Eilís Dillon - One Author, Five Islands

Abstract

Celebrating the centenary year of one of the West of Ireland’s most versatile writers, bilingual writer Sadhbh Devlin, brought children from primary schools on Inisbofin, Inis Mór, Inis Oirr, Inis Meáin and Mynish Island on a magical tour along the wild Atlantic way introducing them to the life and works of Eilís Dillon via a pre-recorded video. Facilitating workshops on two of Dillon’s children’s books A Family of Foxes and The Island of Horses, Sadhbh explained what inspired Eilís to write the novels, discussing the themes, the language and the sense of place highlighted in them. Exploring the imagery in the books, the children related it to their own island surroundings. Hosting a ‘show and tell’ with items referenced in the novels, they brought in fishing floats, a photo of an old mailboat and the story of one child’s grandad who worked on it, a glass float and also baked soda bread in the school because the children in the book ate bread and jam. In a follow up live Zoom, Sadhbh facilitated a quiz and a book club, culminating with a short performance by the children based on the books.