MURPHY, Richard. The Battle of Aughrim and The God Who Eats Corn (Inscribed copy)

London: Faber and Faber, 1968. First edition. 8vo. pp. 64. Original green cloth, lettered in gilt to spine, in the original dust jacket. A very good copy, the text clean and bright; jacket well preserved. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper: “To Neil Curry / with good wishes / Richard Murphy / 26 April 1986 / at Lancaster.”

A powerful poetic sequence centred on the Battle of Aughrim (1691), the decisive and bloody engagement of the Williamite War in Ireland. Murphy’s work reimagines the battle and its personalities—St. Ruth, Sarsfield, and the Jacobite army—through a modern poetic lens, combining historical narrative with lyrical meditation. The poem evokes the drama of the battlefield while reflecting on the deeper themes of memory, defeat, and Irish historical identity.

The work was originally commissioned by the BBC Third Programme and first broadcast on radio in 1968 with readings by Cyril Cusack, Ted Hughes, and others, with music composed by Seán Ó Riada and performed by Ceoltóirí Chualann. Murphy’s treatment of Aughrim stands as one of the most imaginative literary engagements with the Williamite wars in modern Irish poetry.

Association copies of Murphy’s work are uncommon and of particular interest when connected to figures in literary or academic circles.

Murphy (1927–2018), one of the leading Irish poets of his generation, frequently explored Irish landscape, history, and identity in his work. This volume forms part of that engagement, linking historical events with the poet’s broader reflections on place and inheritance.

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