THE DEATH has occurred of Irish poet Thomas Kinsella at the age of 93.
Born in Inchicore in Dublin in 1928, he entered University College Dublin in 1946, initially to study science. After a few terms in college, he took a post in the Irish civil service in the Department of Finance and continued his university studies at night, having switched to humanities and arts.
In 1965, Kinsella left the civil service to become writer in residence at Southern Illinois University, and in 1970 he became a professor of English at Temple University in Philadelphia. While at Temple, he developed a programme enabling students to study in Ireland called "the Irish Experience".
One his best known works was the 'Táin', his translation of the Irish prose 'Táin Bó Cúailnge', which was illustrated by a series drawings by the artist Louis le Brocquy in 1969.
In 1972, he started Peppercanister Press to publish his own work. The first Peppercanister production was Butcher's Dozen, a satirical response to the Widgery Tribunal into the events of Bloody Sunday. This poem drew on the aisling tradition and specifically on Brian Merriman's Cúirt An Mheán Óiche.
He received the Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin in May 2007, and in December 2018, he was awarded Doctor in Litteris, Honoris Causa, by the University of Dublin.
In 2019 he announced that a visit today to his old primary school in Dublin would be his last public engagement.
Thomas Kinsella was pre-deceased by his beloved wife Eleanor and is survived by his three children and grandchildren.
