Irish poetry is poetry written by poets from Ireland, politically the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland today. It is mainly written in Irish, though some is in English, Scottish Gaelic and others in Hiberno-Latin. The complex interplay between the two main traditions, and between both of them and other poetries in English and Scottish Gaelic, has produced a body of work that is both rich in variety and difficult to categorise.
Although Irish has been used as a literary language for more than 1,500 years, and modern literature in Irish dates – as in most European languages – to the 16th century, modern Irish literature owes much of its popularity to the 19th century Gaelic Revival cultural movement. Writers in Irish have since produced some of the most interesting literature to come out of Ireland, supplemented by work produced in the language abroad.
Michael Hartnett was an Irish poet who wrote in both English and Irish. He was one of the most significant voices in late 20th-century Irish writing and has been called "Munster's de facto poet laureate".
Máirtín Ó Direáin was an Irish poet from the Aran Islands Gaeltacht. Along with Seán Ó Ríordáin and Máire Mhac an tSaoi, Ó Direáin was, in the words of Louis de Paor, "one of a trinity of poets who revolutionised Irish language poetry in the 1940s and 50s." According to a 1984 lecture by Desmond Egan, "Ó Direáin's genius stands revealed - to the extent that we must look abroad for poets with whom his achievement might best be compared; to Spain and Antonio Machado's sweet intensity; to Russia and Akhmatova; to Germany and the bittersweet music of Heinrich Heine."
Máire Mhac an tSaoi was an Irish civil service diplomat, writer of Modernist poetry in the Corca Dhuibhne dialect of Munster Irish, a memoirist, and a highly important figure within Modern literature in Irish. Along with Seán Ó Ríordáin and Máirtín Ó Direáin, Máire Mhac an tSaoi was, in the words of Louis de Paor, "one of a trinity of poets who revolutionised Irish language poetry in the 1940s and 50s."
Munster Irish is the dialect of the Irish language spoken in the province of Munster. Gaeltacht regions in Munster are found in the Gaeltachtaí of the Dingle Peninsula in west County Kerry, in the Iveragh Peninsula in south Kerry, in Cape Clear Island off the coast of west County Cork, in Muskerry West; Cúil Aodha, Ballingeary, Ballyvourney, Kilnamartyra, and Renaree of central County Cork; and in an Rinn and an Sean Phobal in Gaeltacht na nDéise in west County Waterford.
Caitlín Maude was an Irish poet, language revival activist, teacher, actress and traditional singer.
Gabriel Rosenstock is an Irish writer who works chiefly in the Irish language. A member of Aosdána, he is poet, playwright, haikuist, tankaist, essayist, and author/translator of over 180 books, mostly in Irish. Born in Kilfinane, County Limerick, he currently resides in Dublin.
O'Sullivan is an Irish Gaelic clan based most prominently in what is today County Cork and County Kerry. According to traditional genealogy, the O’Sullivans were descended from the ancient Eóganacht Chaisil sept of Cenél Fíngin, the founder of the clan who was placed in the 9th century, eight generations removed from Fíngen mac Áedo Duib, king of Cashel or Munster from 601 to 618. Later, they became the chief princes underneath their close kinsmen, the MacCarthy dynasty, in the small but powerful Kingdom of Desmond, successor of Cashel/Munster. The last independent ruler of the clan was Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare, who was defeated in the Nine Years' War of 1594–1603.
Abdallah Zrika is one of the most famous poets of Morocco. His poetry is free, based on spoken language and unrivalled in contemporary Arabic literature in its spontaneity. For the Moroccan youth of the politically and socially repressive years of the 1970s, he represented the ideal of poetry, of freedom of living and expression.
Pádraig Ó Snodaigh is an Irish language activist, poet, writer and publisher. He worked for the Irish Electricity Supply Board, and later in the National Museum of Ireland. He is a former president of Conradh na Gaeilge, the Gaelic League.
Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare, Prince of Beare, 1st Count of Berehaven (1561–1618), was an Irish nobleman and soldier who was the last independent Chief of the Name of Clan O'Sullivan. He was thus the last O'Sullivan Beare, a title of the Gaelic nobility of Ireland, and Lord of the Beara Peninsula in the southwest of Ireland during the early seventeenth century, when the English Crown was attempting to secure their rule over the whole island.
Tomás Mac Síomóin was an Irish doctoral graduate of Cornell University, New York, who worked as a biological researcher and university lecturer in the US and Ireland. He worked as a journalist, as editor of the newspaper Anois and for many years was editor of the literary and current affairs magazine, Comhar. He wrote in Irish and published both poetry and fiction in that language.
Seán Pádraig Ó Ríordáin, sometimes referred to as an Ríordánach, was an Irish language poet and later a newspaper columnist. He is credited with introducing European themes to Irish poetry, and is widely regarded as one of the best Irish language poets of the 20th century.
Robert Anthony Welch was an Irish author and scholar.
Cathal Ó Searcaigh, is a modern Irish language poet. His work has been widely translated, anthologised and studied. "His confident internationalism", according to Theo Dorgan, has channeled "new modes, new possibilities, into the writing of Irish language poetry in our time".
Reginald Gray was an Irish portrait artist. He studied at The National College of Art (1953) and then moved to London, becoming part of the School of London led by Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and Frank Auerbach. In 1960, he painted a portrait of Bacon which is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London. He subsequently painted portraits from life of writers, musicians and artists such as Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, Brendan Behan, Garech Browne, Derry O'Sullivan, Alfred Schnittke, Ted Hughes, Rupert Everett and Yves Saint Laurent. In 1993 Gray had a retrospective exhibition at UNESCO Paris and in 2006, his portrait "The White Blouse" won the Sandro Botticelli Prize in Florence, Italy.
Coiscéim is a prolific Dublin-based Irish-language publisher founded by writer, historian and language activist Pádraig Ó Snodaigh in 1980. With over 1,500 titles Coiscéim have published the largest number of titles amongst the 26 other Irish language publishers.
Eithne Strong was a bilingual Irish poet and writer who wrote in both Irish and English. Her first poems in Irish were published in Combhar and An Glor 1943-44 under the name Eithne Ni Chonaill. She was a founder member of the Runa Press whose early Chapbooks featured artwork by among others Jack B. Yeats, Sean Keating, Sean O'Sullivan, Harry Kernoff among others. The press was noted for the publication in 1943 of Marrowbone Lane by Robert Collis which depicts the fierce fighting that took place during the Easter Rising of 1916.
Deirdre Brennan is a bilingual Irish poet, playwright and short story writer who writes both in the Irish language and in English.
