Poet Profile

Micheál (Mike) Gallagher

Micheál (Mike) Gallagher, an Irish poet and editor, was born on Achill Island, Co. Mayo. His poetry, stories, songs and haiku have been published in Ireland, throughout Europe and in America, Canada, Japan, India, Thailand, Nepal and Australia. His writing has been translated into Irish, Croatian, Japanese, Dutch, German, Italian and Chinese. His short stories have been long-listed by both RTE and BBC. He has also edited a number of poetry and prose books. His collection Stick on Stone is published by Revival Press (2013).
He normally writes mainstream poetry but enjoys his forays into haiku where he finds the battles are much more engaging. He enjoys the immediacy of haiku and the awareness and discipline it demands. He recognizes that he is on a steep learning curve and is constantly amazed by the dedication and erudition of haiku poets. The universal spread of haiku has enabled his being published in many countries and languages. He has published haiku and senryu in on-line and in-print journals e.g. Butterfly Dream, Cattails, Chrysanthemum, DIOGEN Haiku, Failed Haiku, Frogpond, Haiku Masters TV-NHK World, Hedgerow, moongarlic, Muse India, Shamrock Haiku Journal, Sonic Boom, Stardust Haiku, The Asahi Shimbun, The Haiku Foundation features (Haiku In the Workplace, Haiku Windows, A Sense of Place), Wild Plum, World Haiku Review.
Mike lives in Lyreacrompane, a town land in Stack’s Mountains.

Awards and Other Honors: Winner of the Éigse Michael Hartnett Viva Voce competition (2010, 2016); shortlisted for the Hennessy Award in 2011; Winner of the Desmond O’Grady International Poetry Contest (2012). Honourable mention: Sonic Boom, Issue 6, August 2016; Haiku of Merit: World Haiku Review - June 2016; March 2018

sudden shower
the bog stitched with
silver lamé

after the funeral
a family gathering
hatchets buried

through the snow 
my footprints 
track me down

funeral parlour
by the seafront
wailing gulls

congregation
waiting for the bride
a church mouse

coffin ship 
famine furrows
etch the hillside

Credits: "sudden shower" – Shamrock Haiku Journal No. 5; 2008; "after the funeral" – Butterfly Dream Aug. 15, 2017; "through the snow" – Frogpond Vol. 33 No. 22, Spring/Summer 2010; "funeral parlour" – Stardust Haiku Issue 19, July 2018; " congregation" – Stardust Haiku issue 13, Jan. 2018; “coffin ship" – The Asahi Shimbun (Asahi Haikuist Network) Aug. 18, 2017.