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In Loving Memory Of:

Michael Longley

July 1939

-

January 2025

85 Years Old

Michael Longley

Irish Poet

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Biography:

One of twin boys,[2] Michael Longley was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to English parents. Longley was educated at RBAI and subsequently read Classics at Trinity College Dublin, where he edited Icarus. He was the Ireland Professor of Poetry from 2007 to 2010, a cross-border academic post set up in 1998, previously held by John Montague, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and Paul Durcan. He was succeeded in 2010 by Harry Clifton.[3] After teaching for several years in Dublin, London and Belfast, he was a director of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland 1970 to 1991.[4]

Over 50 years, he spent much time in Carrigskeewaun, County Mayo, which inspired much of his poetry.[5]

His wife, Edna, is a critic on modern Irish and British poetry.[6] They had three children. Their daughter is the artist Sarah Longley. An atheist, Longley described himself as a "sentimental" disbeliever.[7]

In 1994, Longley wrote his most famous poem, 'Ceasefire'. Composed in hope of a ceasefire between the IRA and loyalist forces, it was released only one day before one came about.[8] The poem adapts a famous scene from the Iliad, where King Priam begs for the body of his son back from the warrior Achilles.

In October 2002, Longley opposed a decision by Queen's University Belfast to end the teaching of Classics and urged the university's senate to take action. Citing Northern Ireland's recent troubled past, he asked: "Who can bring peace to people who are not civilised?"[9][10]

On 14 January 2014, he participated in the BBC Radio 3 series The Essay – Letters to a Young Poet. Taking Rainer Maria Rilke's classic text Letters to a Young Poet as inspiration, leading poets wrote a letter to a protege.[11] Longley provided readings of his poetry for the Irish Poetry Reading Archive (UCD).

His twin brother, Peter, died in 2013/14. Longley dedicated the second half of The Stairwell (2014), his tenth collection, to him.[2]

Longley died on 22 January 2025, at the age of 85.[1][12]

North American editions of Longley's work are published by Wake Forest University Press

Gallery:

Listen To Their Voice:

Michael Longley
00:00 / 00:27

Location Of Memorial:

Not publicly known

Memorial Created By:

Anonymous

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