Macdara Woods

Macdara Woods (1942 – 15 June 2018) was an Irish poet.

Woods was born in Dublin, where he attended Gonzaga College and then University College Dublin. He married the poet Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin. They had one son, Niall, a musician. He lived in Dublin and Umbria. Woods was a founder-editor of the Irish literary magazine Cyphers. He died on 15 June 2018 in St. James's Hospital, aged 76.

He was elected a member of Aosdána (an organisation established by the Irish Government to honour those who have made an outstanding contribution to the Arts in Ireland) in 1986.

Poetry collections

• Decimal D. Sec Drinks in a Bar in Marrakesh (1970), New Writers’ Press
• Early Morning Matins (1973), Gallery Press
• The King of the Dead & Other Libyan Tales (1978), Martin, Brian & O’Keeffe
• Stopping the Lights in Ranelagh (1987, reprinted 1988), Dedalus Press
• Miz Moon (1988), Dedalus Press
• The Hanged Man Was Not Surrendering (1990), Dedalus Press
• Notes From the Countries of Blood-Red Flowers (1994), Dedalus Press
• Selected Poems (1996), Dedalus Press
• Knowledge in the Blood, New and Selected Poems (2000, 2007), Dedalus Press
• The Nightingale Water (2001), Dedalus Press
• Artichoke Wine (2006), Dedalus Press
• The Cotard Dimension (2011), Dedalus Press
• Collected Poems (2012), Dedalus Press (in association with the Arts Council of Ireland)
• From Sandymount To The Hill Of Howth (2014) Cyphers, Dublin.
• Music From The Big Tent (2016) Dedalus Press

In Italian:

• Biglietto di Sola Andata (1998) Moby Dick Editrice, Faenza
• Above Pesaro/Con Pesaro ai Miei Piedi (1999) Volumnia Editrice, Perugia

Edited books

• The Kilkenny Anthology (1991), Kilkenny Co. Council.
• (with Jim Vaughan), Present Tense: Words and Pictures (2006), Mayo Co. Council

Woods's work has been translated into many languages. He has collaborated with musicians, notably Brendan Graham (Winter Fire & Snow, performed by Anúna and others), Benjamin Dwyer (In the Ranelagh Gardens), Militia (Above Pesaro/Con Pesaro ai Miei Piedi) and Richard Hartshorne (The Cello Suites).