Michael Davitt (20 April 1950 – 19 June 2005) was an Irish poet who published in the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

. He has been characterised as "...one of modern Ireland's finest poets in either of the nation's languages and key figure in the 1970s

Irish Language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

poetry movement".

Early life and education

Davitt was born and raised in Mayfield in

Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

. He was educated in St Patrick's Boys National School and the

North Monastery The North Monastery ( Irish: ''An Mhainistir Thuaidh''), commonly known as The Mon, is a co-educational education campus comprising Scoil Mhuire Fatima Primary School, North Monastery Co-educational Secondary and Gaelcholáiste Mhuire AG, loca ...

.https://www.dib.ie/biography/davitt-michael-a9441 He then attended

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

where he pursued

Celtic Studies Celtic studies or Celtology is the academic discipline occupied with the study of any sort of cultural output relating to the Celts, Celtic-speaking peoples (i.e. speakers of Celtic languages). This ranges from linguistics, literature and art h ...

. After leaving the university, Davitt moved to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

where he worked as a teacher and with

Gael Linn Gael Linn () is a non-profit and non-governmental organisation focused on the promotion of the Irish language and the arts. The organisation's funding includes government and lottery sources. History Gael Linn was founded in May 1953, followin ...

, an Irish cultural organisation.

Poetry

Although Davitt wrote in Irish, it was not his first language. A successor to

Seán Ó Ríordáin Seán Pádraig Ó Ríordáin (3 December 1916 – 21 February 1977), sometimes referred to as an Ríordánach, was an Irish language poet and later a newspaper columnist. He is credited with introducing European themes to Irish poetry, and is wi ...

, whose first language was also English, his work was considered ''avant-garde'' with urban and rural tones in combination, and an expression of "...a belief in language as the locus of personal and ... national and international self-definition." The importance of location in which the real and imaginary worlds are part of one another is another major theme of his work. Analytic and intellectual, Davitt's poetry is infused with a self-awareness of his choice of language, and incorporates some English words, which seem to act as a challenge to the poet to validate the use of Irish in any topic, breaking those ties to traditional forms which might limit his "contemporary imagination." The confrontation of traditional Irish culture and modern English culture is a core theme in many of his works. As he put it, "What is important is to continue believing in the Irish language as a vibrant creative power while it continues to be marginalised in the process of cultural McDonaldisation..." Described as an "impresario" for Irish language poetry, in 1970 Davitt founded the journal ''

Innti ''Innti'' was a literary movement of poets writing Modern literature in Irish, associated with a literary journal of the same name founded in 1970 by Michael Davitt, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Gabriel Rosenstock, Liam Ó Muirthile, later joined ...

''.

Production and direction work

Davitt worked for Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) as a presenter from 1985–1988, and subsequently as a producer and director through the 1990s. His production credits include the television documentaries ''Joe Heaney: Sing the Dark Away'' (1996) and ''John Montague: Rough Fields''. He took early retirement to devote himself to writing, travelling between Ireland and France with partner Moira Sweeney.

Recognition and death

In 1994, Davitt was awarded the Butler Prize by the Irish American Cultural Institute. In 2005, Davitt died unexpectedly in

Sligo Sligo ( ; , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of 20,608 in 2022, it is the county's largest urban centre (constituting 2 ...

, Ireland, survived by one son and two daughters.

Works

*''Gleann ar Ghleann'' (1982) *''Bligeard Sráide'' (1983) *''Selected Poems/Rogha Dánta'' (1987) *''Freacnairc Mhearcair/The Oomph of Quicksilver'' (2000) *''Fardoras'' (2003)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davitt, Michael 1950 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Irish-language poets 20th-century journalists Alumni of University College Cork Aosdána members Writers from Cork (city) RTÉ television presenters Broadcasters from Cork (city)