Jean's Journal: Honouring our dead

by Jean Farrell

James Joyce (1882-1941) was in the news lately with the celebration of Bloom’s Day. I wrote recently about the fact that he is buried in Zurich.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) is buried in Paris. I thought of him when I came across one of his many wonderful quotes.

He said: “A man’s face is his autobiography. A woman’s face is her work of fiction.” Considering all that can be done to alter one’s face nowadays, as well as the application of much make-up, women’s faces can indeed be a work of fiction!

Travelling back from Sligo, last year, we visited the grave of another famous Irish writer, W B Yeats (1865-1939.) I’m sure many of you have stopped there too, in Drumcliffe churchyard.

The inscription on the simple headstone reads "Cast a cold eye on life, on death, horseman, pass by." This was Yeats' self-penned epitaph together with the instructions that the grave consist of "no marble or no conventional phrase".

Moving on now to two famous Athlone men and their graves. John McCormack (1884-1948) is buried in Deansgrange cemetery, in Dublin. Count John McCormack, a tenor, was one of first international superstars.

Our other famous Athlone John is John Broderick (1924-1989.)

He is mentioned very regularly in this newspaper and some of his novels are being re-released. A society was set up in town to honour his memory and tours are often held to show places of interest in his life. He was born in Connaught Street, where his family owned a famous bakery.

All the above leads me to write about his grave.

We know that the purpose of a grave is to serve as a focal point to honour the dead person. I was shocked to see the condition of John Broderick’s grave in Cornamagh Cemetery. It is falling in on itself.

John Broderick lived in very different times, in ‘holy’ Ireland. I remember him well, standing outside the counter in their famous bakery. He was a tall handsome man, dressed beautifully, wearing a bright coloured well-cut suit and bow tie.

Google tells me, “As a gay man, Broderick prided himself that his novels challenged ‘pathological’ Irish attitudes on the subject of homosexuality. His personal favourite among his novels, The Waking of Willie Ryan (1969), revolves around a man consigned to a mental hospital because of his family's desire to conceal his homosexuality and to rid themselves of the embarrassment.”

Times have changed hugely, or so I thought.

I wrote an article about Pride recently. At Pride events the gay community celebrate that they can be who they are, and love who they love, without fear that they will be punished for doing so.

I ended my article by stating how great it is that difference is acceptable and celebrated at last!

Sadly, I was wrong. The day after my article was published, on June 18 last, I was very disappointed to hear what Brendan Courtney had to say to Claire Byrne, on the radio.

We know Brendan best from the television programme he presents called Keys To My Life. I loved the episode where he brought Mary O’Rourke around the places in Athlone where she lived. I’m sure many locals loved the old footage shown of inside Gentex factory. Mary lived on the grounds, as a young child. This is because her father, Patrick Lenihan, had set up this factory on the instruction of the then Taoiseach, Seán Lemass, in 1947.

I digress – back to what Brendan Courtney had to say on the radio last week. Proud to be gay, he told Claire Byrne that when the marriage equality act was passed in 2015, eleven years ago, he and his many friends felt it was safe ‘at last’ to be who they are. They no longer needed to be frightened or scared.

However, attitudes have changed for the worst since then. Gay people are having to look over their shoulders and feel afraid again.

Brendan attributes the change in attitudes to homophobic folk ‘peddling hate’ online. His opinion is that these people feel aggrieved, voiceless and forgotten, so they attack who they can. Sadly, they are united in hate, he said.

We have taken a big step back, he told Claire Byrne. Gays are being attacked and feel frightened on the streets again. How very sad.

He made a point that I mentioned in my previous article on this subject. He said that every single gay man, as a teenager, lay in bed “hating themselves” when they first realised that they were sexually attracted to males. He said that they were full of self-loathing and fear.

“Nobody wants to be different,” Brendan told Claire. It takes a while, with family and friends’ support to accept that “This is who I am.”

How very sad that we are rolling back on acceptance and tolerance of gay folk! How very sad that they still feel afraid to be who they are.

jeanfarrell@live.ie