The Patrick Kavanagh Centre (Patrick Kavanagh Rural And Literary Resource Centre) is located in

Inniskeen Inniskeen, officially Inishkeen (), is a small village, townland and parish in County Monaghan, Ireland, close to the County Louth and County Armagh borders. The village is located about from Dundalk, from Carrickmacross, and from Crossmaglen ...

County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ga, Contae Mhuineacháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Cou ...

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 ...

. It is set up to commemorate the poet

Patrick Kavanagh Patrick Kavanagh (21 October 1904 – 30 November 1967) was an Irish poet and novelist. His best-known works include the novel '' Tarry Flynn'', and the poems "On Raglan Road" and "The Great Hunger". He is known for his accounts of Irish life t ...

who is regarded as one of the foremost Irish poets of the 20th century. He was born in Mucker townland Inniskeen. It is located in the former RC St. Mary's church (which dates from 1820) in whose adjoining graveyard Kavanagh and his wife are buried. The centre was developed by the Inniskeen Enterprise Development Group and was opened by President

Mary Robinson Mary Therese Winifred Robinson ( ga, Máire Mhic Róibín; ; born 21 May 1944) is an Irish politician who was the 7th president of Ireland, serving from December 1990 to September 1997, the first woman to hold this office. Prior to her electi ...

in 1994. The centre underwent a €1 million renovation before reopening in July 2020!

History

President of Ireland The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The president holds office for seven years, and can ...

dedicated the Kavanagh Centre in Inniskeen in 1994, saying: ‘Let us remember him as he deserves to be remembered: not as an ornament to our literature - although he certainly is that - but as a poet who is still living among us, through his powerful and challenging poems and the force of his artistic conscience.’ In 2004 President

Mary McAleese Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ga, Máire Pádraigín Mhic Ghiolla Íosa; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer and former politician who served as the eighth president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. She is an academic ...

laid a wreath on Patrick Kavanagh's grave and gave a short address at the centre as part of the centenary of Patrick Kavanagh's birth, She had previously visited the centre in 1998.

Exhibitions

The centre houses exhibitions outlining Kavanagh's life story as well as the history of the surrounding area. It includes a topographical model of the area, a model illustrating Kavanagh's poem, "A Christmas Childhood" paintings, and informational panels on the poet. The Peter Kavanagh hand press is on loan from the Kavanagh Archive

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

. Kavanagh's Death Mask which was formerly owned by John Ryan is also on display. There are many other memorabilia on display including letters, and the font Kavanagh was baptised in.

Audio-visual theatre

There is a 60-seater Audio-visual theatre, which is used to show films on Kavanagh One of the best is "Self Portrait" a half an hour straight to camera monologue ny the Poet recorded for RTÉ back in 1962. On the large screen it is amusing and deeply moving.

Tours of Kavanagh Country

The centre offers a tour of Kavanagh Country, which takes in many local sites associated with the poet and his poetry and novels. It also has a Patrick Kavanagh Trail guide. The trail takes in sites some of which may be visited by the public (noted with a * if they can be visited) others can be viewed from the roadside, these include:* Patrick Kavanagh Literary & Resource Centre, Norman Notte & Augustinian Monastery (ruins)* Folk Museum & Round Tower, Railway Bridge,* Church of Mary Mother of Mercy Dance Hall at Mullaghinsha, Billy Brennan's Barn Rocksavage Fort & The Triangular Field* Slieve Gullion View, Drumcattan Church, Rocksavage Estate, Kednaminsha National School, Mc Enteggarts' Boarding House, House of The Wake, Cassidy's Hanging Hill, The Kavanagh Homestead. The Monaghan Way a walking route starts from the centre and goes cross country to

Castleblayney Castleblayney (; ) is a town in County Monaghan, Ireland. The town had a population of 3,607 as of the 2016 census. Castleblayney is near the border with County Armagh in Northern Ireland, and lies on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry and Let ...

following the route of the Fane river and the old

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line.

Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award

The centre organises, jointly with the Patrick Kavanagh Society, the

Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award The Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award is an Irish poetry award for a collection of poems by an author who has not previously been published in collected form. It is confined to poets born on the island of Ireland, or who have Irish nationality, or are ...

, which is presented each year for an unpublished collection of poems.

Patrick Kavanagh Weekend

The annual Patrick Kavanagh Weekend takes place on the last weekend in November in the centre. It consists of a series of lectures usually on a central theme combined with musical entertainment and Drama. Keynote speakers have included

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

, Antoinette Quinn,

Brendan Kennelly Timothy Brendan Kennelly (17 April 1936 – 17 October 2021), usually known as Brendan Kennelly, was an Irish poet and novelist. He was Professor of Modern Literature at Trinity College Dublin until 2005. Following his retirement he was a Pr ...

Gerald Dawe Gerald Dawe (born 1952) is an Irish poet. Early life Gerald Dawe was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and grew up with his mother, sister and grandmother. He attended Orangefield High School across the city in East Belfast, a leading progress ...

, Thomas McCarthy,

Pat Boran Pat Boran (born 1963) is an Irish poet. Biography Born in Portlaoise, Boran has lived in Dublin for a number of years. He is the publisher of the Dedalus Press which specialises in contemporary poetry from Ireland, and international poetry in ...

Theo Dorgan Theo Dorgan (born 1953) is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer, translator, librettist and documentary screenwriter. He lives in Dublin. Life Dorgan was born in Cork in 1953 being second child born into a family of 8 boys and 8 girls to pare ...

, and

Gabriel Rosenstock Gabriel Rosenstock (born 29 September 1949) is an Irish writer who works chiefly in the Irish language. A member of Aosdána, he is poet, playwright, haikuist, tankaist, essayist, and author/translator of over 180 books, mostly in Irish. Born in ...

References

External links

*http://www.patrickkavanaghcountry.com/ *http://www.tcd.ie/English/patrickkavanagh/kavanaghcentre.html *http://www.qype.ie/place/500301-The-Patrick-Kavanagh-Centre-Monaghan *http://chooseireland.com/county/monaghan/the-patrick-kavanagh-rural-literary-resource-centre/ *http://www.myguideireland.com/patrick-kavanagh *http://www.irishmuseums.org/directory.asp#Monaghan {{authority control Biographical museums in the Republic of Ireland Literary museums in Ireland Local museums in the Republic of Ireland Museums in County Monaghan

Centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...