Centre of Excellence – Frank McNally on the most famous saying in Irish literature and the rise of Gallic football – The Irish Times

Which sentence or phrase is the most immortal in Irish literature? “And yes, I said yes, I will”? No. “Waiting for Godot”? Not that either. “Is it about a bicycle?” Not that either, even if it comes from a book set in eternity. No. The most famous – and seemingly immortal – sentence ever written by an Irish author is “the centre cannot hold”. If only for the eternal convenience of headline writers, nothing else comes close to that sentence.

His most recent high-profile appearance was on the front page of the Economist last week, above a picture of the French tricolour with the blue and red parts fluttering in the wind and the white part missing.

But there is always a political crisis looming somewhere in the world, and Yeats’ grim fairy tale “The Second Coming of God,” and especially the line about the bleak prospects of central government, do not seem to be appropriate for that.

The book was written in 1919 against the backdrop of the Bolshevik Revolution and the war in Ireland. 100 years later, thanks to Brexit and Donald Trump, it is more popular than ever. And on its 105th anniversary, it shows no signs of slowing down.

Many other lines from the poem are also suitable for headlines. “The Second Coming” itself (in which Yeats is now competing with Christianity for copyright) is likely to be given new life in this year’s US presidential election.

“Things fall apart”, “What rough beast” and “the darkness drops again” will also be in demand again.

But for its overall appeal (including those occasional non-political appearances like Bundee Aki or Robbie Henshaw hitting a ball over the goal line), “the centre can’t hold” is essential.

“The bikes go by in twos and threes,” quoted here just yesterday, is far less well known. But as reader Sean Lyons tells me, Patrick Kavanagh’s poem about his banishment from a dance at Billy Brennan’s barn in the 1930s seems to have achieved a certain degree of immortality.

At the recent Wild Mind Festival – a celebration of the natural environment – ​​in Fenit, Co Kerry, Sean organised an event called ‘Poetry in Motion’, a group cycle ride along the local greenway with stops to recite poetry.

When a young woman from Monaghan joined them, he asked her to begin with a reading of Inniskeen Road July Evening. She then introduced herself as “Billy Brennan’s great-niece”. By another coincidence, the festival centre was located in a venue called “The Barn”.

In a not dissimilar way, I am struck by the fact that among the signatories of the open letter from Joyceites (referred to in Conor Gallagher’s July 12 news item) protesting against the exclusion of Fritz Senn from the recent Joyce symposium was a name that struck me as both alien and strangely familiar.

“Maninda Muquintoj” described himself as a “cryptographer” from “Hadesville, TN” (Tennessee). That sounded plausible.

Joyce himself and an interest in cryptography (as did his friend John Francis Byrne, who in real life lived at No. 7 Eccles Street, where Leopold Bloom fictionally lived). He buried many puzzles in Ulysses for future scholars to decipher. But the university the signer was associated with, “Necropolis College,” looked more suspect. And indeed, on closer inspection, this seems to be another appearance of our old friend from Paddy Dignam’s funeral, whose identity still remains a mystery to Joyceans: “the man in the Macintosh.”

It’s (almost) Bastille Day. With that in mind, I’m glad to hear the French are back at sea and heading for Ireland. But unlike in 1798, they won’t be docking at Kilala and seem to have a much better chance of reaching Dublin this time. The latest French invasion is a Gaelic football team who are touring Ireland next week, playing three games against local opposition. And no, these aren’t just Irish exiles playing GAA in France. We’re talking real Frenchmen with names like Maxime Batard (Paris Gaels), Antoin Mania (Bordeaux Gaelic) and Jérémy Charrier (Nantes Don Bosco). There are no games scheduled for Castlebar or Ballinamuck. Learning from the mistakes of General Humbert, they will head straight to the capital for games against Portobello, Na Fianna and Beann Eadair.

Apparently it is no longer unusual for GAA clubs in France to attract locals without Irish family ties, and the Gallic Athletic Association, as it should have been called, was able to put together a touring party of 23 local footballers.

Unfortunately or not, a dual star who represented France at football but is also the most famous GAA player to ever carry the blue flag is not included. Although he is now 47, he must at least be fit enough to play in the junior league. Still, there is no place in the squad for Thierry Henry, whose brilliant hand pass helped William Gallas score a famous winning goal against Ireland in 2009.

To return to Yeats and the question of whether the centre can hold, I am pleased to be able to report at least one case in which it almost certainly will.

We’re talking about the Taney Parish Centre, specifically in Dundrum, Co Dublin, where the annual Yeats Sisters Symposium is due to take place this weekend, celebrating the work of WB’s siblings Susan and Elizabeth. For a full programme, visit theyeatssisters.com.