Cathal Ó Searcaigh

Cathal Ó Searcaigh
At home in Mín a' Leá
Born	(1956-07-12) 12 July 1956 (age 60) Gort an Choirce (Gortahork), County Donegal, Ireland
Occupation	Poet

Cathal Ó Searcaigh is one of the most significant poets of modern Irish. His work has been widely translated, anthologised and studied. "His confident internationalism", according to Theo Dorgan, has channelled "new modes, new possibilities, into the writing of Irish language poetry in our time".

From 1975 onwards he has produced poetry, plays, and travelogues. His early poetry deals with place, tongue and tradition, with his late work showing a broader scope. His work includes homoerotic love poems. Jody Allen Randolph remarks "his breaking down of stereotypes and new deployment of gendered themes opened a new space in which to consider alternate sexualities within a contemporary Irish context."

The critic John McDonagh argues that "Ó Searcaigh occupies many of the spaces that stand in opposition to the traditionally dominant markers of Irish identity". In his anthology McDonagh goes on to say "Ó Searcaigh's homoerotic poems are explicit, relishing in a sensuality that for many years rarely found explicit expression in Irish literature."

Cathal Ó Searcaigh was born and reared on a small hill-farm at the foot of An tEaragal (Mount Errigal) in the Donegal Gaeltacht. He was educated locally at Caiseal na gCorr National School and then at Gairmscoil Ghort a' Choirce. He describes his childhood in a remote Irish-speaking community in his memoir Light on Distant Hills.

The first poems that engaged his attention were those of Rabbie Burns, read to him by his father. Tom Walsh, his English teacher at the Gairmscoil in Gortahork, encouraged him to write.

In the early 1970s he worked as a barman in London. Later he attended the NIHE (National Institute for Higher Education) in Limerick where he did European Studies for two years (1973–75) and followed that with one year at Maynooth University (1977–78) where he did Celtic Studies.

During the years 1978-81 he worked in Dublin with RTÉ television presenting Aisling Gheal, an arts and music programme directed by musician Tony MacMahon. From the early 1980s has earned his living as a full-time writer and poet.