John O'Donohue was born in County Clare in 1956, spoke Irish as his native language, and lived in a remote cottage in the west of Ireland until his untimely death in January 2008. He was a poet and philosopher, best known for his books and recordings on Celtic spirituality. He had degrees in philosophy and English literature and was awarded a Ph.D in philosophical theology from the University of Tubingen in 1990.
Through the glow of image and narrative and a deft underpinning of thought, O'Donohue's writing draws the reader into intimate conversation with neglected or unknown regions of the soul. Readers say his work puts words on things they have felt for years but never found expressed. He evokes an atmosphere of attention where heart and head gradually open to new horizons and where often the inspired self gains courage to break free from inner prisons. For many, his work is a threshold where the hunger of contemporary questions awakened treasure-wells from traditional sources. Among his books are Anam Cara and To Bless the Space between Us.
Those who savored the poetry in To Bless the Space between Us will be delighted by Echoes of Memory, his first book, a collection of poetry. The paperback is divided into thematic sections: Air Holds Echo, Hungers of Distance, Clay Holds Memory, and Icons of Love. Many of these poems are sleek and elegant like "Beannacht," a tribute of love to his mother (see the excerpt). Whether writing of the sea, a raven, a fossil, the moon, or voices at the funeral, O'Donohue brings a reverent eye and a sense of wonder. In "Nothing Else Matters" and in "From the Womb Before Dawn," the poet chimes in with his respect for the complex nuances and mysteries of love.
