The life and work of a German who played "truant from Europe" on Mayo's Achill Island was recalled yesterday by the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue, when he opened a unique residency on the island.
The Heinrich Böll writers' and artists' residency is intended to celebrate the contribution which the Nobel prize-winner made to the Achill community during the more than 30 summers he spent there.
It was in "an exceptionally beautiful part of Co Mayo" below Slievemore mountain that the writer "found the isolation and peace he needed to create his work", the Minister said.
"Here, too, among a community that welcomed him and grew to love him, he found a way of life that helped him to renew his spirituality and to inspire his literary endeavours."
Today, Böll's cottage at Dugort is "more than a shrine to a writer of the past", he noted. Thanks to the generosity of the Böll family and the hard work of many people, it is also a "crucible of new artistic creation".
Heinrich Böll was born in Cologne, Germany, in 1917, and served for six years as a private and corporal in the German army on the Soviet and western fronts during the second World War.
It was through Pádraig Ó Rathaille, then working with Raidió Éireann, that Böll found a retreat where he could record his experiences. Initially, he stayed at the Bervie Guesthouse on Achill Island. His work, Irisches Tagebuch (The Irish Journal), reflects his experiences between 1950 and 1954 in Ireland and has been published many times in his native Germany.
Böll's widow, Annemarie, and his son, Rene, have supported community efforts to have the cottage refurbished and made available for writers and artists to use. The programme will be funded through annual revenue grants from both Mayo County Council and the Arts Council, Mr O'Donoghue said yesterday.
The Böll family is providing the house free of charge and the residency will be administered by a voluntary committee chaired by Dr Edward King.
Writers and artists will be able to avail of the initiative for periods of two to four weeks and a small stipend has been organised to cover expenses.
Applications in writing, including a full CV and examples of work, may be sent to the secretary of the Achill Heinrich Böll Committee, Mr John McHugh, at Abha Teangaí, Dooagh, Achill Island, Co Mayo, or by e-mail to: hbollachill@anu.ie
