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Seamus Heaney

Brief Biography of Seamus Heaney (1939–2013) Seamus Heaney was one of the greatest Irish poets of the 20th century. He was born in 1939 in the townland of Tamniaran, near Castledawson, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. His family was Catholi...

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About Seamus Heaney

Life, Works, and Legacy

Brief Biography of Seamus Heaney (1939–2013) Seamus Heaney was one of the greatest Irish poets of the 20th century. He was born in 1939 in the townland of Tamniaran, near Castledawson, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. His family was Catholic and lived a simple farming life. He studied at St. Columb’s College and later at Queen’s University, Belfast. After finishing his studies, he became a teacher and later a professor of poetry at different universities, including Harvard and Oxford. Heaney’s first book of poems, Death of a Naturalist (1966), made him famous. It shows his childhood memories, love for nature, and country life in Ireland. Many of his poems talk about his family, farming, Irish traditions, and the troubles in Northern Ireland. His simple words carry deep feelings and meanings. In 1995, Seamus Heaney received the Nobel Prize in Literature for his beautiful and human poetry. American poet Robert Lowell described him as “the most important Irish poet since Yeats.” Seamus Heaney continued to write until his death in 2013, at the age of 74. Even today, readers love his poems for their honesty, warmth, and connection to everyday life. Details of Seamus Heaney
  • Full Name: Seamus Justin Heaney
  • Birth & Death: 13th April 1939 – 30th August 2013
  • Parents: Patrick Heaney (Father), Margaret Kathleen Heaney (Mother)
  • Wife: Marie Devlin (Married in 1965)
  • Children: Three; Michael, Christopher, and Catherine Heaney
  • Birth Place: Tamniaran, near Castledawson, County Londonderry/Derry, Northern Ireland
  • Profession: Poet, Professor, Translator, and Critic
  • Nationality: Irish
  • Education: St. Columb’s College and Queen’s University Belfast
  Titles
  • The Modern Irish Voice
  • The Poet of the Boglands
  • The Irish Farmer-Poet
  • Nobel Laureate in Literature (1995)