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Maura Johnston

Maura Johnston

Irish poet and writer from Moneymore, County Derry; published works include The Whetstone and a glossary of Seamus Heaney's dialect language.

Jun 10, 2026

Merry Dance

Merry Dance

Seamus Heaney's friends recall the poet

Jun 10 · 59m

Sé Merry Doyle
Sé Merry DoyleHOST
21:41
Well, what made you come up with that title and write that book?
Maura Johnston
Maura JohnstonGUEST
21:44
Well, I'll, I'll tell you why I wrote it first.
Maura Johnston
Maura JohnstonGUEST
21:46
I was doing, um, creative writing in a local school, and I was also looking at Seamus Heaney's poetry.
Maura Johnston
Maura JohnstonGUEST
21:53
And I discovered these schoolchildren didn't know words like townland, byre, all words that I grew up with and Seamus Heaney grew up with.
Maura Johnston
Maura JohnstonGUEST
22:02
And I thought to myself, if these local children don't know the words-
Sé Merry Doyle
Sé Merry DoyleHOST
22:17
So you'd open up the, the folklore of it?
Maura Johnston
Maura JohnstonGUEST
22:20
Yes.
Maura Johnston
Maura JohnstonGUEST
22:20
And I think what, I think anybody who wants to know some of the words is already reading the poem or something.

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