Paul Durcan’s Poetry – A Self-Portrait in Contemporary Ireland

Abstract

Paul Durcan’s poems have represented his social, historical and cultural experiences, in Ireland and in the places he has visited, for many decades. Thus, among the many approaches that his poetic work inspires, one of them privileges the “documental” aspect of his achievement as a “poet – journalist”. This article aims at discussing another significant aspect of Durcan’s multiple attitudes towards reality by arguing that his poems are parts of a long autobiography containing events and feelings since early childhood to the present day. The reader’s task is to piece together in a time sequence the loose threads of Durcan’s autobiographical weaving; his reward will be to discover a fascinating and unique self-portrait of the poet.