Seamus Heaney dead: Irish Nobel laureate was 74

[Lara Mills]

Seamus Heaney dead: Irish Nobel laureate was 74



Irish minister praises 'great ambassador'

The world-renowned Irish poet Seamus Heaney has died. He was 74.

His family said he died in a Dublin hospital this morning following a short illness.

Born the eldest of nine children in Co Derry, Northern Ireland, Heaney won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995 and was made a Commandeur de L'Ordre des Arts et Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture in 1996.

He attended a Catholic boarding school, and later at Queen's University Belfast, before making his home in Dublin, with periods of teaching in the US. He was an honorary fellow at Trinity College Dublin.

The 1966 collection Death of a Naturalist brought him into the public consciousness.

Ireland's Arts Minister, Jimmy Deenihan, paid tribute to the island's "great ambassador."

He said: “He was just a very humble, modest man. He was very accessible.

“Anywhere I have ever travelled in the world and you mention poetry and literature and the name of Seamus Heaney comes up immediately.

“He was a huge figure internationally, a great ambassador for literature obviously, but also for Ireland.”

Heaney is survived by his wife, Marie, and children, Christopher, Michael and Catherine Ann.

Source: click here

[Lara Mills]

I can remember studying some of Heaney's work at University. I really enjoyed his work, and it's a great loss to the world of literature

[westcorklad]

Ah thats a shame.He was a really creative talented person.RIP.

[warmcome]

a bit sophisticated for me. he was a nice bloke. RIP

[AbsoluteNoob]

Ah man, that sucks.

[GinandFrolics]

RIP. Seamus