LEGENDARY poet and broadcaster Pat Ingoldsby has died aged 82.
First coming to national attention as a popular children’s TV presenter, the Malahide man was also an acclaimed poet, playwright, writer and performer.
The news of the Dubliner’s passing was announced on his Facebook.
It said: “Pat, August 25th 1942 – March 1st 2025.
“The beautiful man that was Pat left us early this morning.”
The announcement was accompanied by a Pat Poem entitled ‘I visualise my death’.
It read: “I will go down to the water’s edge in Malahide because it is time.
“Da will be there in the boat. He will smile.
“You’re coming over” he will say. He knows.
“Yes I am. It’s lovely to see you.”
“Come on” he will say. “Da is waiting.”
“A smile of joy will warm me.
“He will not need to help me over the side.
“Everything will be easy.
“Da will pull on the oars and away we will go crossing over to the island, forever getting there.”
Born in Malahide, Pat’s creative life began when he worked as a DJ on national radio in the late 1960s.
By this time, his love for words had already led him to writing plays for the radio, which were soon followed by plays staged in national theatres.
He performed his own poems for many years in venues across Ireland as well as in England, while writing columns in various Irish newspapers.
His RTE TV shows for children – Pat’s Pals, Pat’s Hat and Pat’s Chat – became hugely popular in the 1980s.
He retired from public attention in the early 1990s to devote all of his time to writing poems and selling his books on the streets of Dublin.
Pat’s first collections of poems were brought out by different Irish publishing houses.
In 1994, however, he founded his own publishing house: Willow Publications.
In 2015, after a near 25 years selling on the streets, Pat retired from there too while continuing to write poems.
These unpublished poems, as well as many previous ones, can be read on his Facebook page: Pat Ingoldsby, My Poems Come Out To Play.
In 2022 Pat’s life was celebrated in a film documentary The Peculiar Sensation of Being Pat Ingoldsby directed by Seamus Murphy, which examined concerning the life and inspirations of Irish poet and TV presenter
Throughout his life, Pat has suffered from polio-related paralysis in his left arm.
In recent years, the after-effects of his initial illness had forced him to retire from his regular spot on Dublin’s Westmoreland Street, where, for many years, he sold his books of poetry and chatted amiably with passers-by.
Pat had said: “My life started with polio.
“And now it’s ending with polio because I’m in this situation where my legs have decided not to work any more.
“It’s great for them, but you can’t go anywhere if your bloody legs don’t work.”
