A Woeful Tale

Derrick Cranpole

Derrick Cranpole is poet, artist and retired seafisherman living on the south-east coast of Ireland. He is recognised as a champion and voice for seafarers and coastal communities. His writing reflect these concerns.

Derrick Cranpole discovered poetry during his time at sea, which took him from the Arctic to the Southern Ocean and from the Americas to the Red Sea. Remembering bits of verse helped pass the long watches of the night. Back in the early sixties, Cranpole found himself on the deck of a lobster boat. Despite many ups and downs he stayed at the fishing and he loved every day of it.

Now he brings together a collection of his own poems and illustrations, recording his observations of life in a fishing community on the south coast of Ireland. Many of his poems have previously appeared in publications such as The Marine Times, Fishing News, Irish Skipper, Inshore Ireland and some have been aired on radio!

Cranpole's poetry has been described as "ironic, sometimes blunt" particularly when shining the light on an infuriating bureaucracy and officialdom that presides over the EU's Common Fisheries Policy. He deals with every day problems (at sea and on land) of seafarers, fishermen, residents of coastal communities. His manner is forthright but always in a humorous vein. He never flinches from championing the cause of the underdog.

Some have even detected 'a touch of the Kiplings' in his light-hearted poems and sketches.

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"Over the years I have known a lobster fisherman from the South-East, a man fond of a bit of ironic, sometimes blunt poetry or ditties, particularly when he was infuriated by official policies on fishing." - Tom MacSweeney, Marine Times

"Referring to the fishing industry and maritime matters especially in the South East (it is) a mainly humorous comment on the maritime society of the area and its 'official regulators'." - Ciarán O Mullain, Marine Times

"Cranpole's wry observations and humorous anecdotes make the mind boggle, not because they are too fantastic, but because they are all too real." - The Skipper

"He deals with everyday experiences of sailors and of the issues concerning seamen from bad weather to the EU's common fishery policy. When not dealing with such serious matters, his poems are funny and light-hearted as are also the sketches used to illustrate the book. Here and there we even detected a touch of the Kiplings." - Books Ireland, March 2012.

• RTÉ Seascapes: Tom MacSweeney's Maritme Log – 12th January 2006     Download podcast
• RTÉ Seascapes: Tom MacSweeney's Maritme Log – 29 May 2009     Download podcast
• RTÉ Seascapes: Tom MacSweeney's Maritme Log – 19 June 2009     Download podcast