Though the three lectures given by Paul Muldoon as Ireland Professor of Poetry focus on three former holders of the chair - John Montague, Michael Longley, and Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill - they also touch on a dizzying range of topics including David Byrne, Claddagh Records, decapitation, The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel, factory farming, Pierce Ferriter, incest among royals, Ivar the Boneless, James Joyce's "The Dead", Carl Jung, long addition, the Royston crow, Section 21 of the Broadcasting Act of Ireland, The Story of Mac Datho's Pig, The Voyage of Muldoon, war crimes by major poets, and the overly excitable Warren Zevon.

The Ireland Chair of Poetry was established in 1998 following the award of the Nobel Prize of Literature to Seamus Heaney and is supported by Queen's University Belfast, Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the Arts Council An Chomhairle Ealaion. Other poets in the series include Eilean Ni Chuilleanain, John Montague, Paul Durcan, Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, Michael Longley, Harry Clifton and Paula Meehan.