Page 9 - Garda Journal Winter 2019

IRISH HISTORY | Francis Ledwidge
FRANCIS LEDWIDGE
The Lost Poet-Remembering Francis Ledwidge
“I am of a family who were ever soldiers.....I have heard my mother say many times that the Ledwidges were once a great people in the land and she has shown with a sweep of her hand green hills and wide valleys where sheep are folded which still bear the marks of dead industry and, once, this was all ours- Francis Ledwidge.
By Pat Burke
Francis Ledwidge was born in Slane, Co. Meath on August 19th 1887. He was the eight child of a family of nine. Tragedy first befell the Ledwidge family in 1902, when his father Patrick, died prematurely. For his mother Anne, it was a cruel blow, coming only three months after the birth of her last child Joseph. From that point on, she was forced to accept ‘outdoor relief’ work for eight shillings per week. Further misfortune visited the Ledwidge family when their eldest son Patrick was diagnosed with tuberculosis, a disease from which he later died.
The depressed circumstances in which the family now found themselves dictated that rest of the children had to leave school early. Despite initial hardships, Francis’ poetry blossomed, and he was regularly published in the Drogheda Independent. During this time, he worked as a farm labourer, road-worker, and a copper miner. While working in the Beauparc mine, on the grounds of Dollardstown House, Ledwidge became a spokesman for the miners. He organised a strike to improve working conditions and was instantly dismissed. On returning to work on the roads, he was promoted to foreman, and later Kells district supervisor. He was also taken under the wing of Lord Dunsany.
LITERARY DEVELOPMENT
Dunsany was very taken by Ledwidge’s work. He promoted his poetry in the Dublin literary circles of the day, and introduced him to Yeats, AE Russell and Thomas MacDonagh. Dunsany also helped financially, and provided him with a workspace in his own library. Here, Francis Ledwidge completed his first collection of poetry, ‘Songs of the Fields’. His poetry also caught the eye of Ellie Vaughey, a younger sister of one of his friends. Their friendship quickly developed into a love affair, and Ledwidge dedicated a number of poems to her, including
‘SPRING LOVE’.
Ledwidge had always taken a keen interest in politics. He was a founder member of the Slane branch of the Meath Labour Union and General Secretary of the Meath Labour Society. He was elected to the Navan Board of Guardians and the local Rural District Council. Both he and his younger brother Joe
GARDA JOURNAL 7