Appreciation: Dr Denis Sampson
Born in 1948, he received his secondary education at Mount Saint Joseph's College, Roscrea, and went on to take a BA in English at University College Dublin.
A period working in the Department of Finance followed, during which time Denis also studied for an MA in English from UCD. In 1969, he took up further study in English at McGill University, Montreal, where he earned his PhD.
It was then that he began his 30-year teaching career at Vanier College, Montreal, then began and where Denis and his family made their home.
READ MORE
Although he wrote in many forms, Denis's most notable accomplishments are in the field of literary criticism and scholarship. His deft and thoughtful combination of these two related areas of inquiry was already fully formed in his first book, Outstaring Nature's Eye: The Fiction of John McGahern
(1993), a work which is not only a model of criticism but which also effectively pioneered serious research into the mind and art of its subject.
Another first followed, a biography of Brian Moore – The Chameleon Novelist
(1998). Subsequently, Denis began to sound other strings of his literary bow, most notably in personal essays, many of which appeared in such eminent venues as The Dublin Review
and the leading Canadian journal,
Brick
.
These essays may be seen as both a consolidation of the homecoming implicit in Denis's McGahern work and an embrace of the wider world of international experience signposted by Moore.
This latter sphere also led to Denis's numerous residences at Canada's internationally renowned Banff Centre, while he also maintained a regular presence as a valued speaker at Irish studies conferences.
And in time, Denis's Irish origins and interests found a means of speaking to his Canadian life and work in the memoir A Migrant Heart
(Montreal, 2014), a noteworthy contribution to the literature of the Irish diaspora (though, strangely, it still lacks an Irish edition).
McGahern's continuing output claimed a good deal of Denis's critical energy, with substantial accounts of late-style McGahern appearing in leading Irish studies outlets.
Additionally, the study
Young
John McGahern: Becoming a Novelist
(2012) proved a fitting capstone to Denis's many years of thought and research about a writer whose canonical status Denis helped establish.
The theme of becomings and beginnings also prompted Denis's most international book, The Found Voice: Writers' Beginnings (2016).
Denis's many friends within and beyond academia found him a genial, open-minded, generous man who had as one of his finest traits a great gift for friendship. An excellent host, first-rate conversationalist, venturesome traveller, and devoted family man, Denis will also be fondly remembered for his genuine interest in his students, his scrupulous attention to their education, and to the helping hand he unfailingly extended to younger scholars.
Denis Sampson died on Tuesday, June 3rd, 2025, after a long illness at his home in Montreal. He was 77. His wife, Gabrielle, and their children Conor, Robert and Anna survive him, as do three grandchildren.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
Sofra restaurant review: I'll be back to work through the rest of this menu
Sofra Address : Telephone : 01 558 6902 Cuisine : Turkish Website : Cost : €€ Everyone's banging on about 'live fire' these days, like they invented charcoal – which is fine by me, because some of them are running the best restaurants in the country – but it's worth noting that the Turks have been at it for centuries. At Sofra, the charcoal mangal runs hot behind glass – metal skewers resting inches from the coals, fat dripping to ash. Chopped lamb, minced lamb and chicken wings are stacked next to trays of pilaf, aubergine, tomato, tubs of dip and dolmas. With the Adana turning on the grill, the aroma hits you as you walk in. A stainless-steel cold station sits to the left of our table, loaded with dips, pickles, salads and sauces held in chilled trays. The room is long and narrow, glass-fronted, fluorescent-bright. You can see straight in from the pavement. Home-made ayran whirrs in a processor on the counter – a slow swirl of yoghurt and salt. READ MORE Hot dishes at Sofra Cafe and Grill restaurant. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien Inside, it's part cafe, part canteen. Patterned tiles run the length of the floor. The brown leatherette banquettes and chairs are padded, the tables speckled stone – it's clean, durable and designed to be comfortable, but not built for lingering. Sofra's core menu runs on charcoal – skewered meats from the mangal served with rice or bulgur, two mezes, and salad – with the same proteins folded into dürüm wraps or rotated through hot counter specials, followed by soup, mezes and sides, add-ons, kids' menu, desserts, drinks and breakfast. We have ordered two mezes separately, the dolmas and babaganush, (€4 each); all other mezes come as sides to the two main courses, acılı adana (€16) and beyti (€18). [ Baba'de restaurant review: You won't eat like this anywhere else in Ireland Opens in new window ] Shepherd's salad is first – tomato, cucumber, onion, parsley, olive oil and isoc, sharp and fresh with real heat and a touch of sweetness. Babaganush is smoky in the right way – strands of roasted aubergine left intact, creamy but not slicked into paste. The hummus is thick and honest, made with chickpeas that taste soaked and cooked, not tipped out of a tin and tamed with garlic. Next to them, dolmas – stuffed vine leaves, lemony and cold – are stacked beside dried aubergine and pepper, shrivelled and dark from rehydration. Acılı means spicy in Turkish and the ezme, a salsa-style dish, is very lively, a finely chopped salad of roast peppers, crushed tomatoes and onions, laced with spice and herbs. There's a proper cacık – thick yoghurt with shaved cucumber – and a purple cabbage salad with raw carrot and lemon. The acılı Adana comes on a single metal plate – two long, rippled ridges of minced lamb, hand-shaped and blackened in places where the fat has caught fire. It sits on folded flatbread that's soaking up everything, beside a mound of orange bulgur, half a grilled tomato and one long, collapsed green chilli. The seasoning is perfect – spicy, heavy on the pepper, restrained on the salt – and the mangal char is deep and even. It is smoky, juicy and completely compelling. Flatbread at Sofra Cafe and Grill. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien The Beyti is even better. A lavash-wrapped kebab is sliced into even sections, each piece toasted and slightly crisp, topped with buttered tomato sauce and served with a cool pool of thick yoghurt. The sauce isn't sweet – it's savoury, low-acid, dense with paprika and a little fat. You get bite from the lavash, depth from the lamb, and softness from the yoghurt – a plate built on temperature, texture and restraint. Minced lamb skewers at Sofra Cafe and Grill. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien The bean stew – kuru fasulye – is a dish of white beans, slow-cooked with tomato, oil and chunks of tender lamb. It's simple, but that's the point. The beans are cooked through without collapsing, the broth has body and there's enough spice and oil to bring the whole thing above warm and comforting. We drink ayran and şalgam (€2.50 each). The ayram is a salty yoghurt-based drink, and the şalgam is a tangy, salty drink made from fermented purple carrots, turnips and bulgur, with savoury flavours. They both work well with the food. Sofra's exterior. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien Dessert is katmer. It arrives sliced into triangles, dusted with pistachios, fanned along an oval plate. A fine dusting of sugar has created a shellac-like top layer on the papery phyllo pastry, which is filled with clotted cream. It is quite lovely with a complimentary cup of Turkish tea. What Sofra serves isn't new, but the precision is rare. The heat, the seasoning, the casual pacing. I get that not everyone loves a kebab shop. But I do. And I'll be back to work through the rest of the menu. Dinner for three with two drinks was €71. The verdict: 8.5/10 Charcoal mangal, standout Adana and beyti, and excellent meze. Food provenance: Lamb and beef, O'Farrell Meats; chicken (not free range), K & H Poultry. Vegetarian options: Mezes, eg dolma, sarma, çiğ köfte, falafel, and mercimek (lentil soup). Wheelchair access: Fully accessible with an accessible toilet. Music: Pharrell, Amy Winehouse and Turkish tunes.
Irish Times
9 hours ago
- Irish Times
Inspector Mouse
Sir, – The great Basil Fawlty came to mind as I read Marie O'Halloran's report of the most recent findings of inspections made by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (' Dublin Lidl store forced to close after rodent sighting, ' August 13th). Among the findings was that a 'live mouse' was observed running across the floor of a supermarket premises in south Dublin. Those inspectors miss nothing but surely full marks can be awarded only for a report of a dead mouse making the crossing. – Yours, etc, PAT O'BRIEN, READ MORE Thomastown, Co Kilkenny.
Irish Times
17 hours ago
- Irish Times
Two endangered red panda cubs born at Cork's Fota Wildlife Park
Two endangered red panda cubs were born in June at Cork's Fota Wildlife Park, it has been announced. Born at Fota's conservation centre, the cubs are the offspring of three-year-old mother Suzi, who arrived at Fota Wildlife Park from Berlin Zoo, and seven-year-old father Grga, who was transferred from Zagreb Zoo in Croatia in June 2019. The cubs are not yet visible to the public, remaining in a nesting box where they sleep and nurse with their mother, Fota Wildlife Park said in a statement on Wednesday. Visitors might be able to catch a glimpse of them in the next three weeks as they begin to explore their surroundings under the supervision of their mother during brief periods in the early morning or late evening. READ MORE The red panda, which has reddish-brown fur, a bushy ringed tail and a bear-like body, is classified as endangered by the World Wildlife Fund. They are often poached for their distinctive pelts in China and Myanmar . The cubs' parents are part of the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP), a collaborative initiative among European zoos and wildlife parks to ensure the survival of the threatened species through coordinated breeding efforts. The park is now home to six red pandas that live in a specially designed habitat in the Asian sanctuary, where they are fed freshly harvested bamboo grown on site. Julien Fonteneau, lead ranger at Fota Wildlife Park, said the care of an endangered species is 'one of the most meaningful aspects of the animal care work at Fota Wildlife Park'. 'We hope that the red panda births will raise awareness around species and biodiversity loss and will inspire and educate the visiting public and future generations,' Mr Fonteneau said. The park is calling on the public to help name the new cubs. Suggestions can be entered here .
