Enjoy a fascinating journey exploring the highlights of Heaney's archive, from his rural origins through to his remarkable career as a poet

Heaney is most famous for his poetry collections but also left a great collection of lectures, essays and prose that give insight into his thoughts on how a poet should properly live and write. 

How does a poet find their voice? What is their relationship to their literary background and the world around them? With musings from his personal life to his astute observations of Yeats, Joyce, Kavanagh and more, this promises to be an exciting and eye-opening look at a rarer seen side to Seamus Heaney.

Join us for an opportunity to read passages from this collection, chat about themes and inspirations and ask any questions

This book club is for everyone, you don't need to be a poetry expert!

Established by the Dublin Science and Art Museum Act, 1877, the NLI was originally housed at the Royal Dublin Society's premises in Leinster House until the present building at 7/8 Kildare Street was formally opened on 1890.

Discover the history of our beautiful Victorian building on Kildare Street and meet the NLI's Director Dr Audrey Whitty. The guided tour will also visit the magnificent Reading Room and explore our links with some of Ireland’s greatest writers and thinkers.

The tour will last from 6–7pm | Entry free but booking required. 

This Director's Tour will be conducted as part of Dublin By Dusk, with the NLI's Main Reading Room being open to visit between 5-8pm. 

Meet in the Front Hall of National Library of Ireland, 7/8 Kildare Street, Dublin 2. For more information regarding accessibility in our buildings please see here.

In an Irish radio interview, Heaney declared Czeslaw Milosz his ‘hero,’ nominating him as ‘the giant at my shoulder’ and, in Stepping Stones, admitted that he ‘was always a bit in awe of him.’ 

Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1980, Milosz ranks among the most respected figures in 20th-century literature, as well as one of the most respected contemporary poets in the world. Like Heaney, his poetry affirmed the value of human life, drawing inspiration from having lived through some of the great upheavals of 20th-century Eastern Europe and, as Heaney puts it, making ‘his soul...by writing his way out of that state of affairs.’ 

From source of inspiration to a respected friend, join us Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again Saturday 27th June for a special talk exploring Miłosz’s remarkable life, important literary works and his inspiring relationship with Seamus Heaney. 

The exhibition draws on items from the National Library of Ireland’s Yeats Collection, the largest collections of books, manuscripts and personal items relating to WB Yeats in the world.

Explore Yeats’ many interests – Ireland, literature, folklore, theatre, politics, mysticism and the occult. Exhibition highlights include manuscripts of many of Yeats’ most beloved poems including “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” and “Easter, 1916”, his Nobel Prize medal, personal artefacts from Yeats’ school reports to a cherished carved piece of lapis lazuli, remarkable photographs of Yeats and his family and friends, and much more.

Exhibition opening hours

Monday, Thursday & Friday: 9.30am - 5pm (last admission 4.30pm)
Tuesday - Wednesday: 9.30am - 7pm (last admission 6.30pm)
Saturday - Sunday: 9.30am - 5pm (last admission 4.30pm)
Public Holiday Mondays: 12pm - 5pm (last admission 4.30pm)