Renowned Irish poet Paul Durcan to be laid to rest in Mayo
Celebrated Irish poet Paul Durcan, who death took place at the weekend, will be laid to rest in Aughavale Cemetery, Westport, on Friday.
Mr. Durcan, Ringsend, Dublin and Dugort, Achill, was held in very high esteem in the world of literature.
He is sadly missed by Nessa, his daughters Sarah and Síabhra, son Michael, sons-in-law, Mark and Blaise, daughter-in-law Linden, and his grandchildren: Rosie, Kitty, Beatrice, Sonny, Edward, Arthur, Julia, Blaise Søren and Rosa, to whom deepest sympathy is tendered.
Requiem Mass will be celebrated on Thursday at 12 noon at St. Patrick’s Church, Ringsend.
Funeral prayers will take place at St. Mary’s Church, Westport, on Friday, May 23, at 11 a.m., followed by burial in Aughavale Cemetery.
Many fond tributes have been paid to the deceased since his passing last Saturday.
President Michael D. Higgins stated: "Paul Durcan’s contribution to the performed poem was of enormous importance to the appreciation of poetry in Ireland.
"We have audiences in so many generations for Irish poetry owes much to him and those others who brought their work around Ireland and abroad.
"Recently when I had the privilege of participating in a tribute to Paul for his 80th Birthday, I was privileged to read his magnificent ‘The Haulier’s Wife meets Jesus on the road near Moon’.
"In that poem Paul’s sense of irony at all the pretentiousness of new Irish wealth expressed in dwellings that are “Georgian, Tudor, Classical Greek, Moorish, Spanish Hacienda, Regency period, French Ranch House Three- Story, Bungalows” are there, but even more important is his treatment of the pursuit of sensitivity, its endurance in conditions of lost desire.
"Paul’s reading of poems in diverse settings was a wonderful encouragement to poets starting out.
"I remember him being in an agony of tension before a radio reading but when the first line was delivered the trance was under way.
"Paul Durcan’s knowledge of philosophy and the history of art was vast. His beautiful pieces from visits to the National Gallery are essays in how to relate to painters, time and subject.
"I spent a considerable time with him back in 1979. We discussed the value of an image notebook! He played with our children in the woods of Barna and Merlin Park and sent beautiful messages to the children.
"Sabina and I know him as a dear friend. Early in my presidency he visited us in the Áras. His illness was hard for him to bear and Ireland was missing a great and unique talent in poetry.
"His over 20 collections will be a source of great humanity and insight for generations to come. Ireland has lost the poet with the keenest sense of its absurdity and the lost opportunities for love and feeling.
"Sabina and I offer our deepest sympathies to Nessa, his daughters Sarah and Síabhra, son Michael, sons- in-law, daughter-in-law and nine grandchildren."