Thomas Kinsella is unquestionably one of the leading Irish poets of our day. One of a number of young Irishmen who began to write in the years following World War II, he has played a major role in invigorating the moribund world of Irish verse. There were good modern poets before him, but Ireland had not seen the like of his verse for decades. His technical virtuosity and the profound originality of his subject matter set him apart from his contemporaries.

Born in Dublin to John Paul and Agnes Casserley Kinsella, he is the son of what he terms a typical Dublin family. His father, a Dublin man, was a lifelong socialist, a member of the Labour party and the Left Book Club (his membership in this club of course precluded any possibility that books could be a mere ornament to the household). It was exceptional for the...