What help can poetry be during a pandemic? This summer it feels like Ireland needs Americans and Americans need Ireland more than ever. I have visited Ireland close to twenty times since my first trip there in the late 1970s, drawn by the country’s remarkable beauty, justly famous hospitality, and, during the 90s, by my interest in American involvement in the Northern … [Read more...] about “Keeping Going”
Patrick Kavanagh
The Adventures of Irish Poets in America
What did the famed poets and writers get up to when they crossed the Atlantic? Dublin-born THOMAS MOORE (1779-1852) is still recognized as Ireland’s National Bard; he was once as famous a romantic poet as his best friend Lord Byron. While studying law in London in 1801 he published, anonymously, a book of naughty verses, The Poetical Works of the Late Thomas Little. The … [Read more...] about The Adventures of Irish Poets in America
Patrick Kavanagh
Sean Kelly remembers one of Ireland's most significant and revered poets. Ireland, from 1932 until 1973, was ruled by the eminently austere statesman Eamon de Valera, in cahoots with John Charles McQuaid, the outstandingly chaste Archbishop of Dublin. The former dreamed of “athletic youths, sturdy children and happy maidens, living the life that God desires that men should … [Read more...] about Patrick Kavanagh