Reprint of the original, first published in 1845.

A rich and colourful celebration of the poetic heritage of Ireland, this CD and book anthology features classic and contemporary Irish poems read by 100 of the best-known voices in Irish life. A rich and colourful celebration of the poetic heritage of Ireland, this CD and book anthology features classic and contemporary Irish poems read by 100 of the best-known voices in Irish life, including Maeve Binchy, Bono, Pierce Brosnan, The Corrs, Bertie Ahern, Bob Geldof, Seamus Heaney, Marian Keyes and Sinead O'Connor. Wilde's The Ballad of Reading Gaol alongside new work from Ireland's finest living writers. As well as forming a living testament to the best of Irish writing, the collection is also a reminder that words, both oral and written, do make a difference with all royalties going to Focus Ireland, the country's largest and most respected charity for the homeless.

With its roots in the devotional verse of the early Christian church and the long lyric poems of the Irish bards, Irish poetry has a rich and robust tradition both of engagement and self-reflection. It has grappled long with politics and has provided the most eloquent response to Ireland's turbulent history, mediating and mitigating histories of loyalty and loss; it has soaked itself in the Irish landscape and Celtic myth; it has encompassed religion, so much a part of Ireland's cultural heritage. At the same time Irish poets have given their own original slant to everyday experience and affairs of the heart.Thematically organized and spanning many centuries, this selection also features a section of Gaelic poetry in translation, notably excerpts from the 18th-century epic masterpiece, Brian Merriman's The Midnight Court.