Deartháireacha ealaíonta Éireannacha - Morgan Brothers

Tá Luke Morgan agus a dheartháir, Jake, i mbun comhlacht léiriúcháin ilchineálach idir teilifís, amharclann agus ceol, atá lonnaithe sa Ghaillimh ach a bhfuil cruthaithe acu gur féidir bheith i mbun ealaíona anseo agus thar lear gan mórán stró.

Ní hamháin an méid san thuas ach go bhfuil bealaí eile ann do chuid ealaíon a chruthú, mar a mhíníonn Luke do RTÉ.ie/Gaeilge.

"Sea, táimid lonnaithe anseo i nGaillimh. As Uachtar Ard mé féin agus Jake, tógadh anseo muid agus chualamar an dá theanga timpeall na Gaillimhe agus muid ag fás aníos. D'fhreastalaíomar ar Choláiste Éanna ar Bhóthar na Trá. Ní raibh aon Ghaeilge ag ár dtuismitheoirí ach rinneamar iarracht ár gcuid Gaeilge a fheabhsú cúpla bliain ó shin."

"Fuaireamar tacaíocht ó Bloc TG4 chun cuntas a dhéanamh ar chineál turas teanga. Mar sin bhíomar ag dul go ranganna anseo i nGaillimh chun ár gcuid Gaeilge a fheabhsú agus bhíomar ag obair le comhlachtaí eile sa cheantair ar nós Lorg Media, Foras na Gaeilge ar chúpla rud as Gaeilge a thaifeadadh."

"Faoi láthair is comhlacht léiriúcháin muid dírithe ar an gcruthaíocht do scannáin agus amharclann."

Agus bhí scannán agaibh ar TG4 le linn na Nollag, 'Froggie'?

"Sea, bhí sé ar TG4, ar an 23ú Nollaig – oíche oíche Nollaig! Tá sé fós ar an player ag TG4, sílim."

Tá sibh ag obair ar fud an domhain freisin ar scannán 'The Boat' mar shampla, lonnaithe sa Neipeal?

"Tá an cheart agat, bhí 'The Boat' ar an liosta fada Oscar ach níor éirigh linn an gearrliosta a sroicheann. Ach bhíomar ar an liosta fada toisc gur bhuamar cúpla duais ar fud na tíre ag Féile Scannán Chorcaigh, áit a fuair muid an Grand Prix don gearrscannán is fearr agus thuas i nDoire chomh maith ag an Foyle Film Festival."

Tá suíomh agat féin chomh maith, laismuigh de suíomh Morgan Brothers, áit a bhfuil teacht ar do shaothar pearsanta, filíocht ach go háirithe, agus dhá chnuasach foilsithe go dtí seo agat le Arlen House, 'Honest Walls' an debut agus le déanaí, 'Beast'. Tá an-spéis agat sa mhiotaseolaíocht agus san oidhreacht againn mar théamaí?

"Sin é, and my third collection is coming out this year, it’s brand new from Arlen House also, it’s called ‘Blood Atlas’. I’m very fortunate to have won the O’Shaughnessy Award for poetry, an award given by the University of St Thomas in Minnesota. So I’m the 2025 winner."

And Louis de Paor is a previous winner, you’re in good company!

"That’s right! Bhuail mé le Louis de Paor i dtigh an asail sa Phálás i nGaillimh cúpla lá ó shin! Agus is as Uachtar Ard é, freisin, so we’ve two O’Shaughnessy’s in Uachtar Ard!"

Uachtar Ard is brimming over with O’Shaughnessy Award Winners.

"Yeah! So I write poetry predominantly in English, I have written poetry in Irish but níl an féinmhuinín agam len é a dhéanamh i ndáiríre. But it’s coming, I’ve written a few in Irish and I’ve translated some of my own poems into Irish as well. That’s really a recent thing as I’ve improved my grasp of the language."

"So Blood Atlas is all about heritage, about lineage, the family, descendents and ancestors and our place in the great map of blood and family trees. It sounds quite violent but it’s a collection exploring my ancestry."

We come from a violent past, down through the centuries – what with all the cattle raids, huge battles, hero warriors and such like don’t we?

"Exactly, yeah. So it’s dealing with things like the Famine, and some of my ancestors who emigrated and made lives in England. And then it’s also about, I suppose, the Self. I lead a double life. Obviously this is a lonely pursuit, the poetry, but the film-making is very much a shared pursuit with Jake, my brother, who is a composer also. So there’s kind of two different parts of my work."

Two Lukes.

"Two Lukes, yes, there’s the Morgan Brothers Luke and the poet Luke. And Morgan Brothers work on exciting projects, ‘The Boat’, you mention, which we did with the Mission to End Leprosy. Ba scannán go huile is go hiomlán neamhspleách é ‘Froggie’ le Seán T. Ó Meallaigh agus Carrie Crowley, Gearoid Kavanagh agus Diarmuid de Faoite."

"We’re going to have our US premier in the Santa Barbara Film Festival, next month, which is a big film festival in California, which is very exciting. So the Irish Galway dialect will be falling on the ears of the punters of Santa Barbara."

Tá maoiniú forbartha faighte ag Morgan Brothers ó Fís Éireann don chéad scannáin eile acu, 'Augusto Augusto!' – scéal fé dhamháin alla gur féidir leis tuar na haimsire a dhéanamh – and to quote the great film critic Barry Norman 'and why not.' Comhléiriúcháin atá ann idir Éireann, an Phortaingéil agus an Bhrasaíl a chruthaíonn go bhfuil fís ag Morgan Brothers nach n-aithníonn teorainn cruthaitheach ná tíreolaíoch.

Tuilleadh eolais ag Luke Morgan agus Morgan Brothers.