Middle Period
He only drank in a few Dublin pubs: Toners, Doheny & Nesbitts, McDaids and O'Donoghue's. The "Holy Hour" was in place at that time in Irish Pubs and the establishments were closed from 2pm to 3pm. as a result, the practice in Toners was to have a "lock-in" at that time and Michael Hartnett shouts of "Ciúnas" (silence in Irish)would ring out to allow Harnett to recite a poem. A contemporaneous witness (P Breatnach) recalls playing his harmonica as soon as the poet stopped reciting and being told to be quite by all and sundry.
The witness recalls Hartnett as a kind and gentle person, even when under the influence of alcohol, and despite the witness hurling awful abuse at him.
After the breakdown of his marriage in the mid 1980s, Michael had a relationship with a woman named Angela Liston. They made an interesting couple, he being very short and she being very tall. "He drank but he never ate".
Read more about this topic: Michael Hartnett, Dublin Life
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