Patrick Kavanagh Seat

Not to be confused with the more elaborate life-​sized sculpture of the poet sitting on a bench situated further along the canal, this self-​effacing stone bench was the first tribute erected in commemoration of Patrick Kavanagh within this region many decades before the ornate 1991 ‘Man on Bench’ incarnation came along. Every St. Patrick’s Day on March 17^th, following the St. Patrick’s day parade in the centre of town, a group of Kavanagh’s friends and associates gather here in his honour.
It is inspired by his poem ‘Lines written on a Seat on the Grand Canal, Dublin’ which reads, ‘O commemorate me where there is water, canal water preferably, so stilly greeny at the heart of summer. Brother commemorate me thus beautifully’…and indeed he was, in the exact fashion he requested.
In 1954 Kavanagh was diagnosed with lung cancer and was admitted to hospital where he had a lung removed. It was while recovering from this operation by relaxing on the banks of the Grand Canal in Dublin that Kavanagh rediscovered his poetic vision. He began to appreciate nature and his surroundings and took his inspiration from this for much of his later poetry, and a new phase of poetry followed. His love of nature was rekindled following this. He said «As a poet I was born in or about 1955, the place of my birth being the banks of the Grand Canal». After having been near death he could look at life and nature with new found wonder. Nature is glorified in a pantheistic manner in the poetry written from then on. Kavanagh had come full circle and was at peace with himself and the world.
The bench seat is made from an Irish oak tree which was 100 years old. Despite this, in the present day the seat appears decrepit and rundown. The design combo of ashen stonework paired with the oak looks exceedingly dated, akin to something you would see plonked in the recreational area of a societ block. The seat undoubtedly looks very prosaic, and admittedly, insufficient in comparison to the younger model situated a bit further up. The most unfortunate thing, more so than the fractured granite and splintered oak is just how much the engraved ‘dedication’ to Kavanagh has worn away. This is very regrettable because it means people are becoming gradually more ignorant to the true poignancy and historical significance of the seat.
Despite the seat’s lamentable dilapidation it remains a tender tribute to one of the most distinguished poets of all time — a man who was zealously devoted to Dublin hence the perpetual poignancy the bench will always seize in spirit even if it’s physical aesthetics continue to collapse.

Patrick Kavanagh is famously tied with Baggot Street and it’s environs and this rather modest granite bench is the original monument erected in his honour in the locality.
It was erected here on St. Patrick’s Day, one year after Kavanagh’s death, by a group of his close friends and was inspired by his poetry and, allegedly, his heavy hinting on the matter. Most will confuse the inconspicuous original ‘seat’ for the ‘bench’ with the life size bronze of Kavanagh sitting on it, which was put in place in 1991.
Shamefully, the seat is in a state of relative disrepair these days, with the granite cracked, the wood damaged and split, and even the engraving is worn almost away. Despite this the seat is still a touching monument that speaks to the history of the area and to the memory of Kavanagh.