My School Mate, Seamus Heaney

My School Mate, Seamus Heaney

Seamus Heaney is widely recognized as one of the major poets of the 20th century. A native of Northern Ireland, Heaney was raised in County Derry, and later lived for many years in Dublin. He was the author of over 20 volumes of poetry and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995 „for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past.“ Heaney taught at Harvard University (1985-2006) and served as the Oxford Professor of Poetry (1989-1994). He died in 2013.

 

My Great, Great, Great Uncle on my father’s side

On the 28th April, the Friday of the week of the Easter Rising, The Battle of Ashbourne was a direct confrontation and gun battle between up to 70 members of the Royal Irish Constabulary and about 37 Irish Volunteers. It was one of the few engagements outside of Dublin and was, in contrast to the main Rising in Dublin, a successful one.  James Gormley was one of those RIC Officers that lost his life that day, here his Great, Great, Great Nephew tells us about the last letter he wrote to his sister, Kate, shortly before his death.