Sarah Poyntz (18 March 1926 – 14 September 2020) was an Irish journalist and author. She is known for her contributions over 24 years to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

's'' '' Country Diary'' column, describing

The Burren The Burren ( ; ) is a karst/glaciokarst landscape centred in County Clare, on the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland.

. Some of her columns were subsequently published in book form.

Early life

Poyntz was born in

New Ross New Ross (, formerly ) is a town in southwest County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, on the River Barrow on the border with County Kilkenny, northeast of Waterford. In 2022, it had a population of 8,610, making it the fourth-largest t ...

County Wexford County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...

, in 1926, the daughter of Francis (Frank) Poyntz and Ellen Theresa (Nellie) Murphy Poyntz. Her father was a solicitor. She had an older brother, Jack, and an older sister, Kitty; Kitty died as a teenager, when she drowned with two others near

Fethard-on-Sea Fethard-on-Sea or Fethard () is a village in southwest County Wexford, Ireland. It lies on the R734 road on the eastern side of the Hook peninsula, between Waterford Harbour and Bannow Bay. The village is in Fethard civil parish and partl ...

in 1936. Poyntz was educated at Loreto Abbey in

Gorey Gorey () is a market town in north County Wexford, Ireland. It is bypassed by the main N11 road (Ireland), M11 Dublin to Wexford road. The town is also connected to the Gorey railway station, railway network along the same route. Local newspape ...

, County Wexford and

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

(UCD). She studied with

Lorna Reynolds Lorna Reynolds (17 December 1911 – 4 July 2003) was an Irish people, Irish writer, editor, and professor. Early life and education Reynolds was born in Jamaica in 1911 to staff sergeant Michael Reynolds in the Royal Engineers and his wife Te ...

at UCD.

Career

Poyntz initially worked as a teacher in England, and was appointed Head of the English Department at the

Perse School for Girls The Stephen Perse Foundation is a family of private schools in Cambridge and Saffron Walden for students aged 1 to 18. The Foundation is made up of: - 3 nurseries (2 in Cambridge and 1 in Saffron Walden, Essex) for ages 1–5. - 2 Junior S ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, but took early retirement due to ill health. She used her Irish accent on stage, in a student performance of ''

Juno and the Paycock ''Juno and the Paycock'' is a play by Seán O'Casey. Highly regarded and often performed in Ireland, it was first staged at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1924. It is set in the working-class tenements of Dublin in the early 1920s, during the I ...

'' at the Callington County Grammar School in 1963. Poyntz lived in New York for a time, while her partner was a professor at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

. In 1986 she moved to

Ballyvaughan Ballyvaughan or Ballyvaghan () is a small harbour village in County Clare, Ireland. It is located on the N67 road on the south shores of Galway Bay, in the northwest corner of The Burren. This position on the coast road and the close proximity ...

and in 1987 she began writing for ''The Guardian'''s ''Country Diary'' column. Her columns were usually about nature, flowers, birds, and sometimes archaeological finds in the area. In 2003 she wrote her column from France, where she observed migrating house martins near the river

Mayenne Mayenne ( ) is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Il ...

. In 2006 she wrote a book on the villages of The Burren. Poyntz retired from writing in December 2010, at the age of 84.

Publications

* ''A Burren Journal'' (2000) * ''Memory Emancipated and Poems'' (2005) * ''Burren Villages'' (2006)

Personal life

Poyntz's partner was American Milton scholar

Mary Ann Radzinowicz Mary Ann Nevins Radzinowicz (April 18, 1925 – March 15, 2023) was an American academic and scholar of English literature. She was a leading authority on John Milton and 17th century English literature. She was Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of ...

, who sometimes made appearances in the ''County Diary'' columns. Poyntz died from cancer on 14 September 2020, at the age of 93.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poyntz, Sarah 1926 births 2020 deaths Alumni of University College Dublin Writers from County Wexford Irish women journalists The Guardian journalists People from Ballyvaughan