Contemporary Irish Poetry

News New Irish Poetry Journal Launches Cork appears to be emerging as a literary hub for Ireland (which I like to half-jokingly, half-seriously attribute to Graham Norton - maybe I'll look into this...), as a new poetry and arts journal…

I am Twelve My brother is nineteen with pincushions of cannulas instead of hands, half his head shaved, red-ridged and stitched tight like a baseball. I chew highland toffees fidgeting with the red plaid wax wrappers, inventing a…

Review of Non-Existent Poetry Collection These poems are as engaging as the mobile phone that kept ringing during the last ever performance of Waiting for Godot at the Albanian National Theatre, before the building was demolished to…

Mary Kennelly is a familiar name on the poetry scene. She's been involved in arts events in Ireland for many years, including Listowel Writers’ Week, taking to the spoken word tent at Electric Picnic's Mindfield and the Brendan Kennelly…

On Surviving Typhoid Fever In 1828 the Royal Astronomical Society awarded a gold medal to Caroline Herschel. No woman would receive one again for 168 years. My mother can't forgive me for being alive. The typhoid made me stooped,…

Aftermath I can still remember The mangled, mustard front Of the bonnet and the way The glass obscured A glimpse of the Holy Mother On your dashboard- Plastic, blue and Serenely expressionless. I recalled the way Your bumpy…

Julie Morrissy is a poet from Dublin currently living in her home city after spending a number of years living in Canada and the USA. Her manuscript The Foehn Wind is shortlisted for the Melita Hume Poetry Prize 2015 in the UK. She has been…

At Sea I’m watching a film. There’s a scene at the end where the leading lady gets into her car and drives. The camera, a bird’s eye view of highways and roads follows her progress until the journey slows curves along the edge of…

Doireann Ní Ghríofa, an award-winning bilingual poet, currently holds the Ireland Chair of Poetry Bursary awarded by Paula Meehan. Her most recent book is Clasp (Dedalus Press, 2015).  She will appear at Cúirt 2015 alongside Elaine Feeney…