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‘For me there are silences that I am not always sure either history or the poetry of male Irish poets has touched.’ Boland focuses on ‘outsiders’, on people ‘Outside History’. What do you think this means? Points to consider Who When Why Where What How 2-3 sentences please.

Eavan Boland (born 1944 in Dublin) is a unique poet who writes about the everyday lives of ordinary people. Her themes range from love, to war and death. She records the lives of those ‘outside history’, those not written into the records of our heritage: the feminised, the colonised, the overlooked. In doing so she has created a bank of poetry accessible to all, original and fresh.

1970’s and 80’s Ireland Write what you see.

Boland uses some of her poems to articulate her public condemnation of violence and its consequences. She writes from the standpoint of a mother who witnesses the senseless waste of young life through the brutality of war. She is a valuable voice on behalf of a community suffering from the enormous impact of war and violence.

Great Boland notes at: http://www.aoifesnotes.com/leaving-cert/ordinary-level/Paper-Two/prescribed-poetry.php