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Beir bua agus beannacht.
Bear victory and blessing.
Green to the Gills invites PoetrySoup members to immerse themselves in the living tradition of Irish poetry , its music, its landscape, its lore. Submissions must be composed in one of four classical Irish metrical forms and must engage authentically with one of the Irish-related themes: the land, the sea, the seasons, the culture, the mythology, and the people who shaped them.
This is a contest of craft. Entrants are expected to demonstrate genuine command of their chosen form — not merely approximate it. Read the form specifications carefully before you write.
Every submitted poem must engage substantively with Irish subject matter. This requirement applies regardless of which poetic form you choose. Acceptable themes include, but are not limited to:
• Irish landscapes: bogs, cliffs, coastlines, mountains, rivers, standing stones
• Irish nature and flora: hawthorn, gorse, heather, the Burren, Atlantic weather
• Irish mythology and folklore: the Tuatha Dé Danann, selkies, the Sídhe, changelings, the Otherworld
• Irish cultural traditions: céilí, hurling, keening, storytelling, the oral tradition
• Irish history: famine, emigration, rebellion, monastic culture, the bardic orders
• The Irish language, place names, and the music embedded in Gaelic speech
Poems set in Ireland but lacking genuine engagement with Irish subject matter will be disqualified. Surface-level use of Irish words without meaningful thematic grounding does not satisfy the requirement.
What to Submit?
1 original, poem on the Irish theme. Choose one of these forms to write in and stay with that form for the entire poem. Do your research on the requirements of that form and obviously written in English. Length between 16 and 50 lines.
Form I — Deibide (DEH-bih-deh)
Deibide is one of the oldest Irish syllabic forms, structured in rhyming couplets with a distinctive asymmetry between rhyming words.
Form II — Rannaigecht Mór (RAN-ee-echt MORE)
Rannaigecht Mór is a tightly disciplined syllabic form with both end-rhyme and internal cross-rhyme (aicill), giving the poem a dense, woven texture.
Form III — Droighneach (DRIGH-nach)
Droighneach is the most expansive of the four forms — longer lines, strong alliterative chains, and a dramatic, incantatory character well-suited to mythological and landscape subjects.
Form IV — Séadna (SHAY-dnah)
Séadna is the most melodic of the four forms — alternating eight- and seven-syllable lines give it a natural, singable cadence related to the Irish song tradition.
Declare Your Form
The header of your submission must clearly state which of the four forms you have used. Example: Form: Séadna. Submissions without a declared form will be returned for correction before the deadline, or disqualified if the deadline has passed.
Judging Criteria
Poems will be evaluated on the following weighted criteria:
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Formal Accuracy — correct syllable count, rhyme scheme, cross-rhyme, alliteration, and any form-specific requirements (dunadh, etc.)
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Thematic Authenticity — genuine, substantive engagement with Irish subject matter
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Poetic Quality — imagery, voice, originality, emotional resonance, and linguistic precision
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Musicality — the felt sound of the poem; how well the form's sonic requirements are realized in actual reading
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Total: 100 points. In the event of a tie, the judge's assessment of Formal Accuracy will serve as the tiebreaker.
Grounds for Disqualification
• Poem does not meet the syllabic or structural requirements of the declared form
• Poem has no meaningful Irish thematic content
• Poem falls outside the 16-50 line requirement
• Poem has been previously published or is simultaneously submitted elsewhere
• More than one submission from the same member
• Form is not declared in the submission header
A Note on Craft
The Irish bardic tradition was one of the most technically demanding literary cultures in medieval Europe. Apprentice bards studied for years before composing in the classical meters. This contest does not demand that level of expertise, but it does ask for honest effort, genuine research into your chosen form, and respect for a tradition that survived centuries of suppression to reach us.
If you are new to these forms, I ncourage you to study example poems in Deibide or Séadna before you write. Read aloud as you compose. Count syllables on your fingers. Let the form's music teach you what it wants to say.
The best Irish poetry, ancient or contemporary , holds two things at once: strict formal discipline and the sense that the words arrived unbidden, straight from the land. That paradox is what you are chasing.
Prizes
First Prize, Glory
Second Prize, Glory
Third Prize, Glory
Twelve Honorable Mentions
Preparing Your Entry
Submit one copy of your poem online. Format your poem. Please make your entry easy to read — no illustrations or fancy fonts.
English Language
Poems should be in English. Poems translated from other languages are not eligible, unless you wrote both the original poem and the translation.
A Note to Poetry Contestants
You are welcome to enter this contest, whether or not you won a prize in one of my previous contests.