This is a list of notable

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

s with Wikipedia pages, who were born or raised in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

or hold

Irish citizenship Irish nationality law details the conditions by which a person is a national of the Republic of Ireland. The primary law governing these regulations is the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, which came into force on 17 July 1956. Reg ...

. Abbreviations for the languages of their writings: E: English; F: French; I: Irish (); L: Latin; R: Russian

A–D

Adomnán Adomnán or Adamnán of Iona (, la, Adamnanus, Adomnanus; 624 – 704), also known as Eunan ( ; from ), was an abbot of Iona Abbey ( 679–704), hagiographer, statesman, canon jurist, and saint. He was the author of the ''Life of Co ...

(d. 704, L) * Æ (George William Russell) (1867–1935, E) *

William Allingham William Allingham (19 March 1824 – 18 November 1889) was an Irish poet, diarist and editor. He wrote several volumes of lyric verse, and his poem "The Faeries" was much anthologised. But he is better known for his posthumously published ''Dia ...

(1824–1889, E) * Ivy Bannister (born 1951, E) *

Leland Bardwell Constan Olive Leland Bardwell (25 February 1922 – 28 June 2016) was an Irish poet, novelist, and playwright. She was part of the literary scene in London and later Dublin, where she was an editor of literary magazines ''Hibernia'' and ''C ...

(1922–2016, E) * Beccán mac Luigdech (fl. c. 650, I) *

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

(1906–1989, E/F) *

Brendan Behan Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ga, Breandán Ó Beacháin; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican activist who wrote in both English an ...

(1923–1964, E) *

Gerard Beirne Gerard Beirne is an List of Irish writers, Irish author and literary editor. He is a fiction editor for ''The Fiddlehead'' and curates the online magazine ''The Irish Literary Times''. In 2008, Beirne served as Writer in Residence at the Unive ...

(born 1962, E) * Thomas Bibby (1799–1863, E) * Blathmac mac Cú Brettan (fl. c. 750, I) *

Eavan Boland Eavan Aisling Boland (24 September 1944 – 27 April 2020) was an Irish poet, author, and professor. She was a professor at Stanford University, where she had taught from 1996. Her work deals with the Irish national identity, and the role of w ...

(born 1944, E) *

Dermot Bolger Dermot Bolger (born 1959) is an Irish novelist, playwright, poet and editor from Dublin, Ireland. Born in the Finglas suburb of Dublin in 1959, his older sister is the writer June Considine. Bolger's novels include ''Night Shift'' (1982), ''Th ...

(born 1959, E) *

Pat Boran Pat Boran (born 1963) is an Irish poet. Biography Born in Portlaoise, Boran has lived in Dublin for a number of years. He is the publisher of the Dedalus Press which specialises in contemporary poetry from Ireland, and international poetry in ...

(born 1963, E) *

Samuel Boyse Samuel Boyse (1702/3? – May 1749) was an Irish poet and writer who worked for Sir Robert Walpole and whose religious verses in particular were prized and reprinted in his time. Life Born in Dublin, Boyse was the son of Joseph Boyse, a Pre ...

(1709–1749, E) *

Rory Brennan Rory Brennan (born 1945) is an Irish poet, born in Westport, County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West ...

(born 1945, E) *

Frances Browne Frances Browne (16 January 1816 – 21 August 1879) was an Irish poet and novelist, best remembered for her collection of short stories for children, ''Granny's Wonderful Chair''. Early life She was born at Stranorlar, in County Donegal, Irel ...

(1816–1887, E) *

George Brun George Brun, aka George Brown, Irish poet, fl. late 18th century. Brun was a native of Dun na Geige or Brownstown, near Hollymount, in County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the yew trees") is a county in Irela ...

(fl. late 18th century, I) *

Colette Bryce Colette Bryce is a poet, freelance writer, and editor. She was a Fellow in Creative Writing at the University of Dundee from 2003 to 2005, and a North East Literary Fellow at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne from 2005 to 2007. She was the ...

(born 1970, E) *

Catherine Byron Catherine Byron (born 22 August 1947) is an Irish poet who often collaborates with visual and sound artists. Biography Catherine Greenfield was born in London to a mother from Galway and was raised in Belfast. She has lived in Oxford, Scotland, ...

(born 1947), E *

Michael Feeney Callan Michael Feeney Callan is an Irish novelist and poet. An award winner for his short fiction and also for non-fiction, he joined BBC television drama as a story editor, and wrote screenplays for ''The Professionals'', and for American television. ...

(born 1955, E) *

Moya Cannon Moya Cannon (born 1956) is an Irish writer and poet with seven published collections, the most recent being ''Collected Poems'' (Carcanet Press, Manchester, 2021). Life Born in Dunfanaghy, County Donegal, Ireland, Moya Cannon studied history ...

(born 1956, E) *

Ciarán Carson Ciaran Gerard Carson (9 October 1948 – 6 October 2019) was a Northern Ireland-born poet and novelist. Biography Ciaran Carson was born in Belfast into an Irish-speaking family. His father, William, was a postman and his mother, Mary, wo ...

(born 1948, E) * James Casey (1824–1909, E) *

Oengus Celi De In Irish mythology, Aengus or Óengus is one of the Tuatha Dé Danann and probably originally a god associated with youth, love,Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí. ''Myth, Legend & Romance: An encyclopedia of the Irish folk tradition''. Prentice-Hall Press, ...

(fl. c. 800, I) *

Patrick Chapman Patrick Chapman (born 1968) is an Irish poet, writer and screenwriter. Chapman's first published work was ''Jazztown'', released in 1991 by Raven Arts Press. This was followed five years later by ''The New Pornography'', a collection of poems ...

(born 1968, E) * Austin Clarke (1896–1974, E) *

Brendan Cleary Brendan Cleary (born 1958) is a poet who was born in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland but lives in England. Early years and career Cleary attended Carrickfergus Grammar School in Northern Ireland. He moved from Northern Ireland in 1977 to Middlesb ...

(born 1958, E) *

Brian Coffey Brian Coffey (8 June 1905 – 14 April 1995) was an Irish poet and publisher. His work was informed by his Catholicism, his background in science and philosophy, and his connection to French surrealism. He was close to an intellectual Europea ...

(1905–1995, E) * Colman ua Clasaigh (d. 661, I) *

Colmán mac Lénéni Colmán or Colman is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Medieval Irish people * Colmán Bec (died ''c''. 585), Irish dynast * Colmán mac Cobthaig (died ''c''. 622), Irish king * Colmán mac Lénéni (died ''c'' ...

(d. 604, I) *

Padraic Colum Padraic Colum (8 December 1881 – 11 January 1972) was an Irish poet, novelist, dramatist, biographer, playwright, children's author and collector of folklore. He was one of the leading figures of the Irish Literary Revival. Early life Col ...

(1881–1972, E) * Susan Connolly (born 1956, E) *

Cúán úa Lothcháin Cúán úa Lothcháin was an Irish poet from Tethba, now in County Meath. He was the Chief Ollam of Ireland and died in 1024. Born in the region of Tethba - part of the kingdom of Mide - Cúán acted as bard and propagandist for High King Máe ...

(d. 1024) * Cuirithir of Connacht (fl. 7th century, I) *

Catherine Ann Cullen Catherine Ann Cullen is the first Poetry Ireland poet in residence and is a writer. Biography Catherine Ann Cullen was born in Drogheda, County Louth. She has an M.Phil in Creative Writing from Trinity College Dublin and a PhD from Middlesex U ...

, E * John Cunningham (1729–1773, E) *

Tony Curtis Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor whose career spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s (Kansas Raiders, 1950) and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 f ...

(born 1955, E) * Guaire Dall (fl. 849, I) * Pádraig J. Daly (born 1943, E) * Thomas Davis (1814–1845, E) *

Michael Davitt Michael Davitt (25 March 184630 May 1906) was an Irish republican activist for a variety of causes, especially Home Rule and land reform. Following an eviction when he was four years old, Davitt's family migrated to England. He began his caree ...

(1950–2005, I) *

Cecil Day-Lewis Cecil Day-Lewis (or Day Lewis; 27 April 1904 – 22 May 1972), often written as C. Day-Lewis, was an Irish-born British poet and Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym of Nicholas Bla ...

(1904–1972, E) *

Patrick Deeley Patrick Deeley (born 1953) is an Irish poet. Patrick Deeley was born in Loughrea, County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_cap ...

(born 1953, E) *

Celia de Fréine Celia de Fréine (born 1948) is a poet, playwright, screenwriter and librettist who writes in Irish and English. Background Celia de Fréine was born in Newtownards, County Down. At an early age she moved with her family to Dublin, maint ...

(born 1948, I/E) *

Greg Delanty Greg Delanty (born 1958) is an Irish poet. An issue of the British magazine, ''Agenda'', was dedicated to him. Early life and education Delanty was born in Cork City, Ireland, and is generally placed in the Irish tradition, though he is also c ...

(born 1958, E) * Kate Dempsey (poet) (born 1958, E) * Louis de Paor (born 1961, I) *

Denis Devlin Denis Devlin (15 April 1908 – 21 August 1959) was, along with Samuel Beckett, Thomas MacGreevy and Brian Coffey, one of the generation of Irish modernist poets to emerge at the end of the 1920s. He was also a career diplomat. Early life and ...

(1908–1959, E) *

John Dillon John Dillon (4 September 1851 – 4 August 1927) was an Irish politician from Dublin, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for over 35 years and was the last leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party. By political disposition Dillon was an a ...

(1816–1866, E) *

Theo Dorgan Theo Dorgan (born 1953) is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer, translator, librettist and documentary screenwriter. He lives in Dublin. Life Dorgan was born in Cork in 1953 being second child born into a family of 8 boys and 8 girls to pare ...

(born 1953, E) *

Gerard Donovan Gerard Donovan (born 1959), is an Irish-born novelist, photographer and poet living in Plymouth, England, working as a lecturer at the University of Plymouth. Career Donovan attracted immediate critical acclaim with his debut novel ''Schopenhaue ...

(born 1959, E) *

Ellen Mary Patrick Downing Ellen Mary Patrick Downing (19 March 1828 – 27 January 1869), known as ''Mary of the Nation'' and ''E. M. P. D.'', was an Irish nationalist, poet and nun. She was one of the three chief poets of Irish nationality. Biography Born in Cork in 18 ...

(1828–1869, E) *

John Swanwick Drennan John Swanwick Drennan (1809–1893) was an Irish poet. Drennan was a son of William Drennan and a grandson of Thomas Drennan, minister of the First Presbyterian Church, Belfast. He had an elder brother, William Drennan (1802–73). His poems, ' ...

(1809–1893, E) *

William Drennan William Drennan (23 May 1754 – 5 February 1820) was an Irish physician and writer who moved the formation in Belfast and Dublin of the Society of United Irishmen. He was the author of the Society's original "test" which, in the cause of ...

(1754–1820, E) *

Charles Gavan Duffy Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, KCMG, PC (12 April 1816 – 9 February 1903), was an Irish poet and journalist (editor of ''The Nation''), Young Irelander and tenant-rights activist. After emigrating to Australia in 1856 he entered the politics of ...

(1816–1903, E) * Seán Dunne (1956–1995, E) *

Lord Dunsany Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (; 24 July 1878 – 25 October 1957, usually Lord Dunsany) was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist. Over 90 volumes of fiction, essays, poems and plays appeared in his lifetime.Lanham, M ...

(1878–1957, E) *

Paul Durcan Paul Durcan (born 16 October 1944) is a contemporary Irish poet. Early life Durcan was born and grew up in Dublin and in Turlough, County Mayo. His father, John, was a barrister and circuit court judge; father and son had a difficult and forma ...

(born 1944, E)

E–L

* John Ennis (born 1944, E) *

Martina Evans Martina Evans (born 1961) is an Irish poet and novelist who lives in London. Biography Evans (née Cotter) was born in Burnfort, County Cork in 1961, the youngest of ten children. Her parents had a shop, bar and petrol pumps in the village. Her ...

(born 1961, E) *

Elaine Feeney Elaine Feeney is an Irish poet, novelist, and playwright. Her writing focuses on "the central themes of history, national identity, and state institutions, and she examines how these forces structure the everyday lives of Irish women". A former ...

(born 1979, E) *

Piaras Feiritéar Piaras Feiritéar (; 1600? – 1653), or Pierce Ferriter, was an Irish clan Chief of the Name, Chief, and Irish poetry, poet. Although best known for his many works of Bardic poetry in the Irish language, Feiritéar is also a widely revered folk ...

(c. 1600–1653, I) * Fothadh an Fili (fl. 879, I) *

Flann Mainistrech Flann Mainistrech (died 25 November 1056) was an Irish poet and historian. Flann was the son of Echthigern mac Óengusso, who had been lector at the monastery of Monasterboice (modern County Louth), in Irish ''Mainistir Buite'', whence Flann's b ...

(d. 1056, I) *

Patrick Galvin Patrick Galvin (15 August 1927 – 10 May 2011) was an Irish poet, singer, playwright, and prose and screenwriter born in Cork's inner city. Biography Galvin was born in Cork in 1927 at a time of great political transition in Ireland. His moth ...

(1927–2011, E) *

Monk Gibbon William Monk Gibbon (1896 – 29 November 1987) was an Irish poet and prolific writer, known as "The Grand Old Man of Irish Letters". His collection of over twenty volumes of poetry, autobiography, travel and criticism are kept at Queen's Univ ...

(1896–1987, E) *

Oliver St. John Gogarty Oliver Joseph St. John Gogarty (17 August 1878 – 22 September 1957) was an Irish poet, author, otolaryngologist, athlete, politician, and well-known conversationalist. He served as the inspiration for Buck Mulligan in James Joyce's novel ...

(1878–1957, E) *

Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, who is best known for his novel ''The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766), his pastoral poem ''The Deserted Village'' (1770), and his pl ...

(c. 1730–1774, E) *

Mark Granier Mark Granier born in London, England, is an Irish poet and photographer based in Dublin, Ireland. Poetry Ireland Review describes Granier as, "a poet of individual poems," poems that are, "perfectly operating verbal machines, which are their own ...

(born 1957, E) * Patrick Greaney (fl. 18th c., I) *

Gerald Griffin Gerald Griffin ( ga, Gearóid Ó Gríofa; 12 December 1803 – 12 June 1840) was an Irish novelist, poet and playwright. His novel ''The Collegians'' was the basis of Dion Boucicault's play The Colleen Bawn. Feeling he was "wasting his time" wr ...

(1803–1840, E) *

Sarah Maria Griffin Sarah Maria Griffin (born 28 January 1988) is an Irish writer and poet, podcaster, and producer of zines. She is the author of a volume each of poetry and essays, and three novels. Writing career Griffin developed an interest in writing as a ...

(c. 1988, E) *

Vona Groarke Vona Groarke is an Irish poet. Groarke was born in Mostrim in the Irish midlands in 1964, and attended Trinity College, Dublin, and University College, Cork. Groarke has published five collections of poetry with the Gallery Press (and by Wake F ...

(born 1964, E) *

Stephen Gwynn Stephen Lucius Gwynn (13 February 1864 – 11 June 1950) was an Irish journalist, biographer, author, poet and Protestant Nationalist politician. As a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party he represented Galway city as its Member of Parliament ...

(1864–1950, E) * Kerry Hardie (born 1951, E) * Anne Le Marquand Hartigan (born 1938, E) *

Michael Hartnett Michael Hartnett ( ga, Mícheál Ó hAirtnéide) (18 September 1941 – 13 October 1999) 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 " Mu ...

(1944–1999, I/E) *

Randolph Healy Randolph Healy (born 1956) is an Irish poet and publisher. Healy was born in Scotland and moved to Dublin at the age of 18 months. After leaving school at the age of 14 to work in a number of jobs, he returned to full-time education and graduate ...

(born 1956, E) *

Séamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

(1939–2013, E) *

F. R. Higgins Frederick Robert Higgins (24 April 1896 – 6 January 1941) was an Irish poet and theatre director. Early years Higgins was born on the west coast of Ireland in Foxford, which is located in County Mayo. He was the eldest son of Joseph and Annie ...

(1896–1941, E) * Kevin Higgins (born 1967, E) *

Rita Ann Higgins Rita Ann Higgins (born 1955) is an Irish poet and playwright. Early life A native of Ballybrit, Galway, Higgins was one of thirteen children in a working-class household. She went to Briarhill National School, and Sisters of Mercy Convent, Galw ...

(born 1955, E) *

Pearse Hutchinson Pearse Hutchinson (16 February 1927 – 14 January 2012) was an Irish poet, broadcaster and translator. Childhood and education Hutchinson was born in Glasgow. His father, Harry Hutchinson, a Scottish printer whose own father had left Dublin to ...

(1927–2012, I/E) *

Douglas Hyde Douglas Ross Hyde ( ga, Dubhghlas de hÍde; 17 January 1860 – 12 July 1949), known as (), was an Irish academic, linguist, scholar of the Irish language, politician and diplomat who served as the first President of Ireland from June 1938 t ...

(1860–1949, I/E) *

Pat Ingoldsby Pat Ingoldsby (born 25 August 1942 in Malahide, Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish poet and TV presenter. He has hosted children's TV shows, written plays for the stage and for radio, published books of short stories and been a newspaper columnist. S ...

(born 1942, E) *

Valentin Iremonger Valentin Iremonger (14 February 1918 – 22 May 1991) was an Irish diplomat and poet. 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, Luxem ...

(1918–1991, E) * John Jordan (1930–1988, E) *

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

(1882–1941, E) *

Trevor Joyce Trevor Joyce (born 26 October 1947) is an Irish poet, born in Dublin. He co-founded New Writers' Press (NWP) in Dublin in 1967 and was a founding editor of NWP's '' The Lace Curtain; A Magazine of Poetry and Criticism'' in 1968. Joyce was the ...

(born 1947, E) *

Patrick Kavanagh Patrick Kavanagh (21 October 1904 – 30 November 1967) was an Irish poet and novelist. His best-known works include the novel '' Tarry Flynn'', and the poems "On Raglan Road" and "The Great Hunger". He is known for his accounts of Irish life t ...

(1904–1967, E) * Rita Kelly (born 1953, I) *

Charles Kickham Charles Joseph Kickham (9 May 1828 – 22 August 1882) was an Irish revolutionary, novelist, poet, journalist and one of the most prominent members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Early life Charles Kickham was born at Mullinahone, County ...

(1828–1882, E) *

Thomas Kinsella Thomas Kinsella (4 May 192822 December 2021) was an Irish poet, translator, editor, and publisher. Born outside Dublin, Kinsella attended University College Dublin before entering the civil service. He began publishing poetry in the early 1950s ...

(born 1928, E) *

Anatoly Kudryavitsky Anatoly Kudryavitsky (Russian: Анатолий Исаевич Кудрявицкий; born 17 August 1954) is a Russian-Irish novelist, poet, editor and literary translator. Biography Kudryavitsky's father, Jerzy, was a Ukrainian-born Polish n ...

(born 1954, R/E) *

Emily Lawless The Hon. Emily Lawless (17 June 184519 October 1913) was an Irish novelist, historian, entomologist, gardener, and poet from County Kildare. Her innovative approach to narrative and the psychological richness of her fiction have been identifi ...

(1845–1913, E) *

Sarah Leech Sarah Leech (1809 - 1830) was an Irish poet. She is the only known published female Irish weaver poet and one of the few women of the time to have poetry published in the Ulster Scots dialect. Biography Sarah Leech was born in the townland of ...

(1809–1820, E) *

Francis Ledwidge Francis Edward Ledwidge (19 August 188731 July 1917) was a 20th-century Irish poet. From Slane, County Meath, and sometimes known as the "poet of the blackbirds", he was later also known as a First World War war poet. He befriended the establish ...

(1887–1917, E) *

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

(1899–1963, E) * James Liddy (1934–2008, E) *

Eddie Linden Edward Sean Linden (born John Edward Glackin; 5 May 1935) is a Scottish poet, literary magazine editor and political activist. From 1969 to 2004, he published and edited the poetry magazine ''Aquarius'', which, according to ''The Irish Post'', m ...

(born 1935, E) * Loisin an Fili (fl. 868, I) *

Michael Longley Michael Longley, (born 27 July 1939, Belfast, Northern Ireland), is an Anglo-Irish poet. Life and career One of twin boys, Michael Longley was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to English parents, Longley was educated at the Royal Belfast A ...

(born 1939, E) *

Luccreth moccu Chiara Luccreth moccu Chíara (''floruit'' c. 665 AD)Eoin MacNeill, "A Pioneer of Nations: part II", ''Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review'' vol 11, no 43, 1922, pp. 435-446 was a poet from County Kerry, Ireland who wrote in archaic Old Irish. ''Moccu'' ...

(fl. c. 600, I)

M–P

* Aimirgein mac Amalgado (I) * Anluan Mac Aodhagáin (I) * Seán Mac Aoidh (fl. 1820) *

Micheál Mac Suibhne Mícheál or Micheál Mac Suibhne () was an Irish language bard from the Connemara Gaeltacht. Life Mac Suibhne was born near the ruined Abbey of Cong, then part of County Galway, but now in County Mayo. The names of his parents are not recorded, ...

(c. 1760–1820, I) *

Denis Florence MacCarthy Denis Florence MacCarthy (26 May 1817 – 9 April 1882) was an Irish poet, translator, and biographer, from Dublin. Biography MacCarthy was born in Lower O'Connell Street, Dublin, on 26 May 1817, and educated there and at St Patrick's College, Ma ...

(1817–1868, E) * Flannagan mac Ceallach (fl. 879, I) * Dónal Meirgeach Mac Conmara (18th century) * Cináedh mac Coscrach (d. 874, I) *

Donagh MacDonagh Donagh MacDonagh (22 November 1912 – 1 January 1968) was an Irish writer, judge, presenter, broadcaster, and playwright. Personal life MacDonagh was born in Dublin on St Cecilia's Day in 1912. He was still a young child when his father Th ...

(1912–1968, E) *

Thomas MacDonagh Thomas Stanislaus MacDonagh ( ga, Tomás Anéislis Mac Donnchadha; 1 February 1878 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish political activist, poet, playwright, educationalist and revolutionary leader. He was one of the seven leaders of the Easter Rising o ...

(1878–1916, E) *

Patrick MacDonogh Patrick MacDonogh (1902–1961) was an Irish poetry, Irish poet who published five books of poetry in his lifetime. His work is included in the Faber Book of Irish Verse. Biography Patrick MacDonogh was born in Dublin, one of five children. His ...

(1902–1961, E) *

Athairne Mac Eoghain Athairne Mac Eoghain, Irish poet, fl. 1200–1600. Athairne Mac Eoghain was a poet who lived in Ireland in the medieval era. His exact lifetime is uncertain, and he appears to be known only from a single surviving poem attributed to him, ''Mairg ...

(I) * Seán MacFalls (born 1957, E) *

Patrick MacGill Patrick MacGill (24 December 1889 – 22 November 1963) was an Irish journalist, poet and novelist, known as "The Navvy Poet" because he had worked as a navvy before he began writing. Personal life MacGill was born in Glenties, County Donega ...

(1889–1960, E) *

Thomas MacGreevy Thomas MacGreevy (born Thomas McGreevy; 26 October 1893 – 16 March 1967) was a pivotal figure in the history of Irish literary modernism. A poet, he was also director of the National Gallery of Ireland from 1950 to 1963 and served on the f ...

(1893–1967, E) * John Macken (c. 1784–1823, E) *

Louis MacNeice Frederick Louis MacNeice (12 September 1907 – 3 September 1963) was an Irish poet and playwright, and a member of the Auden Group, which also included W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Cecil Day-Lewis. MacNeice's body of work was widely a ...

(1907–1963, E) *

Tomás Mac Síomóin Tomás Mac Síomóin (19 February 1938 – 17 February 2022) 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 ...

(born 1938, I) * Marie MacSweeney, (living, E) *

Neil McBride Neil McBride (13 April 1910 – 9 September 1974) was a British Labour Party politician. He was Member of Parliament for Swansea East from a by-election in 1963 until his death, aged 64, shortly before the October 1974 general election. ...

(1861–1942, I) * Hugh McFadden (born 1942, E) *

Medbh McGuckian Medbh McGuckian (born as Maeve McCaughan on 12 August 1950) is a poet from Northern Ireland. Biography She was born the third of six children as Maeve McCaughan to Hugh and Margaret McCaughan in North Belfast. Her father was a school headmaster ...

(born 1950, E) *

Nigel McLoughlin Nigel McLoughlin (born 1968, Enniskillen, Northern Ireland) is a poet, editor and teacher. Education He received his early education at St Michael's College, Enniskillen. He holds a BA(Hons) in English from the University of London and a Diplom ...

(born 1968, E) * Bernard McNulty (1842–1892, E) *

Máire Mhac an tSaoi Máire Mhac an tSaoi (4 April 1922 – 16 October 2021) was an Irish civil service official, writer of Modernist poetry in the Corca Dhuibhne dialect of Munster Irish, a writer, and highly important figure within Modern literature in Irish. Alo ...

(born 1922, I) *

Maenghal the Pilgrim Maenghal the Pilgrim, Irish poet, fl. 844. Upon the death of King Niall Caille Niall mac Áeda (died 846), called Niall Caille (Niall of the Callan) to distinguish him from his grandson Niall mac Áeda (died 917), was High King of Ireland. B ...

(fl. 844, I) *

Derek Mahon Derek Mahon (23 November 1941 – 1 October 2020) was an Irish poet. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland but lived in a number of cities around the world. At his death it was noted that his, "influence in the Irish poetry community, lite ...

(1941–2020, E) *

James Clarence Mangan James Clarence Mangan, born James Mangan ( ga, Séamus Ó Mangáin; 1 May 1803, Dublin – 20 June 1849), was an Irish poet. He freely translated works from German, Turkish, Persian, Arabic, and Irish, with his translations of Goethe gaining sp ...

(1803–1849, E) *

Caitlín Maude Caitlín Maude (22 May 1941 – 6 June 1982) was an Irish poet, activist, teacher, actress and traditional singer. Early life She was born in Casla, County Galway, and reared in the Irish language. Her mother, Máire Nic an Iomaire, was a ...

(1941–1982, I) * Máighréad Medbh (born 1959, E) * John Mee (born 1965, E) *

Paula Meehan Paula Meehan (born 1955) is an Irish poet and playwright. Life and work Paula Meehan was born in Dublin in 1955, the eldest of six children. She subsequently moved to London with her parents where she attended St. Elizabeth's Primary School ...

(born 1955, E) *

Brian Merriman Brian Merriman or in Irish Brian Mac Giolla Meidhre (c. 1747 – 27 July 1805) was an Irish language bard, farmer, and hedge school teacher from rural County Clare. His single surviving work of substance, the 1000-line long Dream vision poem ( ...

(1747–1805, I) *

Alice Milligan Alice Letitia Milligan 'pseud.'' Iris Olkyrn(4 September 1865 – 13 April 1953) was an Irish writer and activist in Ireland's Celtic Revival; an advocate for the political and cultural participation of women; and a Protestant Irish national ...

(1865–1953, E) * Dorothy Molloy (1942–2004, E) * John Montague (1929–2016, E) *

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to old Irish tunes marked the transition in popular Irish culture from Irish ...

(1779–1852, E) *

Paul Muldoon Paul Muldoon (born 20 June 1951) is an Irish poet. He has published more than thirty collections and won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the T. S. Eliot Prize. At Princeton University he is currently both the Howard G. B. Clark '21 University Pr ...

(born 1951, E) *

Hayden Murphy Hayden Murphy (born 1945) is an Irish editor, literary critic and poet. He was born in Dublin, and brought up there and in Limerick. He was educated at Blackrock College and Trinity College, Dublin. During 1967-78 he edited, published, and pers ...

(born 1945, E) *

Christine Murray Christine Murray is a Canadian-born architecture writer, critic and former editor of Architectural Review, The Architectural Review and Architects' Journal, and a contributor to Dezeen and ''The Guardian''. She is founder and editor of The Devel ...

, 21st century * Kate Newmann (born 1965, E) *

Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill (also known as Eileen O'Connell, ) was a member of the Irish gentry and a poet. She was the main composer of ''Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire'', a traditional lament in Irish described (in its written form) as the greate ...

(c. 1743 – c. 1800, I) *

Nuala Ní Chonchúir Nuala Ní Chonchúir (born 14 January 1970) is an Irish writer and poet. Biography Born in Dublin in 1970, Nuala Ní Chonchúir is a full-time fiction writer and poet, living in County Galway. She holds a BA in Irish from Trinity College Dub ...

(born 1970, E) *

Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin (; born 1942) is an Irish poet and academic. She was the Ireland Professor of Poetry (2016–19). Biography Ní Chuilleanáin was born in Cork in 1942. She is the daughter of Eilís Dillon and Professor Cormac Ó Cuil ...

(born 1942, E) *

Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill (; born 1952) is a leading Irish poet. Biography Born in Lancashire, England, of Irish parents, she moved to Ireland at the age of 5 and was brought up in the Dingle Gaeltacht and in Nenagh, County Tipperary. Her uncle, Mo ...

(born 1952, I) *

Ciara Ní É Ciara Ní É is a bilingual Irish poet, writer and television presenter. Biography Ciara Ní É was born in Clontarf, Dublin. Though not raised speaking Irish, Ní É went to Coláiste Chamuis, Rossaveel in the Gaeltacht, the Irish speaking part ...

(E,I) *

Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh is an Irish poet who writes in the Irish language. Born in Tralee, County Kerry, in 1984, she graduated from NUI Galway in 2005 with a BA in Irish and French. She spent time in Bordeaux, France, before returning to Irelan ...

(born 1984, I) * Áine Ní Ghlinn (born 1955, I) *

Doireann Ní Ghríofa Doireann Ní Ghríofa is an Irish poet and essayist who writes in both Irish and English. Biography Doireann Ní Ghríofa was born in Galway in 1981, but grew up in County Clare. She now lives in County Cork. Ní Ghríofa has been published wi ...

(born 1981, I/E) * Charlotte Nooth (19th century, I) *

Dáibhí Ó Bruadair Dáibhí Ó Bruadair (1625 – January 1698) was one of the most significant Irish language poets of the 17th century. He lived through a momentous time in Irish history and his work serves as testimony to the death of the old Irish cultural and ...

(David O Bruadair) (1625–1698, I) *

Máirtín Ó Direáin Máirtín Ó Direáin (; 29 November 1910 – 19 March 1988) 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 ...

(1910–1988, I) * John Francis O'Donnell (1837–1874, E) *

Mary O'Donnell Mary O'Donnell (born 1954) is an Irish novelist and poet, a journalist, broadcaster and teacher. Biography O'Donnell was born in County Monaghan to a Catholic family close to the border with Northern Ireland. Her Kilkenny-born father held a B. ...

(born 1954, E) *

Bernard O'Donoghue Bernard O'Donoghue FRSL (born 1945) is a contemporary Irish poet and academic. Early life and education Bernard O'Donoghue was born on 14 December 1945 in Cullen, County Cork, Ireland, where he lived on a farm. “My father was a terrible and r ...

(born 1945, E) *

Gregory O'Donoghue Gregory O'Donoghue (1951–2005) was an Irish poet. Gregory O’Donoghue was born in Cork in 1951, son of the poet and playwright Robert O’Donoghue. He studied English literature at University College Cork under Sean Lucy and John Montague and ...

(1951–2005, E) *

Dennis O'Driscoll Dennis O'Driscoll (1 January 1954 – 24 December 2012) was an Irish poet, essayist, critic and editor. Regarded as one of the best European poets of his time, Eileen Battersby considered him "the lyric equivalent of William Trevor" and a ...

(1954–2012, E) *

Pádraig Ó hÉigeartaigh Pádraig Ó hÉigeartaigh (1871–1936) was an Irish poet. Life Early life A native of Uíbh Ráthach, County Kerry, Ó hÉigeartaigh emigrated with his father, Patrick, a laborer, and his mother, Mary Lynch, to the United States when he was ...

(1871–1936, I) * Cinaed Ó hArtucain (d. 975, I) * John O'Higgin (d. 1490, I) *

Nessa O'Mahony Nessa O’Mahony is an Irish poet and a freelance teacher and writer. Life and work Born in Dublin, she was educated in St Louis High School, Rathmines before going on to University College Dublin to study English. She was a recipient of the M ...

(living, E) * Ó Maoilciaran an Fili (fl. c. 1395, I) *

Henrietta O'Neill Henrietta O'Neill (1758 – September 1793) was an Irish poet. The only daughter of Charles Boyle, Viscount Dungarvan, and his wife, the former Susannah Hoare, she was born Henrietta Boyle. Her father died in 1759 and her mother later married ...

(1758–1793, E) *

Liam Ó Muirthile Liam Ó Muirthile (1950 – 18 May 2018) was a prominent Irish language, Irish-language poet who also wrote plays and novels, he was also a journalist. Ó Muirthile originally came to the fore as a member of a group of poets from University Colleg ...

(1950-2018) * Seán na Ráithíneach Ó Murchadha (1700-1762, I) *

Mary Devenport O'Neill Mary Devenport O'Neill (3 August 1879 – 1967) was an Irish poet and dramatist and a friend and colleague of W. B. Yeats, George Russell, and Austin Clarke. Early life and education Mary Devenport O'Neill was born Mary Devenport on 3 August ...

(1879–1967, E) *

Antoine Ó Raifteiri Antoine Ó Raifteirí (also Antoine Ó Reachtabhra, ''Anthony Raftery'') (30 March 1779 – 25 December 1835) was an Irish language poet who is often called the last of the wandering bards. Biography Antoine Ó Raifteirí was born in Killedan, n ...

(Anthony Raftery) (1784–1835, I) *

Aogán Ó Rathaille Aodhagán Ó RathailleVariant Irish spellings of his name include ''Aogán'' and ''Ua Rathaille'' or Egan O'Rahilly (c.1670–1726), was an Irish language poet. He is credited with creating the first fully developed Aisling. Early life It is th ...

(1675–1729, I) *

Seán Ó Ríordáin Seán Pádraig Ó Ríordáin (3 December 1916 – 21 February 1977), 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 wi ...

(1916–1977, I) *

Cathal Ó Searcaigh Cathal Ó Searcaigh (born 12 July 1956), 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, in ...

(born 1956, I) *

Micheal O'Siadhail Micheal O'Siadhail ( ga, Mícheál Ó Siadhail ; born 12 January 1947) is an Irish poet. Among his awards are The Marten Toonder Prize and The Irish American Culture Institute Prize for Literature. Early life Micheal O'Siadhail was born into ...

(born 1947, I/E) *

Eoghan Rua Ó Súilleabháin Eoghan Rua Ó Súilleabháin (174829 June 1784), anglicized as Owen Roe O'Sullivan ("Red Owen"), was an Irish poet. He is known as one of the last great Gaelic poets. A recent anthology of Irish-language poetry speaks of his "extremely musical" po ...

/Owen Roe O'Sullivan (1748–1782, I) *

Seumas O'Sullivan Seumas or Seamus O'Sullivan (born James Sullivan Starkey; 17 July 1879 – 24 March 1958) was an Irish poet and editor of ''The Dublin Magazine''. His father, William Starkey (1836-1918), a physician, was also a poet and a friend of George Sigerson ...

(1879–1958, E) *

Eoghan Ó Tuairisc Eoghan Ó Tuairisc (''Eugene Rutherford Watters'') (3 April 1919 – 24 August 1982) was an Irish poet and writer. Life Eugene Rutherford Watters was born at Dunlo Hill, Ballinasloe, County Galway, to Thomas Watters, a soldier, and his wife, Ma ...

(Eugene Watters) (1919–1982, I/E) *

Frank Ormsby Francis Arthur Ormsby (born 1947) is a Northern Irish author and poet. Life Frank Ormsby was born in Irvinestown, County Fermanagh. He was educated at St Michael's College, Enniskillen and then Queen's University Belfast. From 1976 until his ...

(born 1947, E) *

Tom Paulin Thomas Neilson Paulin (born 25 January 1949 in Leeds, England) is a Northern Irish poet and critic of film, music and literature. He lives in England, where he was the G. M. Young Lecturer in English Literature at Hertford College, Oxford. Earl ...

(born 1949, E) *

Patrick Pearse Patrick Henry Pearse (also known as Pádraig or Pádraic Pearse; ga, Pádraig Anraí Mac Piarais; 10 November 1879 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist, republican political activist and revolutionary who ...

(Pádraig Anraí Mac Piarais) (1879–1916, I/E) *

Joseph Plunkett Joseph Mary Plunkett (Irish: ''Seosamh Máire Pluincéid''; 21 November 1887 – 4 May 1916) was an Irish nationalist, republican, poet, journalist, revolutionary and a leader of the 1916 Easter Rising. Joseph Mary Plunkett married Grace Giffo ...

(1887–1916, E)

Q–Z

George Reavey George Reavey (1 May 1907 – 11 August 1976) was a Russian-born Irish surrealist poet, publisher, translator and art collector. He was also Samuel Beckett's first literary agent. In addition to his own poetry, Reavey's translations and critical ...

(1907–1976, E) * Nell Regan (born 1969, E) *

Maurice Riordan Maurice Riordan (born 1953) is an Irish poet, translator, and editor. Born in Lisgoold, County Cork, his poetry collections include: ''A Word from the Loki'' (1995), a largely London-based collection which was a Poetry Book Society Choice and ...

(born 1953, E) *

Lennox Robinson Esmé Stuart Lennox Robinson (4 October 1886 – 15 October 1958) was an Irish dramatist, poet and theatre producer and director who was involved with the Abbey Theatre. Life Robinson was born in Westgrove, Douglas, County Cork and raised in ...

(1886–1958, E) *

Gabriel Rosenstock Gabriel Rosenstock (born 29 September 1949) 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 ...

(born 1949, I/E) * Rosemarie Rowley (born 1942, E) * Adam Rudden (born 1983, E) *

Blanaid Salkeld Blánaid Salkeld (born Florence Ffrench Mullen; 1880 – 1959) was an Irish poet, dramatist, actor, and publisher, whose well-known literary salon was attended by, among others, Patrick Kavanagh and Flann O'Brien. Early life and family Salkeld ...

(1880–1959, E) *

Maurice Scully Maurice Scully (1952 – 5 March 2023) was an Irish poet who worked in the modernist tradition. Scully was born in Dublin and educated at Trinity College. He was a member of Aosdana. Life After some years living in Italy, Africa and the wes ...

(born 1952, E) * John W. Sexton (born 1958, E) * Eileen Shanahan (1901–1979, E) * James Simmons (1933–2001, E) *

Peter Sirr Peter Sirr (born 1960) is an Irish poet, born in Waterford, Ireland. He lives in Dublin where he works as a freelance writer and translator. Life Peter Sirr was born in Waterford in 1960, before moving to Dublin with his family as a child. Sir ...

(born 1960, E) * Michael Smith (born 1942, E) * Cherry Smyth (born 1960, E) *

Geoffrey Squires Geoffrey Squires (born 16 November 1942, in Derry, Northern Ireland) is an Irish poet who works in what might loosely be termed the modernist tradition. Early life While born in Derry, he grew up in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland. He read ...

(born 1942, E) * James Stephens (1880–1950, E) * Eithne Strong (1925–1999, I/E) *

Matthew Sweeney Matthew Gerard Sweeney (6 October 1952 – 5 August 2018) was an Irish poet. His work has been translated into Dutch, Italian, Hebrew, Japanese, Latvian, Mexican Spanish, Romanian, Slovakian and German. According to the poet Gerard Smyth: "I a ...

(1952–2018, E) *

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poe ...

(1667–1745, E) *

John Millington Synge Edmund John Millington Synge (; 16 April 1871 – 24 March 1909) was an Irish playwright, poet, writer, collector of folklore, and a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival. His best known play ''The Playboy of the Western World'' was poorly r ...

(1871–1909, E) *

Senchán Torpéist Senchán Torpéist (c. 560–649 AD) was a Gaelic-Irish poet. Background Seanchan Torpest was the Chief Poet of Connacht c.640 AD when he succeeded Dallán Forgaill as Chief Ollam of Ireland. He died in c.649 AD. His father was Cuairfheartaigh ...

(fl. c. 580 – c. 650, I) *

Eliza Dorothea Cobbe, Lady Tuite Lady Eliza Dorothea Tuite (née Cobbe) (c. 1764-1850) was an Irish author and poet. She was a member of the Anglo-Irish gentry, the distinguished Cobbe family. Life and work Elizabeth Dorothea Cobbe was born circa 1764. She was the daughter of C ...

(c. 1764–1850, E) *

Katharine Tynan Katharine Tynan (23 January 1859 – 2 April 1931)Clarke, Frances (2013)"Hinkson (née Tynan), Katharine Tynan" in ''Dictionary of Irish Biography'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). was an Irish writer, known mainly for her novels and p ...

(1861–1931, E) * Muiredhach na Tengadh Ua Sléibhín (d.1022) I * Catherine Walsh (born 1964, E) * David Wheatley (born 1970, E) *

Jane Wilde Jane Francesca Agnes, Lady Wilde (née Elgee; 27 December 1821 – 3 February 1896) was an Irish poet under the pen name Speranza and supporter of the nationalist movement. Lady Wilde had a special interest in Irish folktales, which she help ...

(1821–1896, E) *

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

(1854–1900, E) *

Richard D'Alton Williams Richard D'Alton Williams (8 October 1822 – 5 July 1862) was an Irish physician and poet, "Shamrock" of the ''Nation''. Life He was born in Dublin, son of James and Mary Williams, who came from Westmeath. He grew up in Grenanstown, a townland n ...

(1822–1862, E) * James Wills (1790–1868, E) * Florence Mary Wilson, (1870–1946, E) *

Sheila Wingfield The Rt Hon. Sheila Wingfield, Viscountess Powerscourt (née Sheila Claude Beddington; 23 May 1906 – 8 January 1992), was an Anglo-Irish poet. Life and work Lady Powerscourt was born in Hampshire and attended the Roedean School. She attended ...

(1906–1992, E) *

Macdara Woods Macdara Woods (1942 – 15 June 2018) was an Irish poet. Biography Woods was born in Dublin, where he attended Gonzaga College and then University College Dublin. He married the poet Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin. They had one son, Niall, a musician. ...

(1942–2008, E) * Joseph Woods (born 1966, E) *

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

(1865–1939, E) *

Augustus Young Augustus Young (born 1943 in Cork, Ireland) is an Irish poet. Biography Young worked in London as an epidemiologist and adviser to health authorities, and now lives in France. His first collections of poems, ''Survival'' (1969) and ''On Loani ...

(born 1943, E)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Irish Poets Irish poets,

Poets A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

A–D

E–L

M–P

Q–Z

See also

References

External links