A man is original when he speaks the truth that has always been known to all good men.

Eventually a diPatrick Kavanaghvelled figure he would move about the Dublin bars drinking whiskey with a predilection for turning on benefactors and friends. Kavanagh's lyrics are for the most part slight and conventional easily enjoyed but almost as easily forgotten. He became apprenticed to his father as a shoemaker and worked on his farm.

He is known for accounts of Irish life through reference to the everyday and commonplace. Regarded as one of the foremost poets of the 20th century his best known works include the novel Tarry Flynn and the poems Raglan Road and The Great Hunger.