Poet Sweeney’s ‘darkest lines had a twinkle in their eye’

By Niall Murray

The death of Cork-based poet Matthew Sweeney has sparked tributes from home and abroad.

The 66-year-old was born in Co Donegal, and launched his 12th collection, My Life as a Painter, in April.

In an Irish Examiner interview at the time, he said he preferred not to dwell on his demise but that “where the poems take me is another matter”, as he dealt with a diagnosis last year of motor neurone disease.

His friend Pat Cotter, a fellow poet and director of the Munster Literature Centre, said on Twitter: “He put up a spirited fight against the reaper in the past week and wrote up a storm in these last months of life.”

Some of that work appears in the just-released latest edition of the Southword journal, featuring five new poems and an interview.

The award-winning writer told the Irish Examiner in April that poetry had been central to his life and, “despite the lack of money it brings, I would do it all over again”. He added: “How many people really value my poems? I wouldn’t say they’d fill a very small theatre, but there are some.”

Those who did value his writing, his teaching, and his personality were warm in their praise on social media yesterday.

He was University College Cork’s writer in residence 2012-2013, and taught at universities and literature festivals worldwide.

“He was a true poet who knew how to place the best words across the white page like first footprints on snow. Even his darkest lines had a twinkle in their eye,” writer and radio presenter Ian McMillan wrote on Twitter.

Poet Jack Underwood tweeted that Sweeney had a “mischief, a temper, and a grin like a rusted zip”.

Matthew Sweeney is walking into eternity on Ballyliffin Strand. #timormortisconturbatme pic.twitter.com/zDDWRTxKXo

— david wheatley (@nemoloris) August 5, 2018

Sweeney is survived by his children Nico and Malvin, and his partner Mary Noonan.

A celebration of his life and poetry will be held at the Triskel Arts Centre in Cork on Wednesday.