Striking Inwards and Downwards
Portach, Conamara, Co. Gaillimhe. Grianghraf le Richard Tilbrook, timpeall.1960. Gairmuimhir: TIL605
'Our unfenced country
Is bog that keeps crusting
Between the sights of the sun.'
Bogland by Seamus Heaney
Throughout Heaney's work, the bog has played a vital role in his poetic imagination. From his admiration of his father turf cutting in Digging, to his praise of bogs as Ireland's mythological landscape in Bogland, to the troubling portents of violence in The Tollund Man, the landscape has served as a metaphor for the changing times Heaney found himself in.
Join us online on Tuesday 29th at 12pm to celebrate International Bog Day with a talk digging into the representations of the bog in Heaney’s poetry, from the personal to the political, featuring readings from his collections.
If our team can be of any assistance, please contact us at heaneyexhibition@nli.ie
