î Dire‡in was, in the words of Louis de Paor, “one of a trinity of poets who revolutionised Irish language poetry in the 1940s and 50s.” According to a 1984 lecture by Desmond Egan, “î Dire‡in’s genius stands revealed – to the extent that we must look abroad for poets with whom his achievement might best be compared; to Spain and Antonio Machado’s sweet intensity; to Russia and Akhmatova; to Germany and the bittersweet music of Heinrich Heine.”