Valentin Iremonger was an Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 diplomat

Diplomat

A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...

 and poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

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He was born in Dublin and joined the diplomatic service. He served as Irish Ambassador to Sweden, Norway, Finland, India and Luxembourg.

His poetry collections include One Recent Evening (1944, with Robert Greacen

Robert Greacen

Robert Greacen was an Irish poet and member of Aosdána. Born in Derry, Ireland, on 24 October 1920, he was educated at Methodist College Belfast and Trinity College Dublin...

 and Bruce Williamson), On the Barricades (1944, with Robert Greacen and Bruce Williamson) Reservations (1950), Horan's Field and Other Reservations (1972), and Sandymount (1988). In 1945 he won the Æ Memorial Prize for a manuscript collection of poems. He was poetry editor of the literary magazine Envoy from 1949 to 1951.

He also produced translations from the Irish language, including Dialann Deoraí by Dónall Mac Amhlaigh

Dónall Mac Amhlaigh

Dónall Peadar Mac Amhlaigh was an Irish writer.He was born on the Cappagh Road between Galway and the nearby village of Bearna and in 1940 moved with his family to Kilkenny. He left school at 15 to go out to work in a woollen mill and later on farms and in hotels in the West of Ireland...

, (An Irish Navvy,1964); and Rotha Mór an tSaoil by Micí Mac Gabhann

Micí Mac Gabhann

Micí Mac Gabhann was a seanchaí and memoirist from the County Donegal Gaeltacht. His posthumously published memoir Rotha Mór an tSaoil was dictated to his folklorist son-in law Seán Ó hEochaidh and translated into English by Valentin Iremonger as The Hard Road to Klondike...

 (The Hard Road to Klondike, 1973), and a translation of the German poet Rilke

Rainer Maria Rilke

René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke , better known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was a Bohemian–Austrian poet. He is considered one of the most significant poets in the German language...

 (Beatha Mhuire /sraith dhánta Ghearmáinise le Rainer Maria Rilke, 1990). A radio play, Wrap Up My Green Jacket was broadcast by the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

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He edited, with Robert Greacen, Contemporary Irish Poetry (1949); and Irish Short Stories (1960).