“ Or will the key of Christmas flick
the lock free and let me sail
at last across the threshold?”

Lines from a poem by the late Seán Dunne. Dunne was born in 1956 and grew up in St John's Park, Waterford City. His prose book “In My Father's House” is a lyrical, unsentimental memoir of his childhood. Dunne studied English at University College Cork where he was inspired by mentors Seán Lucy and the celebrated poet John Montague. Sometime after graduation he became the highly regarded literary editor of the daily national newspaper “The Examiner” (then called “The Cork Examiner”). Dunne died of natural causes in 1995.

His premature death shocked the Irish literary world. The outstanding Belfast poet Michael Longley spoke at the time of the anger and despair he and others felt at the sudden loss of Seán Dunne. My own late friend and poet Gerry Fanning said of Dunne "Tidy. Fastidious. Always liked him. His early death was a major shock".

Dunne published three poetry collections “Against the Storm” (1985), “The Sheltered Nest” (1992) and “Time and the Island” (1996). He wrote two prose books – “In My Father's House” (1991) and “The Road to Silence : An Irish Spiritual Odyssey” (1994). Seán Dunne is buried at St Gobnait's monastic site in Ballyvourney, County Cork.

My father-in-law Seán O Riain gifted me the Seán Dunne book “Collected” (2005). It is a posthumous collection of poems and translations by Dunne. The short opening poem “Prayer” is a powerful homage to our declining planet
“..King of Tuesday, let live the frail
Petals in limestone landscapes..”
The book also contains a number of Dunne's sublime translations of poems by Anna Akhmatova, the highly acclaimed Soviet modernist poet.

My own favourite is “West Cork” - a reverential portrait of folk religion which is still practiced to some extent in Ireland today. The poem is dedicated to his above-mentioned mentor Seán Lucy (1931-2001). Lucy taught at the faculty of English at University College Cork from 1962 to 1986. He eventually became professor and faculty chair. During his tenure there, Lucy was regarded as an inspirational educator. Several of his students subsequently became renowned writers, Dunne being one of them.

“West Cork” contains just over 100 words and is in three sections – “Saint's Bed”, “Rag Tree” and “Holy Well”. It is a definitive, lyrical eulogy to the tradition of worshipping stone, wood and water for spiritual and physical wellness.

Tradition has it that the saint is buried under a long stone slab at the site. The slab is "Cluttered at a bedside table" with pilgrims' votive offerings.

Rags are dipped in the well water, applied to the afflicted part of the body and then tied to a tree in the belief that the tree will take way the ailment. "Its branches drip with tatters / It seems held down with pleas."

The well water forgives sins and is also instrumental in healing ailments. "Coins glitter in its depths like foil. /The water shivers at the mildest gust. / Pinched by midges it trembles slightly".

The idea of a film version of the poem was warmly embraced by multi-instrumentalist Mick O’Riordan and artist Carles Casasin. Filming took place at St Gobnait's site over one misty day in February 2012. O’Riordan composed the music for the film. He also recited the poem. Casasin painstakingly filmed and edited the work.

The first public screening took place in Ennistymon in 2012. The film is all of four and half minutes long. It is dedicated to Ennistymon woman Frances Madigan. Frances is the driving force behind the North Clare Historical Society. She is also a member of the executive committee and a volunteer collector with Cuimhneamh An Chláir , the Clare oral history and folklore group. Frances's mother is from Ballyvourney.

“West Cork” was also screened at the Cork International Film Festival in the same year. The film featured in the O Bhéal section of the festival. The section is dedicated to the screening of films of poems. “West Cork” was only one of thirty films chosen for O Bhéal from a total of 500 considered for screening.

The film was also shown in the 2013 Waterford Writers' Festival as part of a festival event in honour of the memory of Seán Dunne. Relatives and friends of Seán Dunne, as well as admirers, of his work were in attendance.

Seán Dunne's headstone at Ballyvourney reads "Seán Dunne. Poet. 1956-1995. In the beginning was the word. In the end there is silence".

• The posthumous collection of Seán Dunne poems, “Collected”, was first published in 2005 by The Gallery Press. The collection is edited by Peter Fallon.
• The film “West Cork” will be posted on the just launched website www.burrenholywells.com

The gazzetteer of Burren holy wells is a joint initiative with the photographer Karin Funke.