€5m centre dedicated to Seamus Heaney to open in September

Details have been unveiled of a new €5 million arts and literary centre marking the life and work of Seamus Heaney.

Seamus Heaney HomePlace will open in September in Bellaghy, Co Derry, where Heaney spent his formative years, which inspired his work, and where he was buried in 2013.

The centre, backed by Mid- Ulster District Council, will celebrate the significant contribution the Nobel Laureate made as a poet, playwright, translator and lecturer.

Centre unveiling

The centre was unveiled at a reception attended by President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina, and by members of the Heaney family, including his wife Marie and his children.

Speaking at the event in the Royal Irish Academy, the poet's son, Michael Heaney, said: "Having seen the first plans for HomePlace early on, we are pleased that the project has advanced and is on track to open in September.

“We are so grateful that dad is being honoured in such a generous fashion, and we know he would have been proud to have his life and work celebrated in such a positive way.”

HomePlace will house a permanent exhibition interpreting Heaney’s work through his connections with people and places. The space will host personal stories and artefacts, photographs, video recordings from friends and cultural leaders, and the poet’s voice reading his work.

Among the artefacts will be Heaney’s trademark duffle coat and childhood school bag.

A recreation of the poet’s attic study in Dublin will also feature, complete with Velux window and a replica fax machine which, in November 1995, went into overdrive with messages of congratulations on the award of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

12 books

For the first year, the programme will focus on the theme of "12 Books, 12 Months", with each month offering an insight into the inspiration and influences for Heaney's collections, starting with Death of a Naturalist and concluding with Human Chain.

Cáthal Mallaghan, chair of Mid-Ulster District Council, said: “We want HomePlace to be a fitting tribute to the man who has touched – and still continues to touch – so many lives.”