Writing Envirement

Much of Heaney's poetry was born out of the Irish conflict that involved the Irish Resistance Army as well as the clashing between the Protestant, Christian, and Anglican communities.  The poet was personally affected when his cousin was shot in 1974, arguably the most deadly year of the country's unrest. When asked exactly what time he began to shift his poem's focus towards political statements, Heaney answered by saying once the conflict had grown in the 70's, he and other writers could not ignore it because it was in the "psyche" of everyone. However, where Heaney fell on the political spectrum was never clear. In 1998 Ireland had achieved peace, and Heaney turned his focus to keeping a mutual peace and maintain the stable social environment.