Trinity College Dublin Renames its Library in Honor of Irish Poet Eavan Boland
Poet Eavan Boland, Photo Credit Arts + Health
The distinguished poet, who earned her BA with First Class Honors in English Literature and Language at Trinity in 1966, helped change the patriarchal, parochial Ireland of her youth by creating a voice for Irish women and children that had barely existed in Irish poetry.
"I know now that I began writing in a country where the world woman and the word poet were almost magnetically opposed," Boland wrote in 1995, in her award-winning book, Object Lessons: The Life of the Woman and the Poet in our Times. "In the old situation which existed in the Dublin I first knew, it was possible to be a poet, permissible to be a woman, and difficult to be both."
During her life, Boland published more than a dozen volumes of poetry and several books of prose. In 2000, she and American poet Mark Strand edited a popular volume for students and poets, The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms. See W.W.Norton list of books.
The announcement of The Eavan Boland Library was made today by Trinity's University Board after a period of research, analysis and public consultation overseen by the Trinity Legacies Review Working Group (TLRWG). Formerly, the library had been named for Irish philosopher George Berkeley, but in 2023 his name was stricken from the Library, after it was determined that his historical persona was "inconsistent with the University’s core values of human dignity, freedom, inclusivity, and equality." More details here.
A process of deliberation ensued, according to the Board, and 855 public suggestions were submitted, and from that, The Eavan Boland Library emerged as the preferred recommendation.
Trinity Provost Dr Linda Doyle said, “It is a fitting recognition of Eavan Boland’s poetic genius that our main Library, used by so many students and staff, will now carry her name. Eavan’s poetry is well-known across the generations, and her outstanding artistic contribution to highlighting the role of women in Irish society is widely appreciated."
In addition to her poetry and essays, Boland was also hailed as an outstanding teacher. She lectured at Trinity College shortly after graduating, and in 1974 began teaching at the School of Irish Studies, a program for American students studying abroad, in Ballsbridge, Dublin. Starting in 1996, Boland became a tenured Professor of English at Stanford University, and was director of creative writing, a post she held for 26 years.
Boland died following a stroke at her home Dublin, Ireland on April 27, 2020 at age 75. She is survived by her husband, Kevin Casey; daughters Sarah and Eavan; and four grandchildren: Ella, Jack, Julia and Cian.
Her daughter Eavan Casey wrote that the family was "absolutely thrilled and incredibly honored that Trinity College Dublin have decided to name their main library after our mother Eavan Boland. It is a wonderful recognition of her accomplishments as an Irish poet but also will hopefully inspire countless future generations of trailblazers and activists as she also was."
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