An Tobar ~ Seamus Heaney Centre!

An Tobar ~ Trip to Seamus Heaney Centre!

Good morning folks,
Two reminders.

1. Our next poetry session is on Tuesday 23rd May at the usual time of 7.30pm in An Tobar. The theme agreed is the poetry of Seamus Heaney.                          
2.  As you know our outing to the new 'Home Place Centre' of Seamus Heaney, based in Bellaghy, Magherfelt, Co Derry takes place on Saturday 24th June. 6 people have confirmed they are interested in travelling by the 16 seater bus. Carol Owens who is liaising with the bus company wishes to confirm the arrangment as soon as possible.  If you are interested in going by hired bus can you contact Carol at  carol.peacefulhaven@gmail.com asap.  It would be helpful if you cc your email to me also. The bus will depart from An Tobar.  I presume to get the most from the day we need to leave about 9am. Both Carol and I look forward to hearing from you. We appreciate the cost of the bus is not cheap @ €41 per person if we get 16 passengers. But with the price of fuel and it is a full day for the driver it all adds up.

Best wishes and thanks.

Jim Owens

087 9676728 

About Seamus Heaney Home Place Centre

This is a special place. A moving place. An inspirational place.
Seamus Heaney HomePlace takes you on an inspiring journey through the life and work of one of Ireland’s greatest writers.
Situated between Seamus Heaney’s two childhood homes at Mossbawn and The Wood, and only a few hundred yards from St Mary’s Church, Bellaghy, which he chose as his final resting place, HomePlace is at the heart of the area that inspired so much of the poet’s work.
It’s a place where you can sense the warmth of Heaney’s relationships with local people and landscapes; where you can immerse yourself in the Nobel Laureate’s literature.
Seamus Heaney’s distinctive voice guides you through the exhibition as you get to know the people and places that inspired him. Atmospheric video projections and touchscreen displays sit alongside precious items donated by the Heaney family.
Seamus Heaney’s ink-stained wooden desk from Anahorish Primary School, a recreation of his study in Dublin and the fax machine that delivered the news when he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995, are among the artefacts that transport you to each momentous moment in time.
Open Ground 
Explore locations linking the landscape and the literature of Seamus Heaney. Venture out to Open Ground, a series of five locations which held great significance for Seamus Heaney.
Discover places that shaped Seamus Heaney’s life and literature  — Toomebridge, Magherafelt, Moyola River, Lough Beg and Bellaghy Bawn  — and discover the smells, sights and sounds that make his poetry so uniquely of this place.
Seamus Heaney’s roots were in the Bellaghy area and many of his poems are equally rooted in these places. Throughout his career, he regularly drew upon the loughs, rivers and bogs he visited in his formative years.
Many of these places are unchanged and unspoilt since the time Heaney wrote about them, allowing you to see them for yourself through the poet’s eyes. Read Heaney’s work in the context in which it was inspired and see how the places of Open Ground are reflected in his writing. Winner of NI’s Most Innovative Business (Large) at Tourism Northern Ireland's Giant Spirit Awards 2022.