In the annals of Irish literature, few figures embody the tragic intersection of artistic promise and historical circumstance as poignantly as Francis Edward Ledwidge. Born into rural poverty in County Meath in 1887 and killed on a Belgian battlefield in 1917, Ledwidge's thirty years encompassed a meteoric rise from agricultural laborer to celebrated poet, a journey that mirrors the broader struggles of Ireland durin…
“Death is as interesting to me as life. I have seen so much of it, from Suvla to Serbia, and now in France.”
Neighbourhood:
Death & Mortality, Georgian Poets, Irish Poets, War Poets
Emotional landscape: Tenderness, Longing, Wonder
2 live poems · Irish Gaelic
Antoine Ó Raifteirí, more commonly known in English as Anthony Raftery, was born around 30 March 1779 at Killedan, near Kiltimagh in County Mayo, and died on 25 December 1835 at Killeeneen, near Craughwell in County Galway. He occupies a singular place in Irish literary history: he was a blind, impoverished, itinerant poet who belonged to the living oral culture of Irish-speaking rural Ireland, yet he has also become…
“The Church and myself have it made out that it was not Death that was there, but the devil that came to tempt me.”
Neighbourhood:
Folk & Ballad Poets, Irish Poets, Poet-Musicians
Emotional landscape: Longing, Sorrow, Despair
