Seamus Heaney died yesterday. It's a loss in so many ways. Probably the finest Irish poet since Yeats, he was sometimes known as "Famous Seamus" because unlike many poets and writers, he wasn't particularly shy and retiring. He was something of a celebrity from an early age and was prepared to stick his head over the parapet to make a comment.



But I identify with Heaney the farm-boy. My folks are from the peat-bogs of Co. Mayo - he was from a Mossbawn farmhouse in County Derry, although he res...

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I had the pleasure of spending a week in Wales last month. A beautiful country and the home of my childhood holidays. Most of our time had been spent around Aberdyfi and Corris, but this time we moved a little further south and rediscovered New Quay.  And as I walked into town, I was greeted by an image of the boyo himself. Yep, New Quay has a Dylan Thomas Trail!



Dylan lived in many places and he is most generally associated with his Boathouse in Laugharne even further to the South, but he and...
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