10 Interesting Seamus Heaney Facts

Seamus Heaney Facts tell you about the Irish translator, lecturer, playwright and poet. He was born on 13th April 1939 as Seamus Justin Heaney. He passed away on August 30, 2013.  He was a lecturer in Belfast in the beginning of 1960s after he graduated from the university.  In 1995, he was awarded with Nobel Prize of Literature. Here are some interesting facts about Seamus Heaney below:

Seamus Heaney Facts 1: the place of living

Since 1976, he lived in Sandymount, Dublin until his death in 2013.

Seamus Heaney Facts 2: the famous poet

Heaney was a very famous poet. In 2012, he was awarded with Griffin Poetry Prize. In 1996, he was called Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres. In 1981 till 1997, he became a professor in Harvard.  Heaney is also a professor of Poetry in Oxford in 1989 till 1994. Get facts about Sara Shepard here.

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Seamus Heaney Facts 3: awards

There are various kinds of awards that Heaney received. Those included the T. S. Eliot Prize (2006), Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize (1968), E. M. Forster Award (1975), the Golden Wreath of Poetry (2001) and the PEN Translation Prize (1985).

Seamus Heaney Facts 4: the early life

Heaney was born on 13 April 1939 in Northern Ireland. There were nine children in the family and he was the first child.

Seamus Heaney

Seamus Heaney Facts 5: the parents

His father was Patrick Heaney. He worked as a farmer. Margaret Kathleen McCann was his mother.

Seamus Heaney Facts 6: the education background

He went to Anahorish Primary School. Then he attended St. Columb’s College after he won a scholarship at the age of 12.

Facts about Seamus Heaney

Seamus Heaney Facts 7: the death of his brother

The personal experience is one of the main topics used in his poetry. If you want to know the poetry focused on the death of his brother, you have to check “The Blackbird of Glanmore” and Mid-Term Break”.  Christopher was his brother who killed at the age of 4 in a road accident.

Seamus Heaney Facts 8: the death of his parents

Heaney was deeply in grief when he had to lose his parents within two years.  He showed his grief and sadness in the poetry.

Seamus Heaney Facts

Seamus Heaney Facts 9: “From the Republic of Conscience”

“From the Republic of Conscience” is the poem about the request of Amnesty International Ireland. It was written by Heaney in 1985.

Seamus Heaney Facts 10: The Cure at Troy

Heaney is also a playwright. He created The Cure at Troy in 1990. The story was based on Sophocles’s Philoctetes. Check SE Hinton facts here.

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