The 90th anniversary of the death of poet Frances Ledwidge will be marked in his native Co Meath today.
Born in Slane, Ledwidge died in the Battle of Ypres in Belgium just weeks before his 30th birthday on July 31st, 1917.
Weekend events to mark the anniversary will culminate in an celebration in Slane today where readings of Ledwidge's poems will be performed with music and song.
The Wynne dancing school will also give a display of Irish dancing. A one-act play written by long-time Ledwidge admirer Dermot Bolger, Walking The Road, was commissioned especially for the 90th anniversary.
Dubbed The Poet of the Blackbirds Ledwidge only published one volume of poetry - Songs of the Fields - when he was alive. Songs of Peace followed in 1917 and Last Songs was published in 1918 with the help of patron Lord Dunsany.
Ledwidge joined the Enniskillen Fusiliers in 1914 and saw action in Gallipoli, France, Serbia and Belgium. He was killed when a shell exploded near his posting at the third Battle of Ypres in 1917.
He was buried at Carrefour de Rose and later re-interred in the nearby Artillery Wood Military Cemetery. A stone tablet commemorates him in the Island of Ireland Peace Park in Messines, Belgium.