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EPISODE · Jul 13, 2026 · 45 MIN

The brilliant poetry and turbulent life of Patrick Kavanagh

from What Were We Like · host RTÉ

Monaghan born Patrick Kavanagh was a notorious presence in Dublin for much of his life. Broke, drunk and often bitter, he boozed in the bars around Grafton Street, clashing with the likes of Brendan Behan and railing against the literary establishment. Always an outsider, he nonetheless transformed Irish poetry by focusing on the ordinary aspects of rural Ireland, paving the way for the likes of Seamus Heaney, and writing perhaps the greatest love song of all time, Raglan Road.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jul 13, 2026

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The brilliant poetry and turbulent life of Patrick Kavanagh

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