Early Years
Birthplace of Patrick MacGill
Black-and-white photograph of the cottage in Glenties where Patrick MacGill was born.
Donegal County Library.Birthplace of Patrick MacGill
Donegal County Library.
Donegal County Library.
Birthplace of Patrick MacGill
Black-and-white photograph of the cottage in Glenties where Patrick MacGill was born.
Donegal County Library.Patrick MacGill was born in Ardun in the Glen of Glenties, Co. Donegal on Christmas Eve 1889. He was the eldest of eleven children and grew up on a small farm.
Patrick attended Mullanmore National School until the age of ten, after which he went to a hiring fair in Strabane and was hired as a farm labourer.
Patrick escaped this difficult job and went to Ayrshire, Scotland at fourteen, where he worked in the potato fields as a 'tattie-howker' or potato picker.
London Years
Photograph of Patrick MacGill as a Navvy
This is a photograph of Patrick MacGill as a ‘navvy’, or labourer. He is standing in a field, possibly in Scotland.
By permission of Donegal County Archives.Photograph of Patrick MacGill as a Navvy
By permission of Donegal County Archives.
By permission of Donegal County Archives.
Photograph of Patrick MacGill as a Navvy
This is a photograph of Patrick MacGill as a ‘navvy’, or labourer. He is standing in a field, possibly in Scotland.
By permission of Donegal County Archives.
Photograph of a Young Patrick MacGill
This photograph shows a young Patrick MacGill, possibly at the beginning of his literary career, around 1911 and 1912. At this time, his two collections of poetry, 'Gleanings from a Navvy’s Scrapbook' and 'Songs of a Navvy', were published. With these and the publication of his next book, 'Songs of the Dead End', he became known as ‘the navvy poet’.
By permission of Donegal County Archives.Photograph of a Young Patrick MacGill
By permission of Donegal County Archives.
By permission of Donegal County Archives.
Photograph of a Young Patrick MacGill
This photograph shows a young Patrick MacGill, possibly at the beginning of his literary career, around 1911 and 1912. At this time, his two collections of poetry, 'Gleanings from a Navvy’s Scrapbook' and 'Songs of a Navvy', were published. With these and the publication of his next book, 'Songs of the Dead End', he became known as ‘the navvy poet’.
By permission of Donegal County Archives.Patrick stayed on in Scotland and was hired by the Caledonian Railway Company as a navvy. During this time, he gave himself a literary education through membership of a library, and read many authors, including Victor Hugo and Rudyard Kipling.
At 19, he self-published 8,000 copies of a small book he wrote called 'Gleanings from a Navvy's Scrapbook'. A year later in 1911, he got a job as a journalist for the London Daily Express.
In London, he met Sir John Neale Dalton, tutor to the Prince of Wales, while doing an interview for the newspaper. Sir John was so impressed by Patrick that he asked him to be his secretary.
MacGill did not enjoy journalism and readily accepted the job. He was set to work in Chapter Library at Windsor Castle translating Latin manuscripts.