'Dublin you are': Representations of Dublin in Twenty-First Century Irish Poetry

Abstract

This article probes the different representations of Dublin in twenty-first century Irish poetry. There is an examination of the works of Stephen James Smith, Colm Keegan and Rachael Hegarty, and how all three poets explore, and represent, Dublin within their work. Smith's work will be shown to explore the cultural and artistic heritage of the city while Keegan's poetry offers a social commentary on the state of the capital city in the wake of the last economic collapse. Hegarty's poetry celebrates the city and its surrounding areas for their own unique and natural beauty.There is an expression of the ordinary occurrences in a Dublin suburb that transcends the Finglas area of Dublin out of the realm of the ordinary and into the marvellous. While Smith, Keegan and Hegarty all celebrate their native city in their poetry, there is also a strong sense of critique that exudes from their representations of twenty-first century Dublin.