Gabriel Fitzmaurice was born in 1952, in the village of Moyvane, Co. Kerry where he still lives. For over 30 years he taught at the local primary school from which he retired as principal in 2007. He is the author of more than 60 books, including collections of poetry in English and Irish as well as several collections of verse for children. He has translated extensively from the Irish and has edited a number of anthologies of poetry in English and Irish. He has published volumes of essays and collections of songs and ballads. “Fitzmaurice’s signature rhymes are clear and true…[He] expresses grief, joy, faith and doubt, his poems proof that the universal shows itself most clearly in… concentrated particularities” – The Irish Times “[There] is great comfort to be found in Gabriel Fitzmaurice’s A Farewell to Poetry where a fine selection of his work remains and will endure” –  Poetry Ireland Review