Words fail me right now as I visit the newly opened Seamus Heaney Homeplace in his homeland of Bellaghy, Northern Ireland. A moving experience that captures not only the great Irish poet’s work, but also his extraordinary life as a family man. Here is his daughter, Catherine Heaney, talking about how she feels about its opening, the details of which were run by the family meticulously and with great sensitivity. And it shows. If you love poetry, and Heaney, don’t come to Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland without coming here.
For more details on my trip to visit the Seamus Heaney Homeplace, see my article in The Guardian. You can also read more about my stay at Laurel Villa Guest House in Magherafelt, one of the best places to stay in Northern Ireland if you want to celebrate Ireland’s poetry and culture.