Always Listening
I don’t like keeping things, but I hoard notebooks and word documents. I write down interesting turns of phrase, funny anecdotes, observations that are far afield of anything I might say or think. Billy Wilder did this too. He kept all these in notebooks, and would flip through them from time to time while he was working, to see if anything in there presented itself as a quip or joke or solution. This is basically what I do, but with less skill. Obviously.
One of the places that has filled more notebooks than any other place I’ve been is western Ireland, especially the time I went alone. I was always eavesdropping on people. I hoped to have enough material to one day write something about my experiences. The States, my novel set partially in the Galway Gaeltacht, is the result. I pulled all the little phrases, like how a woman outside of Cupán Tae greeted a dog ("Gabh i leith! Math an buachaill!") and when one member of a group of arguing friends cried out, "stall the digger!"
Still, I didn't have enough material. I found podcasts, interviews, reddit conversations, anything that might give me more sayings. From these, I found "half lad" and "gombeen" and learned more about the history of Galway city, of the trials that is using the Barna road, of how challenging the housing crisis is in Ireland, particularly for younger people. I tried very hard to use the sayings I learned in the correct context, not just to show off. As Tildy's Irish friends get more animated, the language gets more casual and off-color.
It's easy to find how younger people speak on the internet. For anyone older than 26, I faced a bit of a challenge. I relied on a few sources, including Galway Advertiser's delightful Old Galway Diary podcast. Ronnie and Tom's banter and deep knowledge of the city and surrounding countryside is regularly fascinating. Their personal chemistry is quite charming, too. When you read The States, look out for the characters inspired by them. They’re having a friendly chat.
And if you know me at all, you know I listen to The Irish Passport podcast. It is an excellent source of information on various topics, from Ireland's military to missing forests. I learned a great deal about Ireland from Naomi and Tim, and tried to imbue the story with the feeling of what I learned, even if I didn’t include details.
