Mol na Meáin: Manchán Magan

Le Eimear Nig Oireachtaigh

Eagrán eile, duine suimiúil eile! An uair seo, bhí deis agam cúpla ceist a chuir ar Manchán Magan. Chuala mé faoi don chéad uair mar gheall ar ‘No Béarla’, clár teilifíse a tháinig amach i 2007. Chuaigh Manchán timpeall na tíre, gan focal Béarla a úsáid. Ar ndóigh, bhí sé sin an-deacair, agus tharraing sé aird ar an leibhéal Ghaeilge atá ag cuid mhór na tíre.

By Caoimhe Killeen

“Here we go again” was the main sentiment that was no doubt echoed in households across the country, as Taoiseach Micheal Martin confirmed that Level 5 restrictions were to be imposed for a six-week period nationwide. And once again, for a lot of businesses here in Galway, a forced temporary closure. Some businesses deemed as “non-essential retail” may find this second lockdown more challenging than the last, especially smaller businesses who truly thrive on being self-sufficient. For one Galway business, that is certainly the case.

Bell, Book, and Candle is an independent bookshop and record store tucked away in the Small Crane, just off Sea Road. Set up by Paul Deacy in the 90’s, the shop prides itself on its large second-hand book collection as well as its impressive record collection. Paul’s initial reaction to the first nationwide lockdown back in March back when cases were only in the double digits was that of fear. “I was worried that my shop would become irrelevant, that people would get used to not having the shop around” recalled Paul from behind the main counter the morning after the Taoiseach’s announcement. “So that at whatever stage I was going to reopen, a lot of people would have moved onto Kindles and all of those electronic options that I suppose I compete with in a weird sort of way. So yeah, I was afraid.”

Thankfully, this did not turn out to be the case. As soon as the shop was legally allowed to reopen, the Galway community seemed to take on the message of shopping and supporting local businesses. For Bell, Book and Candle, the process happened naturally without putting out any prompts. Paul admitted that he was shocked “at the amount of

Tar éis é sin ar fad, cheap mé go raibh meon iontach aige faoi spreagadh an teanga: “An príomh-shuim atá agamsa ná chun eilimintí dearfacha don teanga a mhíniú agus a chur i n-iúl de dhaoine eile.” Agus tá sé sin go léir déanta aige i go leor slite éagsúla.

Luaigh sé an tionscadal is déanaí atá aige darbh ainm ‘Sea Tamagotchi’. I mí Feabhra (sula raibh aon eolas againn faoi víreas, nó céard a bhí i ndán

Bookshops in the age of Covid-19 — A conversation with Bell, Book and Candle

dúinn!), chuaigh sé timpeall ceantair Ghaeltachta,

people who started shopping local and I’m shocked that people actually came into my shop…there’s still an awful lot of people still in lockdown that weren’t back at their jobs and I am. I was impressed, and I’m thankful to those people who decided that instead of going out of town to do their shopping, that they took the time to come in and walk around the shop.”

Unfortunately, the generosity of his Galway customers will be cut short by the current Level 5 restrictions that will be in effect until the end of the month. Paul has had to find ways to be creative in how he can keep the business running over the second lockdown because Bell, Book and Candle currently does not have a website. He plans to use the Instagram page for the business with a following of over 800 people, as a lot of his customers view the page and tend to ring up the shop when they see something they want. Sometimes, the books are even sold over the Instagram page. However, an older yet classic approach is often used by Paul-the shop window display which normally changes once a week. He also relies on Ernie’s’ shop just around the corner as a display for some of his stock, as it is a business run by his family.

“I feel that they made the shop keep a little bit relevant... I don’t want the shop to leave people’s minds, I want people to keep remembering the shop and the window keeps the shop fresh and alive.” Yet, he notes that the shop still has a good few regular customers and that creating a website sometime in the future may help in making the shop even busier.

On the topic of customers, Paul hopes that lockdown will also be reverted to Level 3 on December 1st in time for Christmas. In his opinion, Christmas will allow Bell, Book and Candle to survive all the way to next March. “January is always a busy month, not as busy as Christmas. A lot of people who have been reading over the holidays will keep it up into January, so January is always busy. But February is really quiet and income from Christmas helps to pay the bills in the heavy winter months, so hopefully I’ll be open for Christmas.” On a parting note, Paul seemed to also empathise with students who are currently faced with online learning. “I know it’s hard to be self-motivated and if you’re attending lectures online and in isolation, and not in the canteen solving the problems of the world, it can be hard. So, if you’re studying and at home, it can be hard to be motivated!” ag bailiú focail mara a bhí ar tí báis a fháil, “focail imeallacha”, mar a deir sé féin. Chuaigh sé timpeall Tír Eoghain, Maigh Eo agus Contae na Gaillimhe, mar chuid de Ghaillimh 2020. Ar ndóigh, bíonn go leor focal cósta in úsáid acu ansin, mar baineann a saol ar fad leis an bhfarraige. Is smaoineamh iontach é sin, i mo thuairim. Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil go leor focal againn i nGaeilge a bheidh caillte mura ndéanann daoine an obair seo!

Mar a dúirt mé, cuireann sé na heilimintí dearfacha don teanga in iúl i slite difriúla. Seachas an tionscadal ‘Sea Tamagotchi’, déanann sé drámaí dhá-teangacha. Ar ndóigh, níl sé sin déanta aige i mbliana, ach de ghnáth déanann sé ‘Aran-Im’. Chuir sé síos air i slí iontach dom – “bácálaim arán taos géar agus úsáidim an próiséas bácála mar meafair chun na tuiscintí a thugann an teanga dúinn ar an dtimpeallacht, ár n-oidhreacht agus an saol inmheánach a léiriú.”

Má tá m’alt le Mícheál D. Ó léite agat, beidh sé sin cloiste agat cheana. Is téama é seo a bhaineann le daoine atá ag obair leis an nGaeilge, go dtuigeann siad go bhfuil níos mó i gceist leis an teanga ná díreach amháin an teanga í féin. I gcónaí, bíonn siad ag smaoineamh faoin tír ina n-iomláin, faoi oidhreacht na tíre, agus gach rud a théann leis sin.

Agus an píosa deireanach – céard é an rud is fearr leis faoin teanga álainn seo? “Bhí na céad focail a chuala mé riamh ó mo mháthair as Gaeilge: a mhuirnín, a bhuachaín séimh, a ghrá-gheal. Mar

sin bheidh nasc láidir, croíúil, diamhaireacht agam i gcónaí leis an teanga... Is maith liom freisin go dtugann an teanga leaideanna i gcónaí dúinn go bhfuil an saol osréalaíoch ann, agus go bhfuil sé díreach chomh tábhach leis an gceann atá os comhar amach na súile.” Is breá liom an cheist sin, mar bíonn freagraí difriúla i gcónaí ag daoine. Seo an chéad tagairt a fuair mé faoin saol osréalaíoch, agus tá an ceart ar fad aige, bíonn sé sin i gcónaí ann.

Má tá sibh ag iarraidh saothair Manchán a fheiceáil, tá a sraith ‘Nó Béarla’ ar YouTube, agus ceapaim gur sraith fhíorshuimiúil é. Ar an drochuair, beidh ort fanacht go dtí gur féidir linn dul ar ais sna hamharclanna chun a chuid drámaí a fheiceáil, ach idir an t-am sin agus anois, molaim ‘No Béarla’ go mór.

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