In this second documentary of a two part series, Tom McGurk examines the 1930s to the 1960s in the life of poet Patrick Kavanagh. Kavanagh as an exile in Dublin.
The Dublin literary scene of the time was largely based around 'The Palace' and 'Pearl' bars. In this extract from 'The Jungle of Pembroke Road' Anthony Cronin talks about Kavanagh's relationship with the literati. According to Cronin, as Kavanagh struggled to earn a living, he realised that many of this literary set had comfortable lives. Prior to coming to Dublin he had a preconception of Dublin as a place of conversation but the reality for Kavanagh was quite different. Cronin describes Kavanagh as in many ways “astonishingly naive” and in other ways “astonishingly sophisticated.
Benedict Kiely recalls how Kavanagh eventually became very much part of a Dublin scene that included the universities and Mitchell's tea shop.
"...And I think, you know, that he had this feeling that Dublin was some sort of a wonderland of creative and sympathetic people to whom he could at last talk, because however deep his relationship with Monaghan may have been, everybody in his circumstances dreams of a place of converse..." (Anthony Cronin)
Title: |
Kavanagh and the Dublin Literary Scene |
Clip Duration: |
00:03:14 |
Material Type: |
Audio |
Clip Title: |
Kavanagh and the Dublin Literary Scene |
Series Title: |
The Jungle of Pembroke Road |
Information: |
At the time of Kavanagh's move Dublin was very much a hub of literary life where writers and poets gathered in local hosteleries to discuss and analyse what is literary and what is not.
As Brendan Kennelly commented in his Thomas Davies lecture on Kavanagh:
"Kavanagh satirises these events, people and ideas, we would expect him to satirise: Dublin's pretentious poetasters, its bumptious 'intellectuals'; its complacent middle class, its viscious sentimentality and its insincere good nature." (RTÉ Guide, Oct 4, 1974, Vol.11, No.40, p.13) This is the side of Patrick Kavanagh's life that Tom McGurk examined in the programme 'The Jungle of Pembroke Road'. Patrick Kavanagh came to live in Dublin when he was in his thirties, in 1939, and lived there until his death in 1967. |
Local Keywords: |
Patrick Kavanagh, Poet, Poetry, Literature, Dublin, The Palace, Pearl, Anthony Cronin, Benedict Kiely |
Coverage: |
Ireland, Dublin |
Topic: |
Arts and Culture |
Contributor(s): |
Tom McGurk (Writer/Presenter), Kieran Sheedy (Producer) |
Publisher: |
RTÉ |
First Broadcast Channel: |
RTÉ |
Broadcast Date: |
06/10/1974 |
Production Year: |
1974 |
Country of Production: |
Ireland |
Original Identifier: |
AA15811 |
IPR Restrictions: |
Rights Reserved - Free Access |
Rights, Terms and Conditions: |
Copyright RTÉ. This material may not be replicated in any form or manner without the prior express permission of RTÉ. Any form of reproduction in print, television, video, multimedia, web site or other electronic media or any form of dissemination for commercial or non-commercial use must be licensed by the RTÉ Archives. If you wish to licence video or audio clips, still images or text, or would like further guidance please contact us. RTÉ Archives are committed to respecting the copyright of others and have attempted to source and credit the copyright owners of all material used here. RTÉ would like to hear from any copyright owners who are not properly identified here so that the necessary corrections can be made. If you feel your copyright has not been respected please contact us. |
Item Type: |
part/extract |
Sound: |
Mono |
Language: |
English (eng) |
