‘We Entered History & Ignorance’: Derry in the 1940s

The County Derry that Seamus Heaney grew up in had door-to-door grocery vans, ration books, water pumps, and the radio as the gateway to the world. It was a time of childhood innocence in the midst of significant social change with American troops stationed in the local Toome Aerodrome in preparation for the Normandy landings and the enactment of the Education Act in 1947, changes that had a direct impact on Heaney’s life. Through memories shared in interviews, letters and within his poetry, join us at Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again on Saturday 26th September to discover life in the Derry of his childhood, a time which would forever inspire him.