Tarbert Revisited

Plaque outside MacGreevy's home,Tarbert

Photograph of plaque outside the house where MacGreevy grew up in Tarbert.It was unveiled in May 1987 and erected by Cork/Kerry Tourism and Bord Fáilte.

Plaque outside MacGreevy's home,Tarbert

Photograph of plaque outside the house where MacGreevy grew up in Tarbert.It was unveiled in May 1987 and erected by Cork/Kerry Tourism and Bord Fáilte.

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Tarbert Comprehensive school

View of exterior of Tarbert Comprehensive School whose library was dedicated To Thomas MacGreevy in 1988 and includes memorabilia and rare books relating to MacGreevy.

Tarbert Comprehensive school

View of exterior of Tarbert Comprehensive School whose library was dedicated To Thomas MacGreevy in 1988 and includes memorabilia and rare books relating to MacGreevy.

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The neglect of Thomas MacCreevy has been reversed somewhat in his native Tarbert.

In the course preparing material for this project, I visited some of the local places associated with Thomas MacGreevy.

A plaque now stands outside the family home still held by the family. Inside, a portrait hangs in the sitting room - along with family memorabilia.

In the nearby Tarbert Comprehensive School (of over 450 students) the School Library - the Thomas MacGreevy Library - is dedicated to his memory. It was opened in 1988 by Dr. Bryan McMahon of Listowel and Dr. Maurice Hayes, formerly of the National Library. The local newspaper, the Kerryman, carried two articles on McGreevy when it opened in 1988.

The Library exhibits include a letter written to a local correspondent from Samuel Beckett in 1987, two years before his death. It somewhat wearily repeats what Beckett always believed about his friends unsung poetry.

"What more can I say but yet again how much I admire Tom MacGreevy's verse and deplore the grudging recognition it has received"

In latter years, the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society has paid tributes to McGreevy. Susan Schreibman, the foremost advocate of McGreevy's poetry, was invited to give a talk on the writer. She later contributed articles on the teaching career of his mother, Margaret for the Society's Journal and on his poetry for The Kerry Magazine, another Society publication. On the wider academic front,a fully annotated Collected Poems of Thomas MacGreevy was published under the editorship of Susan Schreibman in 1991.

Gallery

Thomas MacGreevy Library,Tarbert Comprehensive

A photograph taken inside The Thomas MacGreevy Library in Tarbert Comprehensive School. The Library was opened in 1988. One of the items on display is a letter from MacGreevy's life long friend Samuel Beckett, in reply to a local correspondend ,in praise of the poetry of MacGreevy. Like many others he laments the literary neglect of MacGreevy.

Thomas MacGreevy Library,Tarbert Comprehensive -

Sitting room, MacGreevy family home,Tarbert

Photograph of the sitting room of the MacGreevy family home.A portrait of MacGreevy hangs over the mantlepiece

Sitting room, MacGreevy family home,Tarbert -

The long neglect of MacGreevy

Noted Kerry writer Dr Bryan MacMahon writes an article in the county newspaper,The Kerryman bemoaning the literary neglect neglect of Thomas MacGreevy. The article was written in the context of the opening of The Thomas MacGreevy Library at Tarbert Comprehensive School in 1988. MacMahon and MacGreevy were personal friends as well as felow writers.

The long neglect of MacGreevy -

Beckett praises Kerry poet

The Kerryman newspaper published an article featuring a letter received from Samuel Beckett by a local correspondent regarding the poetry of MacGreevy.The article was written in the context of the opening of the Thomas MacGreevy Library in Tarbert Comprehensive School in 1988. The letter From Beckett is dated 1987,two years before his death. The original letter is part of the memorabilia attached to the MacGreevy Library.

Beckett praises Kerry poet -

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