A Farewell To English
In 1974 decided to leave Dublin to return to his rural roots and his relationship with the Irish language. He went to live in Templeglantine, just five miles from Newcastle West and worked for a time as a lecturer in creative writing at Thomond College of Education, Limerick.
In his 1975 book A Farewell to English he declared his intention to write only in Irish in the future, describing English as 'the perfect language to sell pigs in'. A number of volumes in Irish followed: Adharca Broic (1978), An Phurgóid (1983) and Do Nuala: Foighne Chrainn (1984).
Read more about this topic: Michael Hartnett
Famous quotes containing the words farewell and/or english:
“The imaged word, it is that holds
Hushed willows anchored in its glow.
It is the unbetrayable reply
Whose accent no farewell can know.”
—Hart Crane (1899–1932)
“The Tragi-Comedy, which is the Product of the English Theatre, is one of the most monstrous Inventions that ever entered into a Poet’s Thoughts. An Author might as well think of weaving the Adventures of Aeneas and Hudibras into one Poem, as of writing such a motly [sic] Piece of Mirth and Sorrow.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)