Patrick Kavanagh, one of Ireland’s most revered poets of the twentieth-century, is popularly known as a poet of place, from his early life as a farmer in rural Inniskeen, Co. Monaghan, to his later years in Dublin celebrating the Grand Canal. This exhibition, curated by Dr. Conor Linnie, follows Kavanagh on a different journey to tell the story of the magazines that made the poet. 

The Parish, The Universe draws from the rich material of the Patrick Kavanagh Archive, held at UCD Library Special Collections, to explore the world of the literary magazine and how it shaped Kavanagh’s remarkable life and work. Literary magazines have continued to provide a vital platform for writers and artists in Ireland from Kavanagh’s time to the present day. Independent and fearlessly innovative, magazines connect writers with readers and create cultural communities extending from the page to the wider world.