John Jordan

He was a short-story writer, a poet and a broadcaster. In 1962 he re-founded and edited the literary magazine Poetry Ireland (hoping "in the humblest of ways, to contribute towards the recreation of Dublin as a literary centre"). In this journal, he introduced a number of poets who were to become quite famous later, including Paul Durcan, Michael Hartnett and Seamus Heaney. This series of Poetry Ireland lasted until 1968–69. In 1981 he became the first editor of the new magazine published by the Poetry Ireland Society, called Poetry Ireland Review. Reviewer of novels for The Irish Times; wrote a column for Hibernia; contributed to Envoy and The Irish Press, among others; TV presenter and arts interviewer. Defended Gaelic literature and translated Pádraic Ó Conaire. Edited The Pleasures of Gaelic Literature (Mercier Press, 1977), and his translation of one of Aogán Ó Rathaille's essays was published in The Pleasures of Gaelic Poetry (London: Allen Lane, 1982). Championed the later plays of Seán O'Casey. His Collected Poems (Dedalus Press) and Collected Stories (Poolbeg Press) were edited by his literary executor, Hugh McFadden, and published in Dublin in 1991. His Selected Prose, Crystal Clear, also edited by McFadden, was published by Lilliput Press in Dublin in 2006. Jordan's Selected Poems, edited with an Introduction by Hugh McFadden, was published in February 2008 by Dedalus Press. Uncollected stories appeared in Penguin Book of Irish Short Stories, Cyphers, and the Irish Press, among other places. His literary papers & letters are now held in the National Library of Ireland.

• Patrician Stations, New Writers Press (Dublin, 1971) • A Raft From Flotsam, Gallery Press (Dublin, 1975) • Blood and Stations, Gallery Press (Dublin, 1976) • With Whom Did I Share The Crystal, (St. Bruno Press, 1980) • Collected Poems, Dedalus Press, (Dublin, 1991) • Selected Poems, Dedalus Press, (Dublin, 2008)