by Brian McMahon
Dan Keane of Carrueragh occupies a rare place in the esteem, admiration
and affection of North Kerry people for very many reasons. His
genial personality, his racy-of-the-soil competence as a Master
of Ceremonies on festive occasions, his sensitivity as a poet
and balladmaker, all mark, and indeed hallmark him, as a true
son of his environment and one in complete harmony with the
rural background from which he sprang.
Rhyming is in his blood. On one side, his great-grandfather William Moore
of Clounbrane, Moyvane, was close kin to Thomas Moore, the National
Poet of Ireland, whose father hailed from that townland; on the other
side his great-grand-uncle, Andy McMahon, of Tubbertoureen, also appears
in local folklore as a poet. Both great-grandsires were evicted from
their farms in the dark days of the fight for agrarian freedom.
His only education was on primary school level at Knockanure, where
the name O’Callaghan figured prominently in the roster of his teachers.
Having left school before reaching fourteen, he worked for eleven
years as a farmer’s boy, all the while educating himself by every
means available to him. This dedication to self-education was rewarded
by his appointment as an Insurance Representative, a post which brought
him into contact with a wide circle of people in North Kerry and beyond.
His poetry reflects the thoughts, reactions and experiences of this simple yet complex life-style.
Every reader will have his or her favourite pieces among the
poems that follow. They reveal a spirit highly attuned to the
joys and sorrows of the people amongst whom the poet spent his
life. Some like “Daybreak O’er Rathea” cry out to be set to
music while others like the whimsical “The Cruel Deed” should
find a place in any anthology of poetry for children. Others
have a religious or social resonance so that each facet of human
emotion is accurately portrayed.
It is a pleasure for me to go before him and ring a bell to call attention to the merits of a rare and poetic spirit.
Poems by Dan Keane
