13 Facts About Brendan Kennelly

Timothy Brendan Kennelly, usually known as Brendan Kennelly, was an Irish poet and novelist.

Brendan Kennelly was Professor of Modern Literature at Trinity College Dublin until 2005.

Brendan Kennelly was one of eight children of Tim Kennelly and Bridie.

Brendan Kennelly's father worked as a publican and garage proprietor; his mother was a nurse.

Brendan Kennelly was educated at the inter-denominational St Ita's College, Tarbert, County Kerry.

Brendan Kennelly was then awarded a scholarship to study English and French at Trinity College Dublin.

Brendan Kennelly graduated from Trinity in 1961 with first-class honours, before obtaining a Doctor of Philosophy there in 1967.

Brendan Kennelly studied at Leeds University for one year under the tutelage of Norman Jeffares.

Brendan Kennelly became a fellow of Trinity College Dublin in 1967, and a senior fellow in 1989.

Brendan Kennelly avoided intellectual pretension and literary posturing, and his attitude to poetic language could be summed up in the title of one of his epic poems, "Poetry my Arse".

Brendan Kennelly was an Irish language speaker, and translated Irish poems in "A Drinking Cup" and "Mary".

Brendan Kennelly's language is grounded in the Irish-language poetic tradition, oral and written, which can be both satirical and salacious in its approach to human follies.

Brendan Kennelly died on 17 October 2021, at a care home in Listowel, County Kerry where he lived in the two years leading up to his death.