photographs and shares the images and his poetry daily and in a way, he represents the real poetry of Dunquin.

You can hear the story of his poetry from Iain O’Leochain himself at Erin’s Isle.

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