Irish Poetry - Irish Poetry Today

Irish Poetry Today

Irish poetry in the 21st Century is undergoing development as radical as the 1960s. Increased globalisation has led to a younger generation of poets seeking influences and precursors as varied as post-war Polish poets and Contemporary Americans. An explosion of talent and publishing has been one of the consequences of free secondary school education introduced in the 1960s, allowing many southern poets (e.g. Thomas McCarthy, John Ennis, Dennis O’Driscoll, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill) to come to wider notice.

Among the significant Irish poets to have emerged in recent years are: Pat Boran, Mairéad Byrne, Ciarán Carson, Patrick Chapman, Harry Clifton, Tony Curtis, Padraig J. Daly, Colin Dardis, Gerald Dawe, Greg Delanty, Séan Dunne, Paul Durcan, Eamon Grennan, Vona Groarke, Kerry Hardie, Randolph Healy, Seamus Heaney, John Hughes, Pat Ingoldsby, Trevor Joyce, Brendan Kennelly, Derek Mahon, Thomas McCarthy, Hugh McFadden, Paula Meehan, Billy Mills, Sinéad Morrissey, Paul Muldoon, Gerry Murphy, Bernard O'Donoghue, Conor O'Callaghan, Caitriona O'Reilly, Justin Quinn, Maurice Riordan, Maurice Scully, Michael Smith, Geoffrey Squires, William Wall, Catherine Walsh.

While academic attention has remained, perhaps disproportionately, focused on poetry from Northern Ireland, several of the younger generation of Irish poets (William Wall, Justin Quinn, Caitriona O'Reilly) have proved perceptive and independent critics of the contemporary scene, as have several older poets who are also literary critics, such as Hugh McFadden, Dennis O'Driscoll and Michael Smith.