Máirtín Ó Direáin

Máirtín Ó Direáin
Born(1910-11-29)29 November 1910
Inis Mór, County Galway, Ireland
Died19 March 1988(1988-03-19) (aged 77)
Dublin, Ireland
Resting placeMount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin
Pen nameRuaidhrí Beag
Occupationpoet, writer
LanguageIrish (Connacht Irish)
Literary movementModern literature in Irish
Years active1949–1986
Notable worksRogha Dánta and Ó Mórna agus Dánta Eile
SpouseÁine Colivet (m. 1945–1976, her death)
Children1

Máirtín Ó Direáin ([ˈmˠaːɾˠtʲiːnʲ ˈdʲɪɾʲaːnʲ]; 29 November 1910 – 19 March 1988) was an Irish poet from the Aran Islands Gaeltacht. Along with Seán Ó Ríordáin and Máire Mhac an tSaoi, Ó Direáin was, in the words of Louis de Paor, "one of a trinity of poets who revolutionised Irish language poetry in the 1940s and 50s." According to a 1984 lecture by Desmond Egan, "Ó Direáin's genius stands revealed - to the extent that we must look abroad for poets with whom his achievement might best be compared; to Spain and Antonio Machado's sweet intensity; to Russia and Akhmatova; to Germany and the bittersweet music of Heinrich Heine."