18-05-2025
Tributes pour in after death of acclaimed poet Paul Durcan
Tributes have been paid to the acclaimed poet Paul Durcan, who died at the age of 80 yesterday morning.
Mr Durcan's family confirmed the news, saying he will 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'.
His daughter Síabhra said her father's passing was 'very sudden' but added 'he had been unwell in recent years, so he had spent the last several years in a nursing home in Dublin'. She said that the funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date. Tributes have been paid to the acclaimed poet Paul Durcan, who died at the age of 80 yesterday morning. Pic: James Horan/
Mr Durcan turned 80 years old on October 16, 2024. A collection of his work, 80 at 80, was released to mark the occasion.
The book featured an introduction from writer Colm Tóibín, who said of the acclaimed poet: 'It is hard to think of another poet in these islands who has written such searing poems against violence and cruelty and the politics of hate.
'It is also difficult to think of another male poet who has written such brave works of self-examination.' Mr Durcan turned 80 years old on October 16, 2024. A collection of his work, 80 at 80, was released to mark the occasion. Pic: Laura Hutton/
Mr Durcan was born in Dublin in 1944 and grew up in the Co. Mayo village of Turlough. He began his poetry career 60 years ago, publishing his first book, Endsville, with colleague Brian Lynch.
There followed more than 20 books, including The Berlin Wall Café (1985), Daddy, Daddy (winner of the Whitbread Award for Poetry in 1990), Praise in Which I Live and Move and Have My Being (2012), and The Days of Surprise (2015).
He was Ireland Professor of Poetry from 2004 to 2007, and was awarded the Lifetime Achievement at the Irish Book Awards in 2014.
