Celebrated Irish-language poet Michael Davitt has died aged 55.
The Cork native is credited with spearheading a revival of Irish poetry in a bolder, more experimental style influenced by Beat poetry that nonetheless held true to the Gaelic tradition.
He was the first editor in 1970 of Innti, the Irish poetry publication that featured such talents as Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Liam Ó Muirthile, and Gabriel Rosenstock. These writes became known as the Inttigroup, and their public readings were popular in parts of the country.
After gaining a degree in Celtic Studies at University College Cork, he moved to Dublin where took a post at the Irish cultural organisation Gael Linn. He also presented and produced television and radio programmes for RTÉ.
He devoted his working life to reinvigorating Irish as a modern and creative language, and was given the honour of being elected to Aosdána, the assembly of artists considered to have made an outstanding contribution to Irish culture.
He published six volumes of poetry, and his work won the Oireachtas Prize for Poetry and the Irish American Cultural Institute’s Butler Prize.