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Kildare County Council Confers Civic Honour on Poet Desmond Egan 

27 July 2026: Kildare County Council has conferred a Civic Honour on internationally recognised Irish poet Mr Desmond Egan, in recognition of his outstanding and enduring contribution to the arts, literature and culture in County Kildare. 

The honour was presented at the official opening of the 38th Gerard Manley Hopkins International Literary Festival on Friday, 24 July 2026, at Newbridge College Theatre. 

Full Council unanimously approved the conferral of a Civic Honour on Mr Egan, the presentation of the Dara Bronze Award, and the inscription of his name on the Roll of Civic Honours of Kildare under the Council’s statutory powers. 

The Dara Bronze Award is a prestigious, limited-edition commemorative coin commissioned by Kildare County Council and designed by Irish artist Mary Gregoriy. It is presented in recognition of distinguished contributions to the cultural, sporting or community life of County Kildare and Ireland. 

The presentation formed part of the opening of the Gerard Manley Hopkins International Literary Festival, a week-long programme celebrating poetry, music, art, philosophy and conservation, with contributors and audiences from Ireland and overseas. 

Mr Egan is an internationally recognised poet who has spent most of his adult life in Newbridge, County Kildare. He has published 24 collections of poetry, along with prose works and translations of Greek drama, and his poetry has been translated into numerous languages. 

He founded The Goldsmith Press in 1972 and edited the arts magazine Era from 1974 to 1984. He is especially associated with the Gerard Manley Hopkins International Literary Festival, which he founded in 1987 and where he has served as Artistic Director. 

Through the Festival, Mr Egan has helped strengthen Newbridge’s reputation as a place of literary and cultural exchange. 

Cathaoirleach of the County of Kildare, Cllr Tim Durkan, said: “It is a great privilege to confer this Civic Honour on Desmond Egan in recognition of his outstanding contribution to literature, culture and the arts. Through his poetry, publishing work and founding of the Gerard Manley Hopkins International Literary Festival, Desmond has made an exceptional and lasting contribution to the cultural life of County Kildare. His work has brought international distinction to Newbridge and created a lasting legacy for generations of writers, artists and readers.”