Jun 24, 2011:

Patrick Kavanagh Day

Remembering the Rambunctious Bard

Patrick Kavanagh is one Ireland's most popular poets who has engrossed readers both in Ireland and abroad. Lovers of Kavanagh can join in commemorating the poet at the Tertiary Hall, Claddagh Church, Galway, on the second Sunday of July. The event is organised in Galway by Clare man, Ger Considine, who moved to Galway in the early' 1980s. For over twenty years he has been involved in theatre and film.

            

This will be the third year of the event in Galway, which invites members of Active Retired groups, writers and readers to read some of Kavanagh's favourite poems. 'Kavanagh, the popular Poet' is this year's theme and promises to entertain audiences and even ignore the National Debt for an afternoon!

            Since 1984, the second Sunday in July has been devoted to the memory of Patrick Kavanagh, the man and his poetry. "No one will speak in prose, who sits in the tremendous silence of mid-July". The inaugural event was first mooted by the Director of the Kavanagh centenary celebrations, Emily Cullen. On that first memorable outing, enthusiasts gathered by a variety of waterway locations around the country to celebrate his poetry and prose. Writers groups, Active Retirement Groups, reading groups and families assembled in counties such as Sligo, Clare, Monaghan, Tipperary, Westmeath and Armagh to mark the first national day in honour of Patrick Kavanagh. Up to two hundred people gathered by the Grand Canal in Dublin.

Ger Considine believes that Kavanagh is significant today and will be even more significant in the future. 'We all like to reminiss on our childhood, where we grew up and Kavanagh was no different. His pilgrimage brought him from one July evening to another, from one landscape to another. It's an interesting span of life and a triumph of the soul'

The show runs for the afternoon of Sun. 10th July 2011 starting at 2pm and is a free event to the public. For more info see http://www.gerconsidine.com/events.html or phone (086)8736837

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