Michael Hartnett Biography

Irish poet, born in Newcastle West, Co. Limerick, educated at University College and Trinity College in Dublin. After living in London and Madrid, he returned to Limerick to teach at the National College of Physical Education. Anatomy of a Cliché (1968), his first collection of poetry, was followed by numerous volumes in both Irish and English. His works in Irish include Adharca Broic (1978) and Do Nuala (1984); A Farewell to English (1975), Poems in English (1977), House of Moon (1989), The Killing of Dreams (1992), and Selected and New Poems (1994) are his principal publications in English. Cúlúide, The Retreat of Ida Cagney (1975) and A Necklace of Wrens (1987) contain verse in both languages. His poetry reflects his deep involvement with Irish culture in its treatments of folklore, mythology, and the Catholic devotional sensibility. As a love poet he is capable of a lyrical intensity reminiscent of Lorca, whose Romancero Gitano he translated as Gipsy Ballads (1973). His acclaimed translation of the Gaelic poem The Hag of Beare appeared in 1969. A Collected Poems appeared in two volumes in 1985 and 1987.