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Irish Examiner
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Influential Irish poet Paul Durcan dies aged 80
The renowned poet Paul Durcan has died at the age of 80, his family confirmed. Born in Dublin in 1944, Mr Durcan published more than 20 books over his lengthy career, including the collections A Snail in My Prime, Crazy About Women, Greetings to Our Friends in Brazil, Cries of an Irish Caveman, and T he Berlin Wall Café. His work also saw him garner numerous awards, including the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award in 1974, the Irish American Cultural Institute Poetry Award in 1989, the Whitbread Prize in 1990, and the London Poetry Book Society Choice. Many of his poems have been featured on the Leaving Certificate English syllabus. Mr Durcan turned 80 just last year. A collection of his work titled 80 at 80, edited by Niall MacMonagle, was published to mark the occasion. In his introduction to the collection, which was also published in The Irish Times, writer Colm Tóibín described Paul Durcan's work as 'daring, directly personal as well as directly political.' "Durcan's public poems are risk-taking explorations of the intersection where tragedy and comedy meet in contemporary Ireland," he wrote. "His poems are open forms filled by voices, often the voice of the poet himself or someone like him, or the voice of a persona he has created or a character he has made. Some of the narrative is shot through with surprise or delight or wonder at the strangeness of the world or the sheer sadness of things. "At the centre of Durcan's poetic enterprise is an urge to destabilise and make us re-see what is odd and what is ordinary." A member of Aosdána, the National Library of Ireland acquired Paul Durcan's archive in 2024. In a statement, Mr Durcan's family said he would be 'sadly missed by [his wife] Nessa, his daughters Sarah and Síabhra, his son Michael, his sons-in-law, Mark and Blaise, his daughter-in-law, Linden, and his nine grandchildren.' Funeral details will be announced at a later date, his family added.
RTÉ News
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Renowned poet Paul Durcan dies at 80
Paul Durcan, one of Ireland's most renowned contemporary poets, has died at the age of 80. Born in Dublin in 1944, he began his work 60 years ago with his first book 'Endsville', which was followed by more than 20 others. His work is also known to younger audiences, having featured on the Leaving Cert English syllabus. A winner of the Whitbread Poetry Prize and the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award, his publications include A Snail in My Prime, Crazy About Women, Greetings to our Friends in Brazil, and Cries of an Irish Caveman. He also appeared on Van Morrison's 1990 album Enlightenment. The National Library of Ireland acquired his archive late last year, covering the period from the 1960s to the present day, and including hundreds of the his notebooks, letters and cards. It was described as a collection of exceptional importance by the National Library of Ireland Director Dr Audrey Whitty. It showed Mr Durcan as a prolific letter-writer, and included correspondence with fellow writers, including Seamus Heaney, Brian Friel and John McGahern, the library said. Speaking at the archive event last November, his friend, archivist Catriona Crowe, said: "The great thing about him was he kept notebooks all the time. "If ever you were out having dinner with him, he'd have a notebook, and he might take it out and write down a line that struck him, or something came into his head. "So they're all there, and they're kind of an invaluable resource for students of poetry. "The thing about Paul that singles him out, I suppose, is that you spend your time laughing when you're reading his books, because he has such a surreal imagination. I mean, imagine writing a poem called 'Making Love Outside Áras an Uachtaráin'. "He is a really interesting publicly engaged, poet, who loved giving readings, who responded very well to his audiences and who wrote very, very serious poetry that had a surreal and hilarious twist to it so he was constantly surprising." Paul Durcan will be missed by Nessa, his daughters Sarah and Síabhra, his son Michael, his sons-in-law, daughter-in-law, and his nine grandchildren. Funeral arrangements will be announced later.
