Pat Ingoldsby (born 25 August 1942 in
Malahide
Malahide ( ; ) is an affluent coastal settlement in Fingal, County Dublin, Ireland, situated north of Dublin city. It has a village centre surrounded by suburban housing estates, with a population of over 17,000.
Malahide Castle dates from th ...
,
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
) is an
Irish poet
This is a list of notable poets with Wikipedia pages, who were born or raised in Ireland or hold Irish citizenship.
Abbreviations for the languages of their writings: E: English; F: French; I: Irish (); L: Latin; R: Russian
A–D
* Adomnán ...
and
TV presenter
A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garner ...
. He has hosted children's TV shows, written plays for the stage and for radio, published books of short stories and been a newspaper columnist. Since the mid-1990s, he has withdrawn from the mass media and is most widely known for his collections of poetry, and his selling of them on the streets of
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
(usually on
Westmoreland Street
Westmoreland Street is a street on the Southside, Dublin, Southside of Dublin. It is currently a one-way street. It carries a segment of the R138 road (Ireland), R138 road for northbound traffic; nearby D'Olier Street carries southbound traf ...
or
College Green College Green or The College Green may refer to:
* College Green, Adelaide outdoor venue at the University of Adelaide
* College Green, Bristol, England
* College Green (Dartmouth College), New Hampshire, primarily known as "the Green"
* College ...
).
Work
In the 1980s, Pat hosted
RTÉ
(RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...
children's TV shows named ''Pat's Hat'', ''Pat's Chat'', and ''Pat's Pals''. His plays include ''Bats or Booze or Both'' (Dublin, Project Arts Centre, 1977); ''Hisself'' (Dublin, Peacock Theatre, 1978); ''Rhymin' Simon'' (Peacock Theatre, 1978); ''When Am I Getting' Me Clothes'' (Peacock Theatre, 1978); ''Yeukface the Yeuk and the Spotty Grousler'' (Peacock, 1982); and ''The Full Shilling'' (Dublin, Gaeity Theatre, 1986). In the early 1990s, he had a column in the ''
Evening Press
The ''Evening Press'' was an Irish newspaper which was printed from 1954 until 1995. It was set up by Éamon de Valera's Irish Press group, and was originally edited by Douglas Gageby. Its principal competitor was the ''Evening Herald'', which ...
'' (a now-defunct national Irish newspaper). These columns were later collected in ''The Peculiar Sensation of Being Irish''. Ingoldsby is a fluent
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
speaker and includes a few poems written in Irish in each book of poetry. He lives in
Clontarf, in Dublin, Ireland. Since sometime in the mid-1990s, he has withdrawn from TV, radio and theatre, instead devoting his efforts to poetry. Pat is still part of Ireland's arts scene, sometimes opening Art exhibitions, introducing then-new musicians such as
David Gray or launching other people's books.
He
self-publishes through Willow Publications, which he set up and named after one of his pet cats (who later died). Some of his books since 1998 have carried a note that they are protected by the "''Bratislava Accord 1993, section 2 cre/009 manifest-minsk''", the terms of which allegedly protect his book's content from being included in:
* ''school textbooks''
* ''examinations''
* ''elocution classes''
* ''anything with the word "Arts" in it.''
In March 2022, the
Museum of Literature Ireland
The Museum of Literature Ireland ( ga, Músaem Litríochta na hÉireann), branded MoLI in an homage to Molly Bloom, is a literary museum in Dublin, Ireland. It opened in September 2019. The museum is a partnership between the National Library o ...
(MoLI) hosted a video installation to mark the release of Ingoldsby's latest anthology, ''In Dublin They Really Tell You Things — Pat Ingoldsby, Selected Poems 1986 — 2021''.
Influences
Most of Pat's poems are about his personal experiences, observations of life in Dublin, or mildly
surreal
Surreal may refer to:
*Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art
* "Surreal" (song), a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki
* ''Surreal'' (album), an album by Man Raze
*Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor
...
humorous possibilities. Topics of personal experiences vary from the death of his father, or the
electroconvulsive therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatry, psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroco ...
he received (c. 1988), to his appreciation of the natural world or his pets (mostly cats, but also some fish). Observations of Dublin are mostly humorous conversations overheard on the bus, or the characters he sees and talks to while selling his books on the streets. Some observations are not so cheerful as he also sees the drunks and the homeless of Dublin city, and the some aspects of modernisation which he isn't pleased with. His most distinctive style of poetry is his humorist style. A recurring character, Wesley Quench, appears in roles such as the driver of a Flying See-Saw Brigade. Another poem, "Vagina in the Vatican," depicts a vagina sneaking into the Vatican unstopped because no one knew what it was – except for a few who couldn't let slip that they did. He also occasionally produces stories for children. These are a childish version of his mildly surreal style. During the rapid increase in the use of
mobile telephone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
s, he offered a "Mobile Phone
Euthanasia
Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Different countries have different eut ...
" services on the streets of Dublin, where he would destroy phones for annoyed owners. His cousin
Maeve Ingoldsby
Maeve Ingoldsby (1947 - 2021) was a former writer of the Raidió Teilifís Éireann radio show '' Only Slaggin and former writer on RTÉ soap operas Glenroe and Fair City. She is a well-known playwright and satirist. She has also written nume ...
is a playwright. Pat retired from selling his books on the streets of Dublin in 2015.
Bibliography
Poetry
* ''You've Just Finished Reading This Title''
* ''Rhyme Doesn't With Reason''
* ''Up The Leg of Your Jacket''
* ''Welcome to My Head (Please Remove Your Boots)'' (1986)
* ''Salty Water'' (1988)
* '' Scandal Sisters'' (1990)
*'' How Was It For You Doctor?'' (1994)
* ''Poems So Fresh And So New ...Yahoo!'' (1995)
* ''If You Don't Tell Anybody I Won't ''(1996)
* ''See Liz She Spins'' (1997)
* ''Half A Hug'' (1998)
* ''Beautiful Cracked Eyes ''(1999)
* ''The Blue E-Tee Wet!'' (2000)
* ''Do Lámh I Mo Bhrístí'' (2001)
* ''The Frenchwoman and the Sky'' (2003)
* ''Once Upon A 'hide ''(2004)
* ''I'm Out Here ''(2005)
* ''Can I Get in the Bath? ''(2007)
* ''Once Upon A Wicked Eye ''(2008)
* ''I Thought You Died Years Ago'' (2009)
* ''Hitting Cows with a Banjo'' (2011)
* ''Pawmarks on My Poems'' (2013)
* ''Mise MacGiolla'' (2017)
* ''In Dublin They Really Tell You Things'' (Selected poems, 2022)
Other works
For adults
* ''Hisself'' (Play, Peacock Theatre, Dublin)
* ''When am I Gettin' Me Clothes ''(Play, Peacock Theatre, Dublin) (Later adapted for radio play on
RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1 ( ga, RTÉ Raidió 1) is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926.
The total budget for th ...
)
* ''The Dark Days of Denny Lacey'' (radio play, RTÉ Radio 1)
* ''She Came Up From the Sea'' (radio play, RTÉ Radio 1)
* ''Fire Is Far Enough'' (radio play, RTÉ Radio 1)
* ''Liffey Ever Is'' (radio play, RTÉ Radio 1)
* ''The Peculiar Sensation of Being Irish'' (short stories) (1995)
* ''Laugh Without Prejudice'' (short stories) (1996)
* ''My Own Voice'' (Audio CD of Pat reading some poems)
* ''Let Me into Your Ear'' (Audio CD of Pat reading more of his poems)
For children
* ''Zaney Tales ''(short stories book)
* ''Rhymin' Simon'' (Play)
* ''Yeukface the Yeuk and the Spotty Grousler'' (Play)
* ''Tell Me A Story Pat'' (Audio Tape)
Ingoldsby also wrote some episodes of ''
Wanderly Wagon
''Wanderly Wagon'' is an Irish children's television series which aired on RTÉ from Saturday 30 September 1967Hourihane, Anne Marie''Sunday Tribune'' 11 August 2002. until 1982.
Plot
''Wanderly Wagon'' followed human and puppet characters as t ...
''
Filmography
* ''
The Peculiar Sensation of Being Pat Ingoldsby
''The Peculiar Sensation of Being Pat Ingoldsby'' is a 2022 Irish documentary film directed by Seamus Murphy, concerning the life and inspirations of Irish poet and TV presenter Pat Ingoldsby.
Premise
Fondly remembered as an eccentric 1980s Iris ...
'', a 2022 documentary by film director Seamus Murphy on the life and works of Pat Ingoldsby (produced by Broadstone Films, Dublin).
External links
Official websiteBio at Irish Playography*
ttps://irisharoundtheworld.com/irish-poem-for-rita-with-love-by-pat-ingoldsby/ Where is Pat?
Weak links
Since Pat withdrew from the media spotlight before the blossoming of the Internet, it can be hard to find information about him and his work. The following links contains small bits of information.
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingoldsby, Pat
1942 births
Living people
Irish children's television presenters
Irish children's writers
Irish columnists
Irish male poets
Irish male dramatists and playwrights
Writers from Dublin (city)
RTÉ television presenters
20th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights
21st-century Irish dramatists and playwrights
20th-century Irish poets
21st-century Irish poets
20th-century Irish male writers
21st-century Irish male writers
Television personalities from Dublin (city)