President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins described Philip Casey as “one of Ireland’s finest poets and novelists. A treasured author who produced a magnificent body of work that enriched Irish writing.”
‘A Day for Philip’ – a celebration of his life and work, supported by the Gap Arts Festival and Wexford County Council takes place in Hollyfort, Gorey, on Sunday, June 24th.
The unveiling of a plaque takes place at Grove Mill at 2.30 pm; Readings from his work in St. John’s Church, Hollyfort, at 3 pm, followed by refreshments in The Old School at 4 pm.
Philip Casey was an admired and much loved Irish poet, author, and member of Aosdána, who died in Blachardstown Hospital, Dublin, aged 67, on February 4th 2018.

PHILIP CASEY. A celebration of his life and work happens in Hollyfort, Gorey, next Sunday.

He was born in London to Irish parents on June 27th 1950, and his parents came to live on a farm at Hollyfort when he was a young boy.
He lost a leg due to complications following intense radiation to treat cancer and began writing verse and composing songs with a guitar as a teenager in his hospital bed.
His first collection of poetry, Those Distant Summers, was published in 1980 by Raven Arts Press and is heavily influenced by his youth on the farm in Hollyfort. “The curlew cried in the bog before a band of rain came from Croghan like an animal,” he recalled. “It sank a deep well in my imagination.”
The author of four collections of poetry and an acclaimed trilogy of novels, he was also a champion of other writers, not least as founder and editor of the website Irish Writers Online, which provides biographical details of Irish writers.