Seamus
Heaney
BY
Ben
Murphy
Contents
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Facts
Family
Childhood
Books/Poetry
Occupation
Prizes/Honours
Facts
 Full Name: Seamus Justin
Heaney
 Birth: 13 April 1939
 Father: Patrick Heaney
 Mother: Margaret Kathleen
McCann
 Heaney Siblings: two sisters
and six brothers
 Spouse: Marie Devlin
 Number of Children: 03
 Education: St. Columb's
College, Queen's University
Family 1/2
His father, Patrick Heaney,
a local of Castledawson,
was the eighth child of
ten born to James and
Sarah Heaney. Patrick
was a farmer but his real
commitment was to
cattle-dealing, to which
he was introduced by the
uncles who had cared for
him after the early death
of his own parents.
Family 2/2
Heaney's mother came from
the McCann family, whose
uncles and relations were
employed in the local linen
mill and whose aunt had
worked as a maid for the mill
owner's family.
Childhood
Heaney was born on 13 April 1939 at
the family farmhouse called
Mossbawn, between Castledawson
and Toomebridge in Northern
Ireland.
Heaney was the first of nine children.
In 1953, his family moved to
Bellaghy, a few miles away, which
is now the family home.
He received a scholarship to attend
the boarding school St. Columb’s
College in Derry and went on to
Queen’s University Belfast,
studying english and graduating
in 1961.
Books/Poetry 1/2
Some of Heaney’s more popular
books include:
Buile Suibhne
Opened Ground
District and Circle
The Redress of Poetry
As a translater, Heany’s most
famous work is the translation
of the epic Anglo Saxon poem
Beowulf.
The Testament of Cresseid and
Seven Fables.
Books/Poetry 2/2
Some of Heaney’s most popular
poems include:
A Kite for Aibhin
Blackberry Picking
Casualty
Death of a Naturalist
Digging
Exposure
From Lightnings
Keeping Going
Lovers on Aran
Mossbawn
Midterm Break
Occupation
In the early 1960s he became a lecturer in
Belfast after attending a university
there. In 1962 Heaney’s poetry began
being published.
Seamus Heaney published his first poetry
book in 1966, ‘Death of a Naturalist’.
In 1972, Heaney left Belfast and moved to
Dublin and worked as a teacher in
Carysfort College.
Seamus Heaney was a visiting Professor at
Harvard University from 1981 to 1997.
From 1989 to 1994 he was also the
Professor of Poetry at Oxford, having
only to deliver three public lectures
every year, this post did not require
him to reside in Oxford.
In 1996 Heaney was made a Commandeur
de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres.
Prizes/Honours
Among his many awards Heaney’s
most famous award is the Nobel
Prise in Literature in 1995 .
Whitbred Book of the Year award in
1996.
T.S. Eliot Prize in 2006.
2008 Seamus Heaney street in
Denmark named after him.
2009, David Cohen Prize,
2010 Forward Poetry Prize.
2011,Britains top 300 intellectuals.
2012, Griffin Trust for Excellence in
Poetry’s Lifetime Recognition
Award.
Farewell
A writer and a speaker, Heaney died
on 30/08/13 in Blackrock Clinic
in Dublin following a short illness.
Hundreds of people attended his
funeral.
A crowd of 81,553 spectators
applauded Heaney for three
minutes at an All Ireland Gaelic
semi-final match on September
1st.
His funeral was broadcast live the
following day on R.T.E radio and
television.
His poetry collections sold out
rapidly in Isish bookshops
immediately following his death.