Northern Ireland Offers "Seamus Heaney Tours"
Heaney was born on April 13, 1939 as the eldest of nine children at the family farm called Mossbawn about thirty miles north-west of Belfast. He was educated due to timely legislation that provided an opportunity for children from less moneyed families to be able to advance their schooling, first at Anahorish Primary School and then St. Columb's College. He spent a summer in a Gaeltacht area of Donegal studying Irish. When completing his education, he became a professor at several colleges and universities in Nothern Ireland, Ireland, U.K., and the U.S. His first full volume of poetry was published by Faber and Faber in 1966. Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux publishes his works in the U.S. He won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1995 for what the Nobel committee described as "works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past". He was the fourth Irish writer do so, along with W.B. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, and Samuel Beckett.
Now Northern Ireland offers bespoke, guided tours of what is known as "Heaney Country". These can include Castledawson, Bellaghy, Magherafelt and other parts of South Derry and Tyrone, such as Derry/Londonderry, Belfast, the Giants Causeway / Antrim Coast and the Sperrin Mountains. Tours are personally conducted by local Heaney enthusiast Eugene Kielt who is a Blue Badge Tourist Guide. Tourist can stay at Laurel Villa Townhouse in Magherafelt which has a permanent Seamus Heaney exhibition and regular Poetry Readings held on the premises. The walls are adorned with Seamus Heaney poems and memorabilia and the whole house reflects the owners' interest in Irish writers and Irish culture. These tours may be customised to the particular desires of the tourist, depending on availability, etc.
For more information about Mr. Heeaney, his poetry, and these touring opportunities visit www.seamusheaney.org/index.html.
Published by Sabne Raznik
Sabne Raznik is a poet, book reviewer, and freelance writer. She has been featured in Marquis' Who's Who of American Women and is a member of Cambridge Who's Who, as well as the Academy of American Poets and... View profile
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