Three Great Irish Poems to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

Make merry on St. Patrick’s Day this year with these three poems written by accomplished Irish poets.

Read these poems with friends and family this St. Patrick's Day! Public Domain

Despite this nation’s small geographic area, Ireland has contributed a disproportionately large amount of great art to the world. The lively, passionate strains of Irish music have been heard the world over. Irish painters have gifted us glowing masterpieces, like “The Meeting on the Turret Stairs.” Many titans of literature hail from the Emerald Isle, including W.B. Yeats, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, and Jonathan Swift. Irish culture seems especially fitted, somehow, for artistic production.

One way to celebrate the ardent Irish spirit on St. Patrick’s Day is to read some of the work of Irish poets. Here are three lesser-known gems by Irish bards.

‘The Fairies’ by William Allingham

This playful poem describes the famous “little people” of Irish folklore who have bewitched the imagination of so many people, Irish and non-Irish alike. Called variously “fairies,” “Sidhe,” “little people,” or “leprechauns,” these mysterious sprites figured centrally in the Celtic Revival movement, which saw renewed interest in medieval Celtic culture and folklore among artists of various genres.