Contents Poetry Ireland Review 104

Caitríona O’Reilly 5 editorial Thomas Kinsella 6 late letters of thomas moore 7 the guardians 8 elderly craftsman at his bench Frances-Anne King 9 crossing pater noster square Ted McCarthy 10 kilcloon D Nurkse 12 veracruz John White 13 crepuscule Howard Wright 14 stamping ground 15 perish the thought Daniel Hardisty 16 bride 17 midpoint Harry Clifton 18 essay: the physical world of seamus heaney Jaki McCarrick 30 camomile Lynne Edgar 31 musing Jane Yeh 32 the lilies 33 the merlins 34 lace Sarah Collins 35 the owl pellet Miriam Gamble 36 précis 37 an emblem thereof 38 dressing fleas Caitríona Ní Chléirchín 40 doire na sealg 42 dernashallog 44 scaradh na gcompánach 45 the parting of the comrades James Owens 46 hard rain behind a screen of thistles Rabindranath Tagore 47 aphorisms Matthew Geden 50 doubting thomas 51 tom courtenay, philip larkin and the butterfly Kate Noakes 52 the work-bench vice morality test Vona Groarke 53 is it time? 54 furrow 56 interval Tom French 57 leaving ballybeg Tom Duddy 60 essay: john clare and the poetry of birds Rae Howells 74 period 75 the dunns Mark Mullee 76 the details 77 reservations at a brazilian steakhouse Marina Tsvetaeva 78 ‘i don’t remember who it was’ 79 ‘hell’s where we’re bound for, gorgeous sisters’ 80 ‘a time will come, rival of mine...’ Fran Brearton 81 essay: poetry and forgetting: john hewitt Bethan Kilfoil 88 silhouette Jodie Hollander 90 victoria park Denis Rigal 91 autumn in grignan Richard Murphy 92 excerpt: notes for sonnets Iggy McGovern 105 review: c l dallat, michael foley Grace Wells 110 review: adam wyeth, tom duddy, ailbhe darcy, stephen murray, noel duffy Gerard Smyth 121 review: brendan kennelly Paul Perry 124 review: billy collins, august kleinzahler Thomas Dillon Redshaw 129 review: two anthologies of irish poetry Proinsias Ó Drisceoil 134 review: iain crichton smith, catullus Liam Carson 137 review: simon ó faoláin, caitríona ní chléirchín Notes on Contributors 140