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Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again

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Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again

Enjoy an immersive exhibition that guides you through Seamus Heaney's life and work.

01/06/2026

Seamus Heaney's parents bought him a Conway Stewart pen when he began his second-level education at St Columb's College in Derry. His poem 'The Conway Stewart' recalls that event in his life. Seamus was a boarder at St Columb's and he said that he was 'brimming with grief' when his parents had to say goodbye to him at the school. This coming Wednesday both Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate exams begin. Best of luck to the students who are taking their first state examinations and to those students who are finishing their second-level education journey.

📷Image Description: Text of the poem on an orange background. The text reads as follows:
The Conway Stewart

Medium’, 14-carat nib,
Three gold bands in the clip-on screw-top,
In the mottled barrel a spatulate, thin

Pump-action lever,
The shopkeeper
Demonstrated,

The nib uncapped,
Treating it to its first deep snorkel
In a newly opened ink bottle,

Guttery, snottery,
Letting it rest then at an angle
To ingest,

Giving us time
To look together, and away
From our parting, due that evening,

To my longhand
‘Dear’
To them, next day.

From Human Chain (2010)

31/05/2026

Reminder! Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again will be closed tomorrow, June 1st, for the bank holiday. We will re-open again on Tuesday, June 2nd, at 10am. Enjoy the bank holiday!

Image description: A photograph of the inside of the Seamus Heaney exhibition, with cabinets filled with photographs, drafts, letters and notes with explanatory panels beside them.

28/05/2026

❗ Reminder! Join us as we explore the painted layers of Seamus Heaney through portraiture past and present.

📖 This talk examines how artists who knew, studied, or were inspired by Heaney's work captured his presence in portraiture. From early depictions to later, more reflective works, this talk traces a visual journey through Heaney's life—revealing how each artist approached not just his appearance, but his personality, character and mind.

🎨 Featuring works by Edward McGuire, Barrie Cooke, Louis le Brocquy and more, we will showcases a wide range of artistic styles. Expect everything from finely detailed drawings to bold, expressive paintings, as well as sculpture and printmaking. Together, these works—spanning oil, charcoal, mixed media and more—offer a rich and varied portrait of one of Ireland’s most influential poets.

🗓 Discover anew the intersection of art and poetry at Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again on Saturday 30th at 2pm

🎟 Book your place here: https://www.nli.ie/exhibitions-events/portraits-poet-portraiture-seamus-heaney

Image description: Detail of Portrait of Seamus Heaney (1939-2013), Poet, 1974
Edward A. McGuire
Tempera on panel, 31 x 23 cm
National Gallery of Ireland Collection
Purchased, 1974
© The Artist’s Estate
NGI.4112
Photo, National Gallery of Ireland

25/05/2026

🌳With the anniversary of Heaney's Death of a Naturalist last week, and his first collection being our Book Club pick this coming Friday, we share today a poem from that collection, The Diviner. This poem had also been published as part of Heaney's earlier pamphlet Eleven Poems. In a collection articulating his need to be a poet, this poem stands out for evoking the magic and mystery of art. The diviner here stands in as a metaphor for the poet drawing from the earth life as a diviner does water, and equally unexplainable. However the diviner is not a showman, but humble, showing Heaney for all his poetic feats is still the simple farm boy raised by his parents in Derry.

📸 Image description: White text on a green background that reads:

The Diviner

Cut from the green hedge a forked hazel stick
That he held tight by the arms of the V:
Circling the terrain, hunting the pluck
Of water, nervous, but professionally

Unfussed. The pluck came sharp as a sting.
The rod je**ed down with precise convulsions,
Spring water suddenly broadcasting
Through a green aerial its secret stations.

The bystanders would ask to have a try.
He handed them the rod without a word.
It lay dead in their grasp till nonchalantly
He gripped expectant wrists. The hazel stirred.

From Death of a Naturalist (1966)

23/05/2026

Dr Rosie Lavan wonderfully explored Heaney’s beloved debut collection in a talk today celebrating its 60th anniversary. 🌟

21/05/2026

📚 'Death of a Naturalist', Sixty Years On | An Anniversary Lecture 📚

Come along this Saturday as we welcome Dr Rosie Lavan, an associate professor of Irish and British literature at Trinity College Dublin, who will explore Seamus Heaney’s beloved debut collection in celebration of its 60th anniversary.

🌟 Drawing on remarkable archival items from our collection, this free talk offers a unique insight into the making of one of Heaney’s most celebrated works.

📅 Don’t miss the opportunity to revisit the poems that first introduced Heaney’s voice to the world and join us on Saturday, 23 May at 2pm.

➡️ With limited places available, book now:
https://www.nli.ie/exhibitions-events/death-naturalist-sixty-years-anniversary-lecture-dr-rosie-lavan

📷 Image Description: A selection of archival pages from the literary papers of Seamus Heaney relating to the original manuscript of Death of a Naturalist. The images include a dedication page reading “For Marie,” an acknowledgements page listing publications where the poems first appeared, and a handwritten biographical note in blue ink. The note reads “Seamus Heaney: born 1939 and reared on a farm in Co. Derry. Educated at St. Columb’s College, Derry and Queen’s University. At present lecturing in English at St. Joseph's Training College, Belfast. First book of poems, 'Death of a Naturalist,' due from Faber, Spring 1966.”

Credits: Seamus Heaney Literary Papers, 1963-2010 © National Library of Ireland

20/05/2026

✍️ What did we find on our blackboard this week? ✍️

Having recently celebrated in our exhibition, we couldn’t agree more with the sentiment: ‘there is an artist in everyone’. Whether your art takes the form of the written word, photography, or paint, heed the advice from Seamus Heaney! From “Walk on air against your better judgement” to “Noli Timere - Don’t be afraid”, the message is clear: dare to pursue your passion and see where it leads you. ✨

📷 Image Description: A blackboard filled with handwritten messages in chalk, including “there is an artist in everyone”, and Heaney’s quotes such as “Walk on air against your better judgement” and “Noli Timere - Don’t be afraid.”

18/05/2026

✨Death of a Naturalist Turns 60!✨

To celebrate the anniversary of Seamus Heaney’s debut poetry collection, first published sixty years ago this week, we’re sharing an extract from the poem that gave the collection its name.

🐸 Written while Heaney was working as a teacher in Belfast, the poem draws on his memories growing up in rural Co. Derry and his early fascination with the natural world. His childhood games with frogspawn take a darker turn in the second paragraph as the frogs appear to rise up in revenge.

🕰️ This poem is often read as a metaphor for the uneasy transition from childhood innocence into adulthood. Its place within Death of a Naturalist reflects a similar journey: a young, tentative poet coming into his own in print for the first time. Looking back, however, we can see a voice whose maturity was well beyond its years, and one, which has certainly withstood the test of time.

📷 Image Description: Text of the poem on a grey background. The text reads as follows:

Death of a Naturalist
(excerpt)

Then one hot day when fields were rank
With cowdung in the grass the angry frogs
Invaded the flax-dam; I ducked through hedges
To a coarse croaking that I had not heard
Before. The air was thick with a bass chorus.
Right down the dam gross bellied frogs were cocked
On sods; their loose necks pulsed like sails. Some hopped:
The slap and plop were obscene threats. Some sat
Poised like mud grenades, their blunt heads farting.
I sickened, turned, and ran. The great slime kings
Were gathered there for vengeance and I knew
That if I dipped my hand the spawn would clutch it.

From Death of a Naturalist (1966)

16/05/2026

🎨✍️ Happy National Drawing Day! ✍️🎨
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for our lecture and still life drawing session with Kenneth Donfield!

14/05/2026

📢 Event Reminder 📢

Don’t forget this Saturday the 16th of May we’re celebrating with a lecture and life drawing session led by Kenneth Donfield – permanent lecturer of painting and drawing at NCAD. We can’t wait to see you there!

The Great Drawings of Irish Artists | Saturday 16th May | 2pm – 3pm

Image Credits: Yeats John (Jack) B. (1839-1922). Portrait of William Butler Yeats. Pencil drawing. 1870. Call No. PD 3099 TX 26. © National Library of Ireland

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