.

Patrick Kavanagh was born in 1904 in Inniskeen, County Monaghan. When eh was 12, he bagn writing poetry and often wrote about the simple things around him he saw.
He became a farmer and cobbler, as his father had, but was aware of himself as being different to other farmers. he knew he was a poet.
He publsihed his first book of poetry, “The Ploughman” in 1936 and moved to Dubln, a huge move for him, in 1939. He worked as a journalist, including for the RTE Guide for a while. He also published a newspaper called “Kavanagh’s Weekly” in 1952.
 
In 1954, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and spent time in the Rialto hospital in Dublin. During his recuperation, he wrote some of his most well known poems, which you may study. He married Katherine Moloney in 1967 and died later that year.

Here is some brief information about the poetry of Patrick Kavanagh that is on your course.

*

More detailed information can be found further down the page.

The Great Hunger.

A very striking poem about the life of a farmer called Patrick Maguire.

 A Christmas Childhood.

The narrator in this poem talks about memories of a Christmas long passed.

 Advent.

The speaker here talks about regaining a sense of child-like innocence and of being able to see the world again with fresh eyes.

 On Raglan Road.

This famous poem is about a love affair Kavanagh had with a girl called “HIlda Moriarty”.

 The Hospital.

Kavanagh was in hospital for a while when he was being treated for lung cancer. Here, he writes about how he begins to appreciate the beauty in the things he saw every day while there.

 Canal Bank Walk.

Kavanagh recuperated from his stay in hospital by spending time sitting by the Grand Canal in Dublin. He writes here about regaining his health and strength; a new beginning!

 Lines Written On A Seat On The Grand Canal, Dublin.

Kavanagh was very fond of the Grand Canal and asks in this poem to be remembered, when he is dead, with a simple seat at the side of the canal.

 Inniskeen Road: July Evening.
There is a dance on but Kavanagh is not going. He is very unhappy about this!
 
Epic.
In this poem, Kavanagh writes about a row over a small patch of land in Monaghan. He feels that this row is very important even though it’s over something very small.
 
Shancoduff.
Kavanagh writes about the hills around his home in Monaghan. Even though some people don’t think they are beautiful, he loves them.