Talking to Professor Augustine Martin, Dr. Peter Kavanagh talks about his relationship with his brother and his realisation that Patrick was a genius.
There was a considerable age gap between Peter and Patrick. Peter remembers first becoming aware of Patrick’s talent for writing verse in the late 1920’s. Peter describes himself as Patrick’s audience and critic. He talks about the most important moments in Patrick's life and labels Patrick a genius, despite his lack of education and the perception people had of him.
A more intense collaboration began when Patrick moved to Dublin, where Peter supported Patrick in their meagre bedsit. Peter describes their own private war, a war of the poet that wished to survive.
