IN EARLY June 1937 a squad of 23 young seasonal agricultural workers left Achill Island, County Mayo to work on the annual Scottish potato harvest. There were 13 young women and girls and 10 young men and boys; the average age of the latter being around 16, the youngest, 13 years of age.

ON THE road from Derry to Belfast you’ll see a sign for ‘Seamus Heaney’s Homeplace.’ It’s in Bellaghy, County Derry, which is about five miles north of Magherafelt.