How does contemporary Irish poetry migrate from traditional conceptions of identity drawn on by the cultural nationalism of the Irish Literary Revival? What effects does this have on our understanding of gendered and national identity formation? Chapters of this study focus on the work of Seamus Heaney, Tom Paulin, Paul Muldoon, Medbh McGuckian, Eavan Boland and Sara Berkeley. Looking at poets from North and South of the border, the book asks how does a younger generation of writers provide a response to nationality which is significantly different from their predecessors. Exploring feminist and post-colonial theorization of identity, this study interrogates the intellectual and political agenda of a new generation of Irish poets, while calling into question the implied divisions between poetry, theory and a practical politics.