Irish Life

Seamus Heaney’s death at the early age of 74 has taken away one of our most remarkable citizens.

t is fair to say that Heaney, who came from humble origins in Co Derry and went on to win the Nobel Prize in 1995, was a giant among the world’s greatest contemporary writers.

He was a founder member of  Aosdána and was elected a Saoi  in 1997, the highest honour that can be bestowed by Irish artists.

As a man he was greatly valued by his colleagues for his intelligence, patience, kindliness, tolerance and good judgement.

Seamus Heaney, Ireland's first Nobel prize-winning poet since WB Yeats, has died aged 74 in hospital in Dublin after a short illness, his publisher announced this morning.

Heaney won the Nobel prize for literature in 1995 and was celebrated for his many collections of poetry during his lifetime. He won the TS Eliot Prize in 2006 for his collection District and Circle. In 2010 he won the Forward poetry prize for Human Chain, a volume of verse inspired by his experiences after a stroke; his earlier collection The Spirit Level was shortlisted in 1996, as was District and Circle in 2006.

Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney, who has died aged 74, was described by Robert Lowell as “the most important Irish poet since Yeats”.

Widely acclaimed for his many notable achievements, during his lifetime he undoubtedly was the most popular poet writing in English, and the only poet assured of a place in the bestseller lists. His books sold, and continue to sell, in the tens of thousands,

When I first encountered the name of the city of Stockholm, I little thought that I would ever visit it, never mind end up being welcomed to it as a guest of the Swedish Academy and the Nobel Foundation.

ACCLAIMED poet Seamus Heaney has died aged 74.

A statement issued by his family this morning confirmed his passing.

“The death has taken place of Seamus Heaney.  The poet and Nobel Laureate died in hospital in Dublin this morning after a short illness,” the statement read.

Recognised by many as the best Irish poet since WB Yeats, he was a teacher before embarking on a career in poetry which led to him winning the Nobel prize for literature in 1995.

Mr. Heaney, who is recognized as one of the major poets of the 20th century, won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1995.

Seamus Heaney, a widely celebrated Irish poet who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995, died at a hospital in Dublin on Friday after a short illness, according to a statement issued on behalf of his family. He was 74.