Liam Ó Muirthile (1950 – 18 May 2018) was a prominent Irish-language poet who also wrote plays and novels, he was also a journalist. Ó Muirthile originally came to the fore as a member of a group of poets from University College Cork who collaborated in the journal ''

Innti ''Innti'' was a literary movement of poets writing Modern literature in Irish, associated with a journal of the same name founded in 1970 by Michael Davitt (poet), Michael Davitt, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Gabriel Rosenstock, Louis de Paor and Liam ...

'' in the late 1960s.

Biography

He was born in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

in 1950 and was educated there. He took a BA in Irish and French at UCC. His Irish was acquired at school and from sojourns in the Gaeltacht of West Kerry. He was a member of a group of poets at University College Cork in the late 1960s who chose Irish as a creative medium and were closely associated with the modernist poetry journal ''

'', founded by fellow poet Michael Davitt (1950-2005). They were influenced by the work of Cork poet Seán Ó Ríordáin, by the musician and composer Seán Ó Riada, and by popular American culture. Greg Delanty, writing for Poetry International, claimed that a fundamental achievement of Ó Muirthile and other members of the ''Innti'' group was to adapt the language to a contemporary urban landscape in a way that reflected the counterculture of the sixties.

Writing

Ó Muirthile has been described as a poet of immense formal and musical mastery who read deeply in the classical and neo-classical poetry of the Irish language. He studied French literature as a student and this influenced his work. He translated poetry by Guillaume Apollinaire, François Villon, Jacques Prévert and

Anne Hébert Anne Hébert (pronounced in French) (August 1, 1916 – January 22, 2000), was a Canadian author and poet. She won Canada's top literary honor, the Governor General's Award, three times, twice for fiction and once for poetry. Early life Hébe ...

. His first collection of poetry was ''Tine Chnámh'' (1984). This received the Irish American Cultural Institute’s literary award and an

Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The bicameralism, two houses of the Oireachtas ...

prize for poetry. He subsequently published a number of other collections. In 1996 he received the Butler Award for his novel ''Ar Bhruach na Laoi''. Several plays by him have been staged. From 1989 to 2003 he wrote a weekly column, “An Peann Coitianta,” for the '' Irish Times''. Poems by him have been translated into English,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, French, Italian, Hungarian and

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

Bibliography

Poetry

''Tine Cnámh''. Sáirseál Ó Marcaigh, Dublin 1984. ''Dialann Bóthair''. Gallery Press, Oldcastle 1992. ''Walking Time''.

Cló Iar-Chonnacht Cló Iar-Chonnacht (CIC; ; "West Connacht Press") is an Irish language publishing company founded in 1985 by writer Micheál Ó Conghaile, a native speaker of Irish from Inis Treabhair in Connemara. He set the company up while still a student. ...

, Galway 2000. ''Dánta Déanta''. Cois Life, Dublin 2005. ''An Seileitleán agus véarsaí seilí eilí''. Cois Life, Dublin 2005. ''Sanas''. Cois Life, Dublin 2007. ''Wood Cutting: New and Selected Poems''. Cois Life, Dublin 2014. ''Camino de Santiago: Dánta, poems, poemas''. Cois Life, Dublin 2018.

Essays / Non-fiction

''An Peann Coitianta''.

Comhar ''Comhar'' (; "partnership") is a prominent literary journal in the Irish language, published by the company Comhar Teoranta. It was founded in 1942, and has published work by some of the most notable writers in Irish, including Máirtín Ó Cadha ...

, Dublin 1992. ''An Peann Coitianta 2''. Cois Life, Dublin 1997. ''Ar an bPeann''. Cois Life, Dublin 2005. ''Rogha Alt: An Peann Coitianta 1989–2003''. Cois Life, Dublin 2013. ''Oilithreach pinn''. Cois Life, Dublin 2017.

Fiction

''Ar Bhruach na Laoi''. Comhar, Dublin 1995. ''Gaothán''. Cois Life, Dublin 2000. ''Sister Elizabeth ag eitilt''. Cois Life, Dublin 2005.

Drama

''Tine Chnámh''. Sáirséal Ó Marcaigh, Dublin 1984. Revised and adapted for stage by Liam Ó Muirthile and Michael Scott. ''Fear an Tae''. Cois Life, Dublin 1999. ''Liodán na hAbhann''. Cois Life, Dublin 2001.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ó Muirthile, Liam 1950 births 2018 deaths Irish-language writers Irish writers 20th-century Irish poets 21st-century Irish poets Writers from Cork (city)