Gearóid Mac Lochlainn comes from Belfast and a background steeped in music and politics. He is still deeply influenced by music and politics is an abiding theme in his work. Mac Lochlainn is interested in how poetry interacts with every facet of life. He began learning Irish at the age of eleven in St. Mary's School in Belfast and sees himself as a life-long learner of the language.

Sean-nós' ('old style') singing is just one of the influences on his poetry along with reggae, dub, hip-hop, wacipi, Beat poetry and others. Mac Lochlainn has consciously developed the performance of his work as an event in itself and has worked on the technical aspects such as rhythmic delivery, gesture, facial expression etc. The Irish Times described his readings as 'performance poetry for the 21st century'.

Mac Lochlainn has produced three solo collections to date. In his introduction to the first of these Babylon Gaeilgeoir (An Clochán, 1997) Cathal Ó Searcaigh stated that Mac Lochlainn was 'ag séideadh anáil bheo na n-óg isteach i seanscamhóga na Gaeilge, ag cur an fhuil a choipeadh arís ina cuislí, ag cur fonn súirí uirthi i dtearmann an dáin' ('breathing the fresh air of youth into the old lungs of the Irish language, setting its blood racing in its veins, making her feel frisky in poetry's boudouir'). Mac Lochainn's second collection was Na scéalaithe (Coiscéim, 1999).

His third collection illustrates again his deep interest in the process and nature of translation, the art of performance and the role of music in performing. The bilingual Sruth teangacha / Stream of tongues which is accompanied by a CD of performances (Indreabhán: Cló Iar-Chonnachta, 2002) is highly acclaimed and has been showered with accolades, among them the Michael Hartnett Award, The Butler Prize from the Irish American Cultural Institute and the Eithne and Rupert Strong Award.

Sruth Teangacha/Stream of Tongues (Cló Iar-Chonnachta, 2002)
Na Scéalaithe (Coiscéim, 1999) Babylon Gaeilgeoir (An Clochán, 1997)

Updated March 2009

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