One of the greatest Irish minds of all time. His work at the time of The Troubles was absolutely incredible.
The BBC will be making a feature-length film about the life and work of Seamus Heaney.
After his first collection of poems, Death Of A Naturalist, was published by Faber & Faber in 1966, Heaney was heralded as a major new talent and this culminated in 1995 when he won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Born into a farming family in Derry, Heaney lived in a community which actively campaigned for civil rights. A large part of his work coincided with, and frequently reflected, the turmoil that was unfolding during The Troubles.
For example, his poems about the preserved Iron Age bodies found in bogs in Denmark and Ireland say as much about the situation in Northern Ireland as it did about the world in which they were executed or sacrificed.
Elsewhere, Mid-Term Break is a poem that nearly every Irish person has learned as part of their Leaving Cert.
Heaney never allowed himself to become a spokesman for the Republican cause, despite pressure to do so as the situation in Northern Ireland became increasingly violent and oppressive.
Identifying as Irish rather than British, Heaney moved to Wicklow in 1972.
Admired and loved far beyond the UK and Ireland, Heaney’s work inspired a whole generation of people and artists alike. He was also a professor at Harvard in the 1980s and 90s.
He sadly passed away in 2013 at the age of 74.
As for the documentary, it will feature interviews with Heaney’s wife Marie and his three children.
The family will be talking about their family life and they’ll read some of the poems that he wrote for them.
For for the first time ever, his four surviving brothers will be talking about their childhood and the shared experiences that inspired so many of Heaney’s finest poems.
Patrick Holland, Controller for BBC Two has said: “Seamus Heaney is a cultural colossus who created some of the most powerful, beautiful and resonant poetry of the last 50 years. This film promises exceptional intimacy and poignancy; I am so delighted the family has agreed to share their memories of him for the BBC Two audience”.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
