O'Driscoll died suddenly at the age of 58 over the 2012 Christmas period. He was rushed to hospital after becoming ill but quickly succumbed to his fate. The arts world was shocked by his sudden demise. His wife, the poet Julie O'Callaghan, and siblings – brothers Proinsias, Seamus, Declan, and sisters, Marie and Eithne – survived him. President Michael D. Higgins noted that O'Driscoll was "held in the highest regard not only by all those associated with Irish and European poetry". Joe Duffy, with whom O'Driscoll had appeared on air on the very week of his death, called O'Driscoll a "generous, caring and witty man". Fellow writer Belinda McKeon said he was "a scholar, a gentleman, a character, a friend". English critic David Morley described him as a "fine poet and great critic". Irish PEN mourned his death. Literary Activities Prior to the publication of his own poems, O'Driscoll published widely in journals and other print publications as both an essayist and poetry reviewer, for which he was very widely known. The Times Literary Supplement called him "one of Ireland's most respected critics of poetry." During this time he contributed upwards of two-hundred essays and reviews to various publications. O'Driscoll was published in Poetry, The London Magazine, Harvard Review, The Southern Review, Narrative Magazine, and Poetry Review, and was invited to give readings of his work in the Poetry Room in Harvard University, the Poetry International in London as well as the Hay-on-Wye and Cheltenham festivals of literature. O'Driscoll wrote nine books of poetry, three chapbooks, and two collections of essays and reviews. The majority of his works were characterised by the use of economic language and the recurring motifs of mortality and the fragility of everyday life. As he aged, O'Driscoll's works become more fluid and thoughtful as well as more frequent, and, according to some sources, like Alan Brownjohn of The Sunday Times for instance, even though he is younger than some of the poetic greats, "at best he is already their equal." Originally published as a pamphlet his sonnet poem 'The Bottom Line' is considered his hallmark work. In 1987, he temporarily became a writer-in-residence at the National University of Ireland. He has also served as editor of Poetry Ireland Review as well as two textbook anthologies entitled The Bloodaxe Book of Poetry, and Quote Poet Unquote. O'Driscoll published a collection of literary criticism entitled Troubled Thoughts,