Eminent poet with Mayo roots to read at Castlebar venue

Paddy Bushe (de Buis) will read his poetry upstairs at the Bridge St. Bar, Castlebar, tomorrow (Friday) at 8 p.m.

Paddy is considered by many to be the leading bilingual Irish/English poet currently writing.

Stated Paddy: ‘I’m delighted to be invited to read in Castlebar.

"Although I live in Kerry my mother, Nuala Scott, I have strong Mayo connections as I was born in Castlebar.

"My grandmother Nora McGowan - one of 10 siblings - came from Glenisland and many of my ancestors are buried in Kileen.

"It’s the delightful little cemetery there which I visit often on my way back from the Scoil Acla writers group where I have been privileged to act as tutor for a number of years.

"I have many relatives in and friends in Mayo and look forward to meeting some of them during my visit the Bridge Bar."

He has a long record of achievements in the poetry world including the 2006 Oireachtas prize for poetry, the 2006 Michael Hartnett Poetry Award and the 2017 Irish Times Poetry Now Award. He is a member of Aosdána.

Paddy has also translated Chinese poems into English and Irish.

In addition, he has translated some of the poems by Sorley MacLean from Scottish Gaelic into Irish.

He was born in Dublin in 1948 and now lives in Waterville, Co. Kerry. His collections include Poems With Amergin (1989), Digging Towards The Light (1994), In Ainneoin na gCloch (2001), Hopkins on Skellig Michael (2001) and The Nitpicking of Cranes (2004).

To Ring in Silence: New and Selected Poems was published in 2008. He edited the anthology Voices at the World’s Edge: Irish Poets on Skellig Michael (Dedalus, 2010).

Other publications are My Lord Buddha of Carraig Eanna (2012), On A Turning Wing (2016) and Móinéar an Chroí (2017).

In 2020, he published Double Vision, comprising Second Sight, a selection of his Irish language poems, with his own translations, as well as Peripheral Vision, his latest collection in English.

Admission is free.