A plaque to the poet Seán Ó Ríordáin is unveiled at Inniscarra, County Cork.
Seán Ó Ríordáin (1916 – 1977) was born in Baile Bhuirne (Ballyvourney), in the County Cork Gaeltacht. Following the death of his father, he moved with his mother and siblings to Inniscarra and attended secondary school in Cork city.
A struggle with ill health started during his teenage years and continued throughout his life. A diagnosis of TB (tuberculosis) saw him hospitalised and confined to his home for long periods.
It was during these times that he wrote poetry and latterly prose. Seán Ó Ríordáin was widely acknowledged during his lifetime as one of the most distinguished Irish language poets of the twentieth century.
At a ceremony in Inniscara on 24 February 1980, Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich unveils a plaque in Ó Ríordáin's memory. On it is inscribed lines from his poem 'Fill Arís’,
Ni dual do neach a thigh ná a threabh a threigean.
An RTE News report broadcast on 24 February 1980. The reporter is Finín Ó Tuama.
