Seán Pádraig Ó Ríordáin (3 December 1916 – 21 February 1977), sometimes referred to as an Ríordánach,[1] was an Irish language poet and later a newspaper columnist.

[5] Ó Ríordáin worked as a clerk in the Cork Motor Tax Office from 1936 until his early retirement due to health issues in 1965.

Eireaball Spideoige contains Ó Ríordáin's best known poem, Adhlacadh mo Mháthar (My Mother's Burial), from which the collection's title is derived.

[11] Three booklets of Ó Ríordáin's poetry were subsequently published: Brosna (Kindling) in 1964, Línte Liombó (Limbo Lines) in 1971, and the posthumous Tar éis mo Bháis (After my Death) in 1978.

[11] In Brosna Ó Ríordáin examines his difficult relationship with the Irish language, and in Línte Liombó he details the conquering of the individual by dispassionate destiny.

The poem An Peaca (The Sin) reveals that Ó Ríordáin's ability to write poetry is at once lost if his immediate relation to nature is interrupted.

According to Gearóid Denvir, Ó Ríordáin's poems "seek to answer fundamental questions about the nature of human existence and the place of the individual in a universe without meaning".

As with all 'modernisers' of tradition, Ó Ríordáin received considerable opprobrium from traditionalists, most notably Máire Mhac an tSaoi.

[3] These attacks, particularly by Mhac an tSaoi on the standard of his Irish, did considerable damage to Seán's confidence and added to his already ill health.

[17] As well as writing poetry, he wrote a column in The Irish Times during the latter years of his life in which he spoke vehemently about national affairs.

[18] Ó Ríordáin's poems have enjoyed constant popularity, due in part to the exposure gained by the inclusion of his work in the standard Irish curriculum.