Publishers
The presses that publish Irish poetry — dedicated poetry houses, Irish-language publishers, trade lists and the presses outside Ireland.
Irish poetry is published by a small number of dedicated Irish poetry presses, a wider set of general Irish trade publishers with poetry lists, and — importantly — by British and American presses that carry many Irish poets. All three groups belong in the directory; a poet's bibliography is unintelligible without them.
A useful scale marker: since the 1950s at least 30 small poetry presses have operated on the island, of which roughly 10–15 publish full collections in any given year (Cordite Poetry Review).
Dedicated poetry presses
The Gallery Press
- Founded: 1970. First title issued 6 February 1970: Answers by Des O'Mahony and Justin McCarthy.
- Founder / editor: Peter Fallon (poet), still editor.
- Origin: Began as the Gallery Books imprint of Tara Telephone Publications, an offshoot of a Beat-influenced poetry performance group.
- Location: Loughcrew, Oldcastle, Co. Meath.
- Output: 400+ books.
- Significance: The most prestigious Irish poetry list. Publishes/has published Ciaran Carson, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Medbh McGuckian, Vona Groarke, Derek Mahon, John Montague, Paula Meehan and many others. Gallery holds Irish rights for many poets whose UK rights sit with Faber or Cape.
- Web: gallerypress.com
- Source: Wikipedia — Gallery Press
Dedalus Press
- Founded: 1985 by John F. Deane (poet).
- Current editor/publisher: Pat Boran (poet and broadcaster), since 2006. Manager: Raffaela Tranchino.
- Output: approx. 8 titles per year.
- Position: "Poetry from Ireland and the World" — a strong strand of poetry in translation and of poets living in Ireland who were born elsewhere.
- Web: dedaluspress.com · About
Salmon Poetry
- Founder: Jessie Lendennie.
- Moved: Galway → Co. Clare in 1995 (Cliffs of Moher, Ennistymon).
- Distinctive mission: A platform for new Irish and international poetry in English, with a long-standing and explicit commitment to publishing women poets — founded expressly to address the gender imbalance in Irish poetry publishing.
- Distribution: Ireland, UK and US.
- Web: salmonpoetry.com
- Source: Wikipedia — Salmon Poetry; Irish Times profile of Jessie Lendennie
Doire Press
- Founded: 2007.
- Location: Connemara, Co. Galway — "leading West of Ireland publisher".
- List: Poetry and literary fiction.
- Web: doirepress.com · poetry list
Arlen House
- Focus: Feminist writing, poetry, Irish women's studies.
- Notable: One of only four Irish presses that published more women than men in the decade 2008–2017 (Keating & McDaid, Poetry Publishing in Ireland 2008–2017).
The Lifeboat Press
- Location: Belfast.
- Notable: Achieved parity between male, female and non-binary authors in the 2008–2017 survey period. Publisher of Queering the Green: Post-2000 Queer Irish Poetry (see LGBTQ+ poets) and of early Padraig Regan pamphlets.
Southword Editions
- Publisher: The Munster Literature Centre, Cork.
- Output: Poetry collections and chapbooks, including the winners of the Fool for Poetry International Chapbook Competition.
- Web: munsterlit.ie/publishers
Banshee Press
- Founded: 2014 (as the journal; press activity followed).
- Editors: Laura Jane Cassidy, Eimear Ryan, Claire Hennessy.
- Notable: Its poetry title High Jump as Icarus Story by Gustav Parker Hibbett was nominated for the T. S. Eliot Prize (2024).
Bullaun Press
- Profile: New independent Irish publisher specialising in literature in translation.
Skein Press
Irish-language publishers
Cló Iar-Chonnacht (CIC)
- Founded: 1985 by Micheál Ó Conghaile, a native Irish speaker from Inis Treabhair, Connemara — established while he was a student in Galway. He directed the company for 35 years.
- Location: An Spidéal, Connemara, Co. Galway.
- Output: 500+ Irish-language books over 40 years — poetry, novels, children's books, non-fiction — plus hundreds of music albums.
- Mission: Preserve and promote the Gaeltacht, the Irish language and Irish culture.
- Web: cic.ie · About
Coiscéim
- Founded: 1980.
- Output: 1,500+ titles — the largest private Irish-language publisher in Ireland.
- Significance: The default home for Irish-language poetry collections, including many first collections that would find no other outlet.
An Sagart
- Base: Maynooth, Co. Kildare.
- Founded by: Monsignor Pádraig Ó Fiannachta, professor of Modern Irish at Maynooth.
- Profile: Irish-language publisher of scholarly, religious and literary work, including poetry.
An Gúm
- Profile: State Irish-language publishing body, now part of Foras na Gaeilge. Historically central to Irish-language publishing including verse and translation.
Trade publishers with poetry lists
| Publisher | Founded | Base | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackstaff Press | 1971 | Newtownards, Co. Down | Fiction, sport, cookery, travel and poetry, mainly of Irish interest. Wikipedia |
| New Island Books | 1992 | Dublin | Trade publisher with a poetry strand |
| The O'Brien Press | 1974 | Dublin | Mainly children's/general; some verse |
| Lagan Press | — | Belfast | Historic NI poetry list — current status |
| Abbey Press | — | Newry | Poetry — current status |
| Summer Palace Press | — | Co. Donegal | Small poetry press |
Publishers outside Ireland
These are not Irish companies, but omitting them would leave most major Irish poets' bibliographies incomplete.
Wake Forest University Press (USA)
- Founded: 1975 by Professor Dillon Johnston, with support from Provost Edwin Wilson.
- Origin: Johnston, an Irish scholar, saw how few contemporary Irish poetry titles were reliably available in the United States.
- Note: Publishes Irish poets almost exclusively — the main route by which Irish collections reach North American bookshops.
- Key series: The Wake Forest Series of Irish Poetry Vols I–IV (five poets per volume, ed. Jefferson Holdridge); The Wake Forest Book of Irish Women's Poetry 1967–2000; The New North: Contemporary Poetry from Northern Ireland.
- Web: wfupress.wfu.edu · Irish poetry list
Faber & Faber (UK)
Seamus Heaney's publisher throughout his career; also Paul Muldoon and others. Effectively the UK/world home of the Heaney canon.
Carcanet Press (UK, Manchester)
Publisher of Eavan Boland and Victoria Kennefick among others. Kennefick's Eat or We Both Starve (Carcanet, 2021) is the standard recent example.
Bloodaxe Books (UK, Hexham)
Broad list including Irish poets; strong in translation and in anthologies of Irish work.
Jonathan Cape / Penguin (UK)
Seán Hewitt's Tongues of Fire (Cape, 2020); Stephen Sexton's If All the World and Love Were Young (Penguin, 2019).
Picador, Chatto & Windus, Bloomsbury (UK)
Occasional but significant Irish poetry titles.
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