Sixteenth-century portrait in oils of a man in black posing with his arms around the shoulders of two small blonde children. tw
Giovanni Battista Moroni (c.1521/24-1579/80), Portrait of a Gentleman and his two Children (detail), c.1572-1575. Photo © National Gallery of Ireland

Special event

‘Crazy About Women’ - Celebrating the Poetry of Paul Durcan

30 January 18.00 - 20.00

Location
Lecture Theatre
Admission

A very special event presented by the Friends of the Gallery.

For 50 years the poet Paul Durcan has explored and questioned a world both real and imagined. Steeped in the goings-on of Ireland and preoccupied with its concerns, he has delighted, enriched and unsettled his readers. His prodigious output of more than 20 collections bursts with poems that are courageously personal and passionately spiritual - a body of work that contains multitudes.

This very special evening will celebrate both Crazy About Women, a collection of poems inspired by paintings in the collections of the National Gallery of Ireland, and Paul Durcan - 80 at 80, a collection of poems published on the occasion of Durcan's 80th birthday.

The event will be introduced by Niall MacMonagle, writer, critic, and editor of Paul Durcan - 80 at 80. Poems will be read by actress Ingrid Craigie (The Dead), actor Mark O’ Regan (Angela’s Ashes) and meteorologist and former RTE presenter Jean Byrne. Interspersed will be musical performances by Michael Holohan, Trudy Maguire, and Breifne Holohan.

‘His is a once-in-a-generation talent. He has written immortal poems. I revere him.’  - Michael Longley.