Tributes to Irish poet Thomas Kinsella after death, aged 93

Irish President Michael D Higgins has led tributes to poet Thomas Kinsella, who died on 22nd December, aged 93.

In a statement, the president praised the poet whose work, he said, "retained a fierce urgency and relevance for readers throughout life". 

“All those with a love of Irish poetry and culture will be saddened to have learned today of the death of Thomas Kinsella, one of Ireland’s finest poets - his reputation at home and abroad was one of being of a school that sought an excellence that did not know borders," he said.

Kinsella was born and educated in Inchicore in Dublin and was also a translator, editor and publisher. His first book was The Starlit Eye, published by Liam Miller's Dolmen Press in 1952, after which followed a number of collections. More recently Carcanet has also published 15 collections of his poetry, including The Dual Tradition, Prose Occasions and his Collected Poems.

In 1972, Kinsella founded Peppercanister Press, whose first publication was "Butcher’s Dozen",  Kinsella's own satirical response to an article which appeared in Britain’s Widgery Tribunal, a report which glossed over the British Army massacre of civil rights protesters in Derry, events which became known as Bloody Sunday.

"In seeking to make something more approximate to the complexities of our times, Kinsella opted not for summary or overview, not for the fine-tuned linear narrative or the self-contained lyric, but for the poetic sequence, what might be called the art of brilliant fragments," said Pat Boran, publisher at Dublin-based contemporary poetry house, Dedalus Press. "Like mosaic pieces, his often downbeat, unflashy, even clipped free verse poems might sometimes puzzle on their own but, seen together, could have an uncanny power to challenge, provoke, suggest and engage the reader intellectually as well as emotionally. This intellectual element may be one of the reasons he is usually seen as a poet’s poet."

Kinsella is also credited with celebrating and spotlighting Gaelic poetry, and was critically acclaimed for his literary translation of "The Táin". A selection of his poems, including "Another September" and "Mirror in February", were featured on the Irish school syllabus for many years.

Higgins, himself a poet, said: “Kinsella, in addition to his own work, leaves a strong legacy in his translations from early Irish, most notably his collaboration with artist Louis le Brocquy on 'The Táin'. That beautiful work came from a poet who valued and empathised with the Irish tradition."

"I had the great pleasure in being present for one of Thomas’ last public engagements, when we visited his old primary school Model School Inchicore in 2019, a place like so many in his native Dublin that he immortalised in his work. He remained to the end a truly remarkable man with a special grace that I recall from that occasion."

Minister for the arts, Catherine Martin, commented: "I am greatly saddened to learn of the passing of Thomas Kinsella, one of Ireland's most celebrated poets.Over the course of a long life, he offered a true poet’s perspective on all aspects of the human condition. May he rest in peace."