Aside from Yeats, Ireland has an additional three authors who won the Nobel Prize for literature: George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett, and Seamus Heaney.

"The nationalism and exploration of Irish identity by many Irish writers, none more so than Yeats, is an outward looking nationalism," according to David Murphy, consul general of Ireland in Shanghai. "They seek common understanding and address topics of universal relevance which touches an audience way beyond the shores of Ireland. They were successful not only because of their genius, but also because of how they absorbed ideas from elsewhere, and how they wanted to share their work with the rest of the world."