Aisling an Ógfhir
or Bus Átha Cliath
environmental portrait of my son Dorus
oil on canvas (cotton)
100 × 150 cm
November 2016
Aisling an Ógfhir is Irish for ‘The Young Man’s Dream’. This is also the name of an old Irish melody written down in 1796.
It seems to have been the basis for the Londonderry Air, better known as Danny Boy, and also for the popular song The Last Rose of Summer.
In folklore and literature, Ireland is often represented by a female being. She appears, lamenting her fate, in a dream (aisling) to a young man.
Reminiscences:
- Danny Boy (The Pogues)
- The Last Rose of Summer (Celtic Woman)
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Dorus emigrated in October 2010, immediately after receiving his master’s degree in Celtic Studies in Utrecht, only ‘armed’ with a backpack with some clothes and his laptop. And of course he took his violin with him.
Since then he has started to play music in pub sessions, has taken up various jobs and is progressing his studies further in what I call ‘Dublin, city of Dorus’.
Bus Átha Cliath is the name of Dublin’s public bus service. Baile Átha Cliath, or simply Áth Cliath, is the Irish for Dublin.
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