Devlin, Denis (1908–1959)

Irish writer and diplomat. Born in Greenock, Scotland, of Irish parents, he was educated at University College, Dublin, in Munich, Germany, and at the Sorbonne, Paris. Devlin's verse combines a delicate interweaving of vocalic and consonantal echoes, partly derived from Gaelic poetry, and an awareness of the varieties of European poetic tradition. His Collected Poems (1964) significantly extended the limits of modern Irish poetry.

Earlier works include First Poems (1930), Intercessions (1937), and Lough Derg and Other Poems (1946).

In 1935 Devlin joined the department of external affairs of the Irish civil service. He went as first secretary to Washington, DC, in 1940, where he met the US poet Allan Tate, and in 1958 was made ambassador to Italy.