This study analyses the function of domestic space in the poetry of Medbh McGuckian and Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin. A central motif in their work, the house appears as a liminal space, a site of otherness that conveys meaning differently. This research argues that to study the image of the house in their poetry is to study the relationship of the female poet with the world. By focusing on recurring images in their poetry – the female body and its relationship with the house, the interrelation of inside and outside - this study shows that domestic space appears as a threshold, a space that explores the limits and the differences between the self and the world.