when the "irish times" compiled a list of favourite irish poems in 2000, ten of kavanagh's poems were in the top 50, and he was rated the second favourite poet behind w. b. yeats. kavanagh's poem "on raglan road", set to the traditional air "fáinne geal an lae", composed by thomas connellan in the 17th century, has been performed by numerous artists as diverse as van morrison, luke kelly, dire straits, billy bragg, sinéad o'connor, joan osborne and many others.