Bernard O Donoghue Poem by Francis Duggan

I knew him in my school days he is a year older than I
And even then he was known as a very clever boy
And to those who know him years later on it came as no surprise
When the famous poet from Cullen won the Whitbread Poetry Prize.

A major poet from Duhallow Bernard O Donoghue is his name
And he is at the doorstep of the literary hall of fame
Far from Sliabh Luachra's borders and his own green countryside
He is a living legend and his name known far and wide.

Six or seven miles from where Bernard was raised in Sliabh Luachra's days of yore
The great poets of the district at the cross roads near Rathmore
Used to recite their verses always to a loud encore
And their names and works still famous far distant from Erin's shore.

Good to hear that one from Cullen one that I knew years ago
Has become a living literary legend far from where the Araglen waters flow
On slowly towards the Blackwater on it's journey towards the sea
Through the woods and the flat meadows and through the roots of many a tree.

A major poet from Duhallow so skilled at the wordsmith trade
Has become a literary legend poets like him are born not made
Such a bright boy in his schooldays and it comes as no surprise
To all of those who know him that he won the Whitbread Prize.