A fresh, accessible and authoritative study that conveys the richness and diversity of Irish poets, their lives and times.

Introduction Gerald Dawe; 1. Prolegomena - 'Spenser's Island' Sean Lysaght; 2. Jonathan Swift 1667-1745 James Ward; 3. Aogan O'Raithille c.1670-1729 Aodan MacPoilin; 4. Oliver Goldsmith 1728-1774 Michael Griffin; 5. Thomas Moore 1779-1852 Jeffrey Vail; 6. James Clarence Mangan 1803-1849 John Mc Auliffe; 7. W B Yeats 1865-1939 Nicholas Grene; 8. Francis Ledwidge 1887-1917 Fran Brearton; 9. Thomas MacGreevy 1893-1967 David Wheatley; 10. Austin Clarke 1896-1974 Lucy Collins; 11. Patrick Kavanagh 1904-1967 Tom Walker; 12. Samuel Beckett 1906-1989 Gerald Dawe; 13. Louis Mac Neice 1907-1963 Chris Morash; 14. John Hewitt 1907-1987 Guy Woodward; 15. Séan Ó Ríordáin 1916-1977 Louis de Paor; 16. Richard Murphy 1927 Benjamin Keatinge; 17. Thomas Kinsella 1928 Andrew Fitzsimons; 18. John Montague 1929 Maurice Riordain; 19. Brendan Kennelly 1936 Richard Pine; 20. Seamus Heaney 1939-2013 Terence Brown; 21. Michael Longley 1939 Florence Impens; 22. Michael Hartnett 1941-1999 Peter Sirr; 23. Derek Mahon 1941 Matt Campbell; 24. Eilean Ni Chuilleanain 1942 Hugh Haughton; 25. Eavan Boland 1944 Justin Quinn; 26. Paul Durcan 1945 Alan Gillis; 27. Ciaran Carson 1948 Nicholas Allen; 28. Medbh McGuckian 1950 Maria Johnston; 29. Paul Muldoon 1951 Peter Mc Donald; 30. Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill 1952 John Dillon.