Michael Davitt

In 1970 Michael Davitt founded the Irish-language literary journal Innti. More than a poetry magazine, the Innti "movement", akin to that of the Beats in the United States, revitalised poetry in the Irish language with its emphasis on contemporary concerns and sharp vernacular wit. By staging public readings across Ireland and literally bringing poetry back to the streets, a sense of excitement was generated in the Seventies and Eighties poetry scene which resembled that of the San Francisco renaissance during the previous two decades.

Michael Joseph Davitt, poet: born Cork 20 April 1950; married (one son, two daughters); died Sligo 19 June 2005.

In 1970 Michael Davitt founded the Irish-language literary journal Innti. More than a poetry magazine, the Innti "movement", akin to that of the Beats in the United States, revitalised poetry in the Irish language with its emphasis on contemporary concerns and sharp vernacular wit. By staging public readings across Ireland and literally bringing poetry back to the streets, a sense of excitement was generated in the Seventies and Eighties poetry scene which resembled that of the San Francisco renaissance during the previous two decades.

Davitt, along with his fellow Innti poets Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, Liam O Muirthile and Gabriel Rosenstock, succeeded in wresting poetry in Irish away from the "tweeds and Fáinne" brigade who had always linked the endeavour to political ends. In poems like "Dissenter", Davitt's brand of activism is on show:

I don't agree to champion

my people's language . . .

The only cause I espouse

is man's right to find

his own centre, stand firm, speak out,

then be kind.

He was born in Cork in 1950, into a family who were not native Irish-speakers. His father Joe was a bus driver from Mallow in Cork and his mother, Hilda (née Parker), was from Stoke-on-Trent. At the North Monastery school in Cork, Brother S.E. O Cearbhaill, a poet, was an influence. It was here that Davitt began his engagement with Munster Irish, which he was to master to an extraordinary degree. Later, he took a Bachelor of Arts in Celtic Studies at University College, Cork.

The Professor of Irish there was the poet Sean O Tuama, and the literary giant Sean O Riordain was also associated with the Irish department. In this intellectual mix, another figure was the musician Sean O Riada, whose exploration of traditional music in the context of jazz also had its effect on the subsequent formal and linguistic experimentation of the poet.

After university, Davitt moved to Dublin, where he taught and then worked for the Irish cultural organisation Gael Linn, promoting festivals, drama and recordings of traditional music and songs. From 1985 until 1988 he was a presenter on the national television broadcaster, RTE, before becoming a producer/director. He retired early from RTE and pursued his poetry, dividing his time between Ireland and France, with his long-term partner, Moira Sweeney.

Davitt was well served in his early career by the Irish-language publishers Coiscéim and Cló Iar-Chonnachta who published four of his first five collections. Two major collected poems in dual-language editions have been published to date: Selected Poems/Rogha Dánta (1987) and The Oomph of Quicksilver/Freacnairc Mhearcair (2000). These have enabled a new generation of readers to encounter the linguistic virtuosity of Davitt, who can be seen to have devoured the work of e.e. cummings, the Beats and Bob Dylan. Indeed, Davitt has been described as "the Bob Dylan of the Irish language".

His poems have an almost forensic way of seeing the flaws and foibles of contemporary society. Pieces written about and for people he admires brilliantly capture each individual's personality. Leading poets including Paul Muldoon, Brendan Kennelly and John Montague have translated his work for publication. Davitt does not shirk from difficult subjects. The poem "Resolution" is written in memory of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, who was brutally murdered in 1996 in West Cork. It not only deals with the horror of this particular death, but questions "our intrusions / our gossip, our speculation / that have turned a woman who cherished her privacy / into a public ornament".

Addressing the bombings in New York of 11 September 2001, Davitt writes "Tears for America". This piece manages to encompass several key markers of US history, from swallowing "whole the west" to "a tear for Uncle Sam / escaped from Rehab". At the same time, it finishes with a spare, almost unbearable verse:

& you exile

brother

given the worst of both worlds

burn or leap

from floor 22

you leap

wingless eagle

tear dropping

to ground zero

Davitt will always be associated with the new movement in Irish poetry which was against isolationism and which brought the internationalist energies of a new youth culture to the reading and publishing scene. He by no means turned his back on the Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking areas) however, continuing to regularly visit Corca Dhuibhne in Kerry and his friends among the former Blasket islanders. He maintained that the Irish language was entirely compatible with emergent trends. "What is important is to continue believing in the Irish language as a vibrant creative power while it continues to be marginalised in the process of cultural McDonaldisation . . ."

In a week when the European Union has designated the Irish language as an official language of the union, Davitt's insistence and activism would seem to have succeeded and his work itself stands as a testament to his own "vibrant creative power".

His work was recognised with literary prizes including the Butler Award in literature from the Irish-American Cultural Institute and membership of Aosdána.

Siobhan Campbell