Patrick Kavanagh : Short Biography

Patrick Kavanagh was born on the 21st of October 1904 in Inniskeen County Monaghan. 

One of 10 children, Kavanagh left school at the age of 13 and began working with his father on the farm and as a cobbler's apprentice. However his lack of formal education did not hold him back in life. Kavanagh would go on to become an incredibly well known poet who is still revered and widely studied to this day. 

As one of the later poets of the Irish Literary Revival, Kavanagh has been highly praised for his accurate depictions of rural Irish life. His first book of poetry, Ploughman and Other Poems was published in 1936. Two years later he published a book called The Green Fool which although sold as a novel has been described by the poet as semi-autobiographical. This gained him great acclaim and brought him to the fore as a name to be watched in Irish literature. 

In 1939 Kavanagh moved to Dublin where he would spend the rest of his life. He had felt disillusioned in his rural home and believed that in Dublin he would find a greater sense of belonging amongst the literary figures of the time. However when he made the move, he found that he felt like just as much of an outsider in the city as he had in the countryside. This theme of being on the outside of society looking in would become a common thread in much of his poetry. He became quite the social critic and was known for his less than favourable views and comments on society. Although in his later years he softened his opinions and became more enamoured with the simple pleasures in life. 

Patrick Kavanagh died on the 30th of November 1967. He is buried in his native Inniskeen and a statue of him sits on a bench in Dublin city by the Grand Canal. 

His most famous works are On Raglan Road, The Great Hunger, and Iniskeen Road: July Evening.