To mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Patrick Kavanagh, one of Ireland’s greatest poets, UCD Library Special Collections have mounted an exhibition entitled Kavanagh Reconsidered. This exhibition presents material from the Kavanagh Archive, held in UCD Special Collections. The archive was assembled by Patrick's brother Peter and was purchased for UCD in 1986 after a national fundraising initiative.

The exhibition, curated by Dr. Lucy Collins of the School of English Drama and Film, examines Kavanagh's preoccupation with place throughout his life and how this impacted on his writing. 

Though imaginatively identified with rural Ireland, he spent most of his adult life in urban settings, moving between Dublin and London and occasionally travelling further afield to Continental Europe and America.  Despite this unsettled existence and the many challenges he faced, he was committed to the writing life.  His legacy for Irish writers is profound and far exceeds his pioneering representation of rural life. 

Items from the exhibition include typescript drafts of his poetry, Kavanagh family photographs, personal correspondence from family members and publishers, lecture notes, and early editions of his works.

The exhibition will run in the Special Collections reading room until June 2018.