Matthew Sweeney (born 1951 in Donegal, Ireland) is an Irish poet.


He graduated from Gormanston College, Polytechnic of North London and University of Freiburg, in 1979. He lives as a writer and poet.
He has had residencies at the University of East Anglia, and South Bank Centre, among many others.
He lived in London for many years, until 2001, after which he lived in Timișoara, Romania, and Berlin. He now lives in Cork, Ireland.
1984: New Statesman Prudence Farmer Award
1987: Cholmondeley Award
1999: Arts Council Writers' Award
2007: T. S. Eliot Prize (shortlist)
2008: Poetry Now Award (shortlist) for his collection, Black Moon.
2011: The Steven Kings Award
2012: Maria Elsa Authors and Poets Award
2014: Piggot Poetry Prize
Inquisition Lane. Bloodaxe Books. 2015. ISBN 978-1-78037148-1.
Horse Music. Bloodaxe Books. 2013. ISBN 978-1-85224967-0.
The Night Post. Salt Publishing. 2010. ISBN 978-1-84471-484-1.
Black Moon. Jonathan Cape. 2007. ISBN 978-0-224-08092-7.
Sanctuary. Cape. 2004. ISBN 978-0-224-07345-5.
Selected Poems. Cape. 2002. ISBN 978-0-224-06212-1. (Canadian edition, A Picnic on Ice, Signal Editions, Vehicule Press, 2002)
Up on the Roof: New and Selected Poems. Illustrator David Austen. Faber & Faber. 2001. ISBN 978-0-571-20728-2.
A Smell of Fish. Cape. 2000. ISBN 978-0-224-06067-7.
The Bridal Suite. Cape. 1997. ISBN 978-9984-510-75-0.
Cacti. Secker & Warburg. 1992. ISBN 978-0-436-50842-4.
Blue Shoes. Secker & Warburg. 1989.
The Lame Waltzer. Allison & Busby. 1985. ISBN 978-0-85031-644-5.
A Round House. Allison & Busby. 1983. ISBN 978-0-906897-66-9.
A Dream of Maps. Dublin: Raven Arts Press. 1981. ISBN 978-0-906897-17-1.
Irish Poems. Macmillan. 2005. ISBN 978-0-333-98748-3.
The New Faber Book of Children's Verse. Faber. 2001. ISBN 978-0-571-21905-6.
Ken Smith; Matthew Sweeney, Felix Post, eds. (1997). Beyond Bedlam: Poems Written out of Mental Distress. Anvil Press Poetry. ISBN 978-0-85646-296-2.
Jo Shapcott; Matthew Sweeney, eds. (1996). Emergency Kit: Poems for Strange Times. Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-17207-8.
Death Comes For The Poets (satirical crime novel, cowritten with John Hartley Williams). MUS. 2012. ISBN 978-0-957213609.
Writing Poetry (Teach Yourself series, with John Hartley Williams). McGraw-Hill. 2008. ISBN 978-0071602501.