Thomas Kinsella (4 May 192822 December 2021) was an Irish poet, translator, editor, and publisher. Born outside
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 ...
, Kinsella attended
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 ...
before entering the civil service. He began publishing poetry in the early 1950s and, around the same time, translated early Irish poetry into English. In the 1960s, he moved to the United States to teach English at universities including
Temple University
Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...
. Kinsella continued to publish steadily until the 2010s.
Early life and work
Thomas Kinsella was born on 4 May 1928 in
Inchicore
Inchicore () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. Located approximately west of the city centre, Inchicore was originally a small village separate from Dublin. The village developed around Richmond Barracks (built 1810) and Inchicore railway works (b ...
to Agnes (Casserly) and John Kinsella. He spent most of his childhood in the
Kilmainham
Kilmainham (, meaning " St Maighneann's church") is a south inner suburb of Dublin, Ireland, south of the River Liffey and west of the city centre. It is in the city's Dublin 8 postal district. The area was once known as Kilmanum.
History
In th ...
/Inchicore area of Dublin. He was educated at the Model School, Inchicore, where classes were taught in the
Irish language
Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...
, and at the
O'Connell School
The O’Connell School is a secondary and primary school for boys located on North Richmond Street in Dublin, Ireland. The school, named in honour of the leader of Catholic Emancipation, Daniel O’Connell, has the distinction of being the oldes ...
s in North Richmond Street, Dublin. His father and grandfather both worked in
Guinness
Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ove ...
's brewery. He entered
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 ...
in 1946, initially to study science. After a few terms in college, he took a post in the
Irish civil service
The Civil Service ( ga, An Státseirbhís) of Ireland is the collective term for the permanent staff of the departments of state and certain state agencies who advise and work for the Government of Ireland. It consists of two broad components, t ...
in the department of finance and continued his university studies at night, having switched to humanities and arts.
Many of Kinsella's early poems were published in the University College Dublin magazine ''National Student'' from 1951 to 1953. His first pamphlet, ''The Starlit Eye'' (1952), was published by Liam Miller's
Dolmen Press
Dolmen Press was founded by Liam and Josephine Miller in 1951.
History
In 1951 Liam acquired an Adana hand press from Blanaid and Cecil Ffrench Salkeld on loan which they had used for their Gayfield Press, with a case of Bodoni type. Some a ...
, as was ''Poems'' (1956), his first book-length publication. These were followed by ''Another September'' (1958–1962), ''Moralities'' (1960), ''Downstream'' (1962), ''Wormwood'' (1966), and the long poem ''Nightwalker'' (1967).
Translations and editing
At Miller's suggestion, Kinsella turned his attention to the translation of early Irish texts. He produced versions of ''Longes Mac Usnig'' and ''The Breastplate of St Patrick'' in 1954 and of ''Thirty-Three Triads'' in 1955. His most significant work in this area was collected in two volumes. The first of these was ''The Táin'' (Dolmen, 1969; Oxford University Press, 1970), a version of the ''
Táin Bó Cúailnge
(Modern ; "the driving-off of the cows of Cooley"), commonly known as ''The Táin'' or less commonly as ''The Cattle Raid of Cooley'', is an epic from Irish mythology. It is often called "The Irish Iliad", although like most other early Iri ...
'' illustrated by
Louis le Brocquy
__NOTOC__
Louis le Brocquy ''HRHA'' (; 10 November 1916 – 25 April 2012) was an Irish painter born in Dublin to Albert and Sybil le Brocquy. His work received many accolades in a career that spanned some seventy years of creative practice ...
.
With
Seán Ó Tuama, Kinsella co-edited ''An Duanaire: 1600–1900, Poems of the Dispossessed'' (1981), an anthology of Irish poems that critic Siobhán Holland describes as a "politicized deployment of the anthology genre". ''An Duanaire'' won a "special award" of the
Rooney Prize for Irish Literature
The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature was created in 1976 by the Irish American businessman Dan Rooney, owner and chairman of the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers franchise and former US Ambassador to Ireland. The prize is awarded to Irish writers aged ...
in 1982. He also edited
Austin Clarke's ''Selected Poems'' and ''Collected Poems'' (both 1974) for Dolmen and ''The New Oxford Book of Irish Verse'' (1986).
According to critic Dillon Johnston, Kinsella's translations of ''Táin'' and ''An Duanaire'' have helped to "revitalize" the Irish literary canon.
Later poetry
In 1965, Kinsella left the civil service to teach at
Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois.
Board of trustees
The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...
, and in 1970 he became a professor of English at
Temple University
Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...
.
In 1973, he started Temple's Irish studies programme.
In 1972, he started
Peppercanister Press
Peppercanister Press was a small press in Dublin founded by Thomas Kinsella to publish his own poetry. In later years, the series began to be published by Dedalus Press.
Publications
First series
* Peppercanister 1, Butcher's Dozen (1972)
: prin ...
to publish his own work. The first Peppercanister production was ''Butcher's Dozen'', a satirical response to the
Widgery Tribunal
John Passmore Widgery, Baron Widgery, (24 July 1911 – 26 July 1981) was an English judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 1971 to 1980. He is principally noted for presiding over the Widgery Tribunal on the events ...
into the events of
Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday may refer to:
Historical events Canada
* Bloody Sunday (1923), a day of police violence during a steelworkers' strike for union recognition in Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
* Bloody Sunday (1938), police violence agai ...
. This poem drew on the ''
aisling
The aisling (, , approximately ), or vision poem, is a poetic genre that developed during the late 17th and 18th centuries in Irish language Irish poetry, poetry. The word may have a number of variations in pronunciation, but the ''is'' of t ...
'' tradition.
Beginning around 1968 with ''Nightwalker and Other Poems'', Kinsella's work became more influenced by American
modernist poetry
Modernist poetry refers to poetry written between 1890 and 1950 in the tradition of modernist literature, but the dates of the term depend upon a number of factors, including the nation of origin, the particular school in question, and the biases ...
, particularly the poetry of
Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...
,
William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet, writer, and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism.
In addition to his writing, Williams had a long career as a physician practicing both pedia ...
,
and
Robert Lowell
Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV (; March 1, 1917 – September 12, 1977) was an American poet. He was born into a Boston Brahmin family that could trace its origins back to the ''Mayflower''. His family, past and present, were important subjects i ...
. In addition, his poetry started to focus more on the individual psyche as seen through the work of
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philo ...
. These tendencies appeared in the poems of ''Notes from the Land of the Dead'' (1973) and ''One'' (1974).
According to critic Thomas H. Jackson, books including ''Her Vertical Smile'' (1985), ''Out of Ireland'' (1987), and ''St Catherine's Clock'' (1987) blended personal and world-historical perspectives: "address a self, and you find the world; address an aspect of the world, and you find a self". ''One Fond Embrace'' (1988) and ''Poems from Centre City'' (1990) allude to historical antecedents including
Brian Merriman
Brian Merriman or in Irish Brian Mac Giolla Meidhre (c. 1747 – 27 July 1805) was an Irish language bard, farmer, and hedge school teacher from rural County Clare. His single surviving work of substance, the 1000-line long Dream vision poem ( ...
and medieval curse poetry to dissect contemporary events such as architectural development in Dublin.
Awards and honours
Kinsella received the honorary
Freedom of the City of Dublin
The Freedom of the City of Dublin is awarded by Dublin City Council after approving a person nominated by the Lord Mayor. Eighty-two people have been honoured under the current process introduced in 1876. Most honourees have made a contribution ...
on 24 May 2007. In December 2018, he received an honorary doctorate from Trinity College Dublin.
Personal life and death
Kinsella's brother was the composer
John Kinsella (1932–2021). Thomas died in Dublin on 22 December 2021, at the age of 93. His wife Eleanor predeceased him in 2017.
Works
Poetry collections
* ''Poems'' (1956)
* ''Another September'' (Dolmen, 1958)
* ''Poems & Translations'' (New York: Atheneum, 1961)
* ''Downstream'' (1962)
* ''Tear'' (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Pym-Randall Press, 1969)
* ''Nightwalker and Other Poems'' (1968)
* ''The Good Fight'' (Peppercanister, 1973)
* ''Notes from the Land of the Dead and Other Poems'' (1973)
* ''Fifteen Dead'' (1979)
* ''One and Other Poems'' (1979)
* ''Peppercanister Poems 1972–1978'' (Winston-Salem, North Carolina: Wake Forest University Press, 1980)
* ''One Fond Embrace'' (Deerfield, Massachusetts: Deerfield Press, 1981)
* ''St Catherine's Clock'' (Dolmen, 1987)
* ''Blood and Family'' (Oxford University Press, 1988)
* ''Madonna and Other Poems'' (Peppercanister, 1991)
* ''Open Court'' (Peppercanister, 1991)
*''From Centre City'' (1994)
* ''The Pen Shop'' (Peppercanister, 1996)
* ''The Familiar'' (Peppercanister, 1999)
* ''Godhead'' (Peppercanister, 1999)
* ''Citizen of the World'' (Peppercanister, 2000)
* ''Littlebody'' (Peppercanister, 2000)
* ''Collected Poems 1956–2001'' (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 2001; Winston-Salem, North Carolina: Wake Forest University Press, 2006)
* ''Marginal Economy'' (Dublin: Dedalus Press; Manchester: Carcanet Press, 2006)
* ''Belief and Unbelief'' (Dublin: Dedalus Press; Manchester: Carcanet Press, 2007)
* ''Man of War'' (Dublin: Dedalus Press; Manchester: Carcanet Press, 2007)
* ''Selected Poems'' (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 2007)
* ''Fat Master'' (2011)
* ''Love Joy Peace'' (2011)
*
Prose collections
* ''The Dual Tradition'' (1995)
* ''Readings in Poetry'' (Dublin: Dedalus Press; Manchester: Carcanet Press, 2006)
*
Poetry and prose
* ''A Dublin Documentary'' (O'Brien Press, 2007)
Translation
* ''The Táin'', translated from the Irish epic ''
Táin Bó Cúailnge
(Modern ; "the driving-off of the cows of Cooley"), commonly known as ''The Táin'' or less commonly as ''The Cattle Raid of Cooley'', is an epic from Irish mythology. It is often called "The Irish Iliad", although like most other early Iri ...
'', with illustrations by
Louis le Brocquy
__NOTOC__
Louis le Brocquy ''HRHA'' (; 10 November 1916 – 25 April 2012) was an Irish painter born in Dublin to Albert and Sybil le Brocquy. His work received many accolades in a career that spanned some seventy years of creative practice ...
. Dolmen, 1969; Oxford University Press, 1970.
* ''An Duanaire - Poems of the Dispossessed, an anthology of Gaelic poems''; edited by Seán Ó Tuama. Portlaoise: Dolmen Press, 1981 .
Audio
* ''Thomas Kinsella Poems 1956–2006'' (Claddagh Records, 2007)
Citations
Sources
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External links
Thomas Kinsella papers, 1951–2016at Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library,
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinsella, Thomas
1928 births
2021 deaths
20th-century Irish civil servants
20th-century Irish male writers
20th-century Irish-language poets
20th-century translators
21st-century Irish male writers
21st-century Irish-language poets
21st-century translators
Alumni of University College Dublin
Claddagh Records artists
Irish editors
Irish expatriates in the United States
Irish male poets
Irish modernist poets
Irish translators
People educated at O'Connell School
People from Inchicore
Southern Illinois University faculty
Táin Bó Cúailnge
Temple University faculty
Translators from Irish
Translators from Old Irish
Translators of Brian Merriman
Translators of the Táin Bó Cúailnge