The First of a new series of podcasts featuring the lives of some some of Irelands most celebrated poets . We begin the series with Patrick Kavanagh ....

Patrick Kavanagh (21 October 1904 – 30 November 1967) was an Irish poet and novelist.

His best-known works include the novel Tarry Flynn, and the poems "On Raglan Road" and "The Great Hunger".

Patrick is also known for his accounts of Irish life through reference to the everyday and commonplace.

Gary Cooke discusses Patrick Kavanaghs Life in a 3 part podcast series alongside Professor in English Michael Hinds of Dublin City University.

Patrick Kavanagh was born in rural Inniskeen, County Monaghan, in 1904, the fourth of ten children of James Kavanagh and Bridget Quinn.

His grandfather was a schoolteacher called "Kevany", which a local priest changed to "Kavanagh" at his baptism. The grandfather had to leave the area following a scandal and never taught in a national school again, but married and raised a family in Tullamore. Patrick Kavanagh's father, James, was a cobbler and farmer. Kavanagh's brother Peter became a university professor and writer, two of their sisters were teachers, three became nurses, and one became a nun.

Claddagh records have allowed us to share some of the wonderful recordings taken from the Album Almost Everything.