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Patrick Kavanagh (1904 - 1967 / County Monaghan)
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Kavanagh was born on the 21st of October 1904, in the village of Inniskeen, Co. Monaghan, Ireland. His father was a shoemaker and had a small farm of land. At the age of thirteen Kavanagh became an apprentice shoemaker. He gave it up 15 months later, admitting that he didn't make one wearable pair of boots. For the next 20 years, Kavanagh would work on the family farm before moving to Dublin in 1939.
Kavanagh's writing resulted in the publication of some poems in a local newspaper in the early 1930's. In 1939, his brother Peter, who was a Dublin based teacher, urged him to move to the city to establish himself as a writer. The Dublin Literary Society saw Kavanagh as a country ... more »
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Popular Poems
- A Star
- Advent
- April Dusk
- Canal Bank Walk
- Epic
- Gospel
- Having To Live in the Country
- In Memory Of My Mother
- Inniskeen Road: July Evening
- Innocence
- Kerr's Ass
- March
- Memory of my Father
- On An Apple-Ripe September Morning
Quotations
more quotations »-
''Leafy-with-love banks and the green waters of the canal
Patrick Kavanagh (1905-1969), Irish poet, novelist. Canal Bank Walk (l. 1-2). . . Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, The. Richard Ellmann and Robe...
Pouring redemption for me,''
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''For this soul needs to be honoured''
Patrick Kavanagh (1905-1969), Irish poet, novelist. Canal Bank Walk (l. 13). . . Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, The. Richard Ellmann and Rober...
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''O unworn world enrapture me, enrapture me in a web
Patrick Kavanagh (1905-1969), Irish poet, novelist. Canal Bank Walk (l. 9-10). . . Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, The. Richard Ellmann and Rob...
Of fabulous grass and eternal voices by a beech,''
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''I have lived in important places, times
Patrick Kavanagh (1905-1969), Irish poet, novelist. Epic (l. 1-2). . . Faber Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry, The. Paul Muldoon, ed. (1986) Fabe...
When great events were decided,''
Comments about Patrick Kavanagh
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A beautiful poem set to a beautiful melody. I've listened to dozens of versions and while those listed here by others are fine, the wonderful, haunting track by Joan Osborne with the Chieftains is the one that gets me every time.
On Raglan Road was actually set to music by Kavanagh himself and the lead singer of The Dubliners, Luke Kelly. It is set to the music of the traditional Irish song 'Fainne Geal an Lae' (The Dawning of the Day) . This original version is by far the best of the numerous versions now on offer, truly capturing the feel of the poem (So much so it is used as a learning aid in Leaving Certificate English) , and i would wholly recommend anyone to give it a listen.
Canadian singer Loreena McKennitt does an incredible job with Kavanagh's 'On Raglan Road' which she has set to music in her new album 'Nights from the Alhambra'. I mean this dame sings like a thrush! If one buys only one music CD a year, this would be it.
I would like a copy of the poem A View of God and the Devil by Patrick Kavanagh. Your help would be much appreciated.