Sir, – Seamus Heaney came to Cavan Arts Society to read from his works in the mid-1970s. I recall his fee being extremely modest. Having generously soothed our embarrassment at the very small attendance, he gave a wonderful reading sitting up on a teacher’s desk with his legs dangling. His resonant Northern voice has stayed with me down the years. It is impossible now to read his poems without hearing that voice again. He afterwards joined the gathering for pints. What a memory! What a great man. – Yours, etc,
ROBERT NORTON,
Stradbrook Road,
Blackrock, Co Dublin.
Sir, – I wish to express my warmest thanks on behalf of myself and my fellow artists to the people of Bellaghy, Co Derry. After the interment of the poet Seamus Heaney we received wonderful hospitality in the local parish hall. A big congratulations to the tireless and cheerful volunteers who provided us with tea, homemade sandwiches and cakes. We were all touched by the welcome and friendliness of the local people, including the PSNI, who were most courteous and tolerant of our erratic parking. It was wonderful to see the portraits of Seamus and his poems displayed in the local shop windows. We were left in no doubt as to the esteem and affection in which he was held by his own people.
I will not forget the musicians Liam O’Flynn and Neil Martin, performing the haunting Port na bPucai as the sun shone through the ash and the sycamore trees over the poet’s new grave. There was certainly no “sunlit absence” on this historic day. The burial service concluded with the singing of the Gregorian chant Salve Regina. Among the vast crowd , I noticed another Nobel Laureate, John Hume, and fondly remember him singing the very same hymn years ago in a local hotel in Gweedore, Co Donegal, while I accompanied him on an old-fashioned Wurlitzer organ.
It was a great privilege for me to have worked with and to have been a friend of Seamus for so many years. A humble genius, there were also many sides to our “wood-kerne” who had during his life “ grown long-haired and thoughtful” . But he also had a great sense of humour and a mischievous streak and he liked nothing better than to surprise us with his love of “the marvellous” and to catch our “hearts off guard and blow them open” with his masterly verse.
To our renowned Saoi who has gone to join his other generous colleague the poet Dennis O’ Driscoll, I say, Slán Seamus mo chara dhílis. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL HOLOHAN,
Composer and member of Aosdána,
Bredin Street,
Drogheda, Co Louth.