PATRICK KAVANAGH was a novelist, songwriter, and columnist with the RTÉ Guide, but he was above all one of the giants of 20th century Irish poetry and literature.
Kavanagh’s poetry moved away from the dominant themes of history, politics, and ethnicity, to exmine roots, values, and rural life, and his life and work will be commemorated at The Kavanagh Day, in the Galway Mechanics Institute, Middle Street, on Saturday July 16 from 7pm, through live music, song, academic talks, and readings.
There will be contributions from Waterford academic Dr Michael Howlett, who has written a thesis on Kavanagh; Dr Des Kavanagh, who will speak on Kavanagh’s influence on Heaney; poet Brian Dooley; bass-baritone Eamon Shevlin; and violinist, Íde Ní Fhaoláin.
The event is organised by the Patrick Kavanagh Western Association and is part of the Galway Fringe Festival. For more information see galwayfringe.ie or call 086 - 8736837.