The Bard From Ballyscullion Traditional Cache
The Bard From Ballyscullion
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This cache is placed just outside the grounds of St Mary's Church, Bellaghy, more or less as a 'waypoint' for the final resting place of 'famous Seamus' from where directions to his grave are sign posted. The cache is a magnetic nano, containing only a log. The is plenty of car parking available if you avoid visiting during Mass times - Mon and Wed 9.30am; Vigil Mass (Sat) 7pm; Sunday (Alternate Sundays with Greenlough) 11am
There is a book of condolence in the church porch and toilet facilities are also available there during daylight hours.
A Wee Bit About The Man
Seamus Justin Heaney was born at the family farmhouse called Mossbawn, between Castledawson and Toomebridge in 1939 - the first of nine children.
His father, Patrick Heaney (d. October 1986), was the eighth child of ten born to James and Sarah Heaney, Patrick was a farmer, but his real commitment was to cattle-dealing, to which he was introduced by the uncles who had cared for him after the early death of his own parents. Seamus's mother, Margaret Kathleen McCann (1911–1984), bore nine children. Her uncles and relations were employed in the local linen mill, and her aunt had worked as a maid for the mill owner's family.
Heaney commented on the fact that his parentage thus contained both the Ireland of the cattle-herding Gaelic past and the Ulster of the Industrial Revolution; he considered this to have been a significant tension in his background.
Heaney initially attended Anahorish Primary School and after a happy childhood - surrounded by his close family, he did well at school and progressed to St Columb's College as a border when he was 11.
In 1953, his family moved to Bellaghy.
In 1957 he gained a place at Queen's University in Belfast to study English - where he graduated with a First Class Honours degree. After leaving university he worked for a while at St Thomas' Secondary School in Belfast.
In 1965 he married Marie Devlin - who was also a writer - with whom he would have three children (Michael, Christopher and Catherine Ann).
Heaney gave up teaching in 1966 to become a freelance writer.
His collection Death of a Naturalist was spotted by the Irish-born Charles Monteith at Faber and Faber and was published in 1966. In one of the poems - Digging - Heaney described his father working in the garden and recalled how his grandfather also cut turf at Toner's Bog - but concluded that, instead of digging himself, he would use his pen: 'Between my finger and my thumb/The squat pen rests./I'll dig with it.' In many ways, this was his mission statement - for much of his work remained rooted in the countryside of his childhood.
Heaney became Oxford Professor of Poetry in 1989 a post he held until 1994. He also taught at Harvard University (1985-2006) during that time he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995 "for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past."
Heaney's work reached a wide audience and his book sales far exceeded those of other contemporary poets. He was the author of over 20 volumes of poetry and criticism, and edited several widely used anthologies. In Ireland he was affectionately known as 'famous Seamus'.
He died in Dublin on 30th August, 2013 and was buried here on 2nd September. His funeral was very well attended by all walks of life from academia to the many who just simply appreciated the works of this great modern day bard.
In the graveyard beside St Mary's church, tucked neatly beside a dry stone wall and sheltered by the branches of a large sycamore tree, is the final resting place of Seamus Heaney. It was his wish to be buried here, his family plot is just across the path with the graves of his parents and that of his brother Christopher. Seamus's brother, Christopher, was killed in a road accident at the age of four while Heaney was studying at St. Columb's. The poems "Mid-Term Break" and "The Blackbird of Glanmore" focus on his brother's death.
There is a plethora of information online about Seamus and I have used some of these online sources for the detail of this listing.
One final personal significance about St. Mary's church - it was here on a cold 24th October morning in 1992, that Mr. and Mrs. Sperrinwalker got married.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Vg'f n tenir fvta......
Treasures
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