Danielle Valade
IAH 221C
06/19/2013
Word Count: 2,006
The Irish Society Through Dermot Bolger.
Whenever reading any type of writing whether it is a book, poem, or play, it is
very important to know what the authors writing style is. It is also equally important to be
aware of the background of the author and where that particular author is coming from.
Dermot Bolger was born in Finglas, which is a suburb of Dublin in the year of 1959. He
grew up living in Ireland as part of a “blue collar” lifestyle. Growing up and living in the
working class made Bolger possess certain opinions about various issues and standpoints
within Ireland. Because of this, much of Bolger’s work is reflective of his perspectives
from his personal experiences with this lifestyle. His opinions are repeatedly intertwined
throughout his work. This is true for many authors as well. One piece of work in
particular that shows a clear example of Bolger’s views is through his writing of the
“Ballymun Trilogy”. This book is composed of three different playwrights, “From These
Green Heights”, “The Townlands Of Brazil”, and “The Consequences Of Lightning”.
Through these works, Bolger’s use of an emotional appeal through his syntax, an outsider
perspective, and a realistic approach to engage the reader, all create not only a strong
persuasion, but also a better understanding of his views as a whole.
The use of an emotional appeal is a very important strategy that Bolger uses for
convincing readers. It not only keeps the reader engaged in the play, but also poses a
viewpoint. A variety of exaggerated words were also expressed with emotion. This is
incorporated into the three playwrights to accentuate the author’s view. For example, in
“The Townlands Of Brazil”, as Eileen, a young woman, thinks about her baby and lover
Michael, she says, “Michael was right, every pinprick of light fading is like another
Danielle Valade
IAH 221C
06/19/2013
Word Count: 2,006
The Irish Society Through Dermot Bolger.
weight off my soul. I’m as far away from Ballymun now as if I was lying in a nameless
grave” (pg. 148, Bolger). The use of language here is very deep and sentimental, yet it
captures a strong message to the reader. The use of the words “nameless grave” alone
shows how hopeless and disconnected Eileen feels from her home of Ballymun. She is
shunned from her family for becoming impregnated. She not only hurts from the loss of
her lover, but also the loss she will feel when the baby she is carrying is taken from her.
This disconnection that Eileen faces I believe is a reflection of how Bolger has felt about
Ireland, a sense of feeling foreign in one’s own homeland. In his author’s note he
comments on his family and emigration, which is where he feels he personally is
disconnected. Another example showing how strong emotional appeal is connected to
Bolger’s beliefs occurs in the playwright “From These Green Heights.” In this playwright
two families are focused on: Jane, Marie, and Sharon, and Christy, Carmel, and Dessie.
These characters move into the flats to the northeast of Dublin. Just like “The Townlands
Of Brazil”, again, the location of this play takes place in Ballymun. The 1960’s is also
when this play is set in . Towards the end, the play skips to present day. At the beginning
Ballymun was thought to be the upcoming place to live. Because of this the reader can
see that the characters seem to be very hopeful about their future. But as the story
unfolds, the characters unravel into somewhat displaced and isolated individuals from the
rest of Ireland. Bolger uses careful and constructive word choices that illuminate this
hopeful and successful atmosphere into the withdrawn place that the characters appear to
be in at the end. Towards the end of the first act, Carmel starts to open up her thoughts on
the living situation. She talks about the new residents saying,
Danielle Valade
IAH 221C
06/19/2013
Word Count: 2,006
The Irish Society Through Dermot Bolger.
“ It was lonely when so many of the original tenants left, families like us who’d
came here agog by the newness of everything. I missed their innocence. The newer
tenants had a different attitude. We were sent here as a reward, but they saw it as a
sentence…the atmosphere changed” (pg. 35, Bolger).
This again shows the disconnection from others, as well as the toll that Ballymun’s
declining economy has on its citizens. The words “reward” and “sentence” I believe
really figuratively illustrate the picture as a whole. The “reward” being the initial outlook
on Ballymun, the fact that it was a hopeful place to be moving into. The “sentence”,
referring to a jail sentence here represents the loss of choice that the people of the
Ballymun Towers were faced with. Both examples that are given are strong indicators of
an amount of destruction physically, but also what the people of Ballymun emotionally
faced. As a result, this emotional appeal allows Bolger to easily go into much detail to
explain his political views, as well as create an understanding for the reader. Bolger
provides several examples of this throughout the particular play, as well as throughout the
entire Ballymun Trilogy.
In addition to capturing the reader’s attention and understanding through Bolger’s
use of syntax with the emotional appeal, Bolger is also able to further effectively present
his opinions through his ability of the use of an outsider’s perspective. Bolger does this
by focusing on the people of the everyday working class. Because the working class is
sometimes seen as under spoken in the political world, this different perspective allows
the reader to see Ballymun through a new lens. A good example of this is shown through
Danielle Valade
IAH 221C
06/19/2013
Word Count: 2,006
The Irish Society Through Dermot Bolger.
the character of Dessie in the first play in the trilogy, “From These Green Heights”.
Although Dessie had a tough time living in Ballymun, he is determined to stand up for
where he comes from to make it better for the future. In the play, this is a different side
than what the other characters feel. By making Dessie’s views and desires different from
others living in his same situation, his hopeful character is easily remembered. This is
very important because Bolger really stresses the idea of the hopeful sense that he
believes was a common theme of the people of Ballymun during the Ballymun Tower
age. Towards the end of the play Dessie talks to his past lover Marie for the first time in a
long time. He describes what he had been doing in Ballymun as a union activist and says
“When people were dumped out here in the 1960’s, nobody asked what we wanted: they
made decisions for us. My journey is to make them listen” (pg. 89, Bolger). From this
quote, it is easy to see Dessie’s passion for what he is fighting as a result from how he has
lived. I think Dessie’s character here really parallels who Bolger is as well. By creating a
character like Dessie, Bolger is also able to successfully make his point to the reader. The
second and third plays in the trilogy also have characters that are outsiders to Ballymun.
Eileen from “The Townlands Of Brazil”, and Katie from “Consequences Of Lightning”,
are both characters that are shunned and sent away from Ballymun. In both stories, the
women are forced to leave because of their pregnancies. Just like Dessie, Eileen and
Katie both showcase important themes as outsiders. Eileen searches for herself in the
beginning of a new life. Talking to her unborn baby she says, “I am just another foreign
face lost in a foreign city” (pg.149, Bolger). Eileen here feels lost and isolated. This is
reflective of her stranger-like life she had been living in Ireland prior to the current
Danielle Valade
IAH 221C
06/19/2013
Word Count: 2,006
The Irish Society Through Dermot Bolger.
situation in the play, as well as a literally meaning of a “foreign face”. In the final play,
Katie also searches for a new life when she is forced to leave. In this play, Bolger further
emphasizes the idea of a new identity through Katie’s character. In the second act Katie
says, “ I acquired a new identity on the boat to England and I new that when I came
home, I wouldn’t need to pretend anymore” (pg. 269, Bolger). This quote alone serves as
very important symbolism for how disconnected Katie really was in Ireland. This
functions as a final effort to address Bolger’s opinions on Ireland and it’s society for the
reader.
Another strategy that Bolger uses that helps with understanding the work for the
reader is a realistic approach. Bolger accomplishes this by choosing to connect each play
by basing the series of plays on the time period of the building and demolition of the
Ballymun Towers. By using this sequence of events, Bolger is able to lay out the main
political drama of Dublin, specifically Ballymun, over the past 50 years or so. Not only
does this allow the reader to clearly follow the history, it also allows for a clearer image
of how many of the people felt, and still feel about Ballymun. Bolger’s use of a realistic
approach is what creates this clear image to the reader. The realistic approach to this also
allows for a logical viewpoint to be presented. This is very important in order to not only
make the reader understand, but also have them connect with and convince the reader to
agree. In the first play, the opening act is the time period of the 1960’s. As stated before,
this was when Ballymun was a supposed thriving area for the people of Ireland. The
second act jumps about 50 years later when the towers appear to be almost opposite from
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IAH 221C
06/19/2013
Word Count: 2,006
The Irish Society Through Dermot Bolger.
the hopeful environment years before. By setting up this timeline in the first play, the
reader can easily see the events have occurred over time, as well as the effects that people
have come to realize. It’s almost as if the reader is living the life of the characters. Not
only is this an effective writing technique to engage readers, it is also a brilliant way for
readers more clearly understand Ballymun. Throughout the second and third plays Bolger
digs deeper into the characters lives. Both of the last two plays contain heavy material to
enhance the effectiveness. The plots here both showcase young adult lovers who are
separated and unable to marry. While living an unpredictable future, the women are left
alone with the burden of the loss of a lover, and carrying of their unborn babies. This
causes them to go through an almost unstoppable soul-searching crisis. A quote that truly
exemplifies this idea comes from Katie as she closes the play. Talking to Annie, Katie
tells her not to let the worry of leaving Katie alone keep her from leaving Ballymun. She
states, “ It would break my heart if the thought of me being alone ever held you back,
because it would make a mockery of every sacrifice I made” (pg. 300, Bolger). By
placing this statement at the end of the conversation to closing of the play, the reader is
left with a dramatic, and emotional ending. Bolger also at the same time creates what
seems like a somewhat ordinary matter. The emotion brought from these characters is
very tangible, and as a result is also very relatable. Because this is so realistic, the reader
is able to simply fathom the lifestyle, as well as understand the many concepts that are
presented to the reader.
Danielle Valade
IAH 221C
06/19/2013
Word Count: 2,006
The Irish Society Through Dermot Bolger.
Through the series of the “Ballymun Trilogy”, Dermot Bolger leads the reader on
a rollercoaster of events that take place figuratively and literally with the rising and
falling of the Ballymun Towers of Ireland. Each play of the series presents a different
significance to the value of the work as a whole. Not only is the reader drawn to the
trilogy emotionally, Bolger also intensifies the attention and further understanding of his
views of Ballymun through a realistic approach and outsider’s perspective. The
“Ballymun Trilogy” is just one of many pieces of work that Bolger uses to express his
thoughts on Ireland. With this particular writing, Bolger is able to very effectively and
successfully present and clarify his opinions to the reader.
Works Cited
Bolger, Dermot. The Ballymun Trilogy. 2010. New Island Publishing. Dublin: Ireland.