Seamus Heaney died on 30 August 2013. He had fallen outside a Dublin restaurant and gone to hospital the night before.
Heaney's final words were a text message to his wife Marie, "Noli timere", don't be afraid.
Heaney's death was mourned throughout Ireland. Tributes were paid on radio and television from politicians, writers and fans, painting a picture of a kind man who gave generously of his time to the public. A packed stadium applauded him at the All-Ireland football semi-final in Croke Park in Dublin. Even after he had been buried in Bellaghy in his native Derry, mourners continued to visit his grave.
The last word on Heaney goes to Dennis O'Driscoll, his friend and fellow-poet who died in 2012. In an introduction broadcast on radio in 2004, O'Driscoll describes the poetry of "a soul fostered alike by beauty and by fear".
