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Heaney donates literary archive to National Library of Ireland
Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Arts Minister Jimmy Deenihan jointly officiated at the hand-over of the literary papers of Irish Nobel laureate Dr Seamus Heaney to the National Library of Ireland today.
Minister Deenihan said that this donation represents a thread of continuity between writers and the Library.
Dr Heaney himself, like many great Irish writers before him, has researched, worked and written in this very reading room. Seamus’ use of the Library as a workspace for both research and creativity calls to mind another great Irish writer – James Joyce – whose life and work have many connections to the National Library.
Acknowledging the generosity of Dr Heaney, Taoiseach Enda Kenny stated
this fascinating literary archive, the working papers of Ireland’s greatest living writer, is a fitting addition to the National Library’s manuscript collections. To Seamus Heaney and to Marie Heaney, and to their children Michael, Christopher and Catherine, I say thank you on behalf of the nation for ensuring that these wonderful papers become part of the national collection in the care of the National Library of Ireland.
Read the full press release here.