Paul Durcan Dies Aged 80

Hello Gentle Reader,

Paul Durcan is yet another giant of Irish poetry. Ireland does seem to produce exceptional writers with a particular proclivity towards poets. Paul Durcan’s career is of no exception. Since his debut in 1967, Durcan proved himself to be an original voice, whose poetry was oppositional and adversarial as it rallied against authority, oppression, and intolerance. This took place for Durcan on both a level of the individual against society, but also the individual against the family; and while Paul Durcan loved Ireland and celebrated the absolute majesty of the Irish culture, he was not afraid to confront its failings either with brutal and eviscerating satire. Don’t mistake Paul Durcan as a poet whose work is infused with the dour atmosphere of the pissing rain of the emerald, complete with the iron chokehold of the catholic church on the eternal soul; or poems kneeling into states of subjugation, confessing, and performing acts of penance and repentance, only to be followed by rallying cries of independence turned cries of mourning due to the senseless of the violence and the human cost. Durcan’s poetry was at ease in unfurling into flights of fantasy and slipping into the surreal. Paul Durcan’s poetry readings were equally highly regarded for their intensity; while on the page Durcan is often regarded as being unpolished – a component of the poet’s style and charm – but in live recitations, the came through, the immediacy in which the poems were composed capturing the complexity and palpability of their subject, were reawakened and disseminated to the assembled. Paul Durcan’s early ambitions to become a poet is now part of his biography and legend, in part because it captures the senseless brutality and savagery of mid-century modern psychiatry, whereby the young Durcan was institutionalized by his father (a respectable, though difficult and abusive judge) for his literary ambitions under the vague diagnosis of ‘clinical depression,’ whereby for the subsequent years the young Durcan would be subject to 27 rounds of electroconvulsive therapy (shock therapy), in addition to god knows what other cocktail of drugs that were administered. According to Durcan himself, he was fortunate to get through ordeal without being lobotomized. Despite the complications felt towards Ireland, Paul Durcan was often an instrumental figure in founding and creating institutions that promote and protect Irish culture such as Aosdána; and his poetry is often found in the school curricula. Paul Durcan is a classic Irish poet, with his formidable wit and indominable spirit, whose love for Ireland is equally tempered by its unsentimental criticism of it.

Rest in Peace Paul Durcan.

 
Thank you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
 
M. Mary