Dec 24, 2024
Nov 13,2024
The National Library of Ireland has completed the acquisition of the archive of the poet Paul Durcan.
The collection covers the period from the 1960s to the present day, and includes hundreds of the his notebooks, letters and cards.
Born in Dublin in 1944, Mr Durcan has been described as one of Ireland’s most renowned contemporary poets.
He began his work 60 years ago with his first book 'Endsville', which was followed by more than 20 others.
NLI Director Dr Audrey Whitty described the collection as one of exceptional importance.
Mr Durcan’s daughter, Sarah Durcan, said this was all about protecting and sharing her father’s work.
She said: "Unfortunately, Paul's health doesn't allow him to be here with us today, but he's in good form.
"I...just want to express Paul's great pleasure that his archive and papers have found a permanent home at the National Library.
"Paul's archive and papers are the evidence of a creative lifetime and lengthy career as a writer.
"It's a vast collection of notebooks, correspondence and manuscripts. It represents his life's work."
From the archives: Paul Durcan reads 'Making Love Outside Áras an Uachtaráin'
The library said that the archive shows Mr Durcan as a prolific letter-writer, and includes correspondence with fellow writers, including Seamus Heaney, Brian Friel and John McGahern.
Also present for the event was archivist Catriona Crowe, who has been a friend of Mr Durcan’s "for a very long time".
She said: "The great thing about him was he kept notebooks all the time.
"If ever you were out having dinner with him, he'd have a notebook, and he might take it out and write down a line that struck him, or something came into his head.
"So they're all there, and they're kind of an invaluable resource for students of poetry.
"The thing about Paul that singles him out, I suppose, is that you spend your time laughing when you're reading his books, because he has such a surreal imagination. I mean, imagine writing a poem called 'Making Love Outside Áras an Uachtaráin'.
"He is a really interesting publicly engaged, poet, who loved giving readings, who responded very well to his audiences and who wrote very, very serious poetry that had a surreal and hilarious twist to it so he was constantly surprising."
Today’s acquisition is the second tranche of the poet's papers that the library has acquired, following the 2006 papers.
The library has said that the Paul Durcan Archive will be made available to researchers in due course, following the completion of cataloguing and conservation processes.
