[1][2] He was born on Valentine's Day in Sandymount, Dublin and joined the diplomatic service.
He served as Irish Ambassador to Sweden, Norway, Finland, India, Luxembourg and Portugal.
[3] His poetry collections include One Recent Evening (1944, with Robert Greacen 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 also produced translations from the Irish language, including Dialann Deoraí by Dónall Mac Amhlaigh, (An Irish Navvy, 1964); and Rotha Mór an tSaoil by Micí Mac Gabhann (The Hard Road to Klondike, 1973), and a translation of the German poet Rilke (Beatha Mhuire /sraith dhánta Ghearmáinise le Rainer Maria Rilke, 1990).