Madam, - I enjoyed the various tributes paid to Patrick Kavanagh over the past week.
I was interested in the relatively few who championed his cause and who offered encouragement to a man who, to say the least, found it difficult to accept literary praise.
There was one omission, I felt. Augustine Martin played a huge role in ensuring Kavanagh's place among the great Irish writers of the twentieth century.
Martin's affection for Kavanagh was very evident to those of us who attended his classes in UCD, and by ensuring that Kavanagh's work was prescribed for the Leaving Certificate, he introduced the Monaghan poet to many generations of students throughout the country. - Yours, etc.,
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JOE SHERIDAN, Killycard, Castleblayney, Co Monaghan.