Displays

There is probably no national day that has such global popularity as St. Patrick's Day. On St. Patrick's Day, it is reputed that 'Everyone is Irish'. What are the factors and factions that give the day such popular appeal? Is St. Patrick's Day the same around the world--in Japan, Northern Ireland and Montserrat--as it is in the Republic of Ireland and the United States? Just how does 'Irishness' figure in the celebration and commemoration of St. Patrick's Day, and how has this day been commoditized, consumed, and contested? Does St. Patrick's Day 'belong' to the people, the nation or the brewery? This edited volume brings together the best St. Patrick's Day and Irish Studies scholars from the fields of history, anthropology, sociology, Irish studies, diaspora studies, and cultural studies. The volume thematically explores how St. Patrick's Day has been consumed from the symbolic to the literal, the religious and the political. By doing so, it offers a fresh examination of its importance. This volume will thus appeal especially to undergraduate and postgraduate students of Irish diaspora studies, and Irish historians and scholars, as well as to anthropology, sociology and cultural studies students invested in exploring St. Patrick's Day as a case study of globalization, migration and commoditization.

Including samples of Gaelic literature in translation, this is a collection of Irish poetry from the age of Swift to the middle of the 20th century. Major names include Aogan O Rathaille, Jonathan Swift, Oliver Goldsmith, Henrietta Battier, James Clarence Mangan, Lady Wilde, anonymous writers on famine and terror, Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats and some of his survivors. Disinterring a tradition of enlightened outrage, the editor reconstructs a distinctively Irish poetic voice down through the centuries. Devoted to humane values yet wise to the duplicity of all self-proclaimed virtue, their voice has repeatedly adopted the mask of dramatic ferocity, with Swift's savage indignation setting the tone.

Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2003 "An extraordinary work of collaborative scholarship that succeeds spendidly in providing 'a set of contexts for understanding how women have lived in Ireland.' An essential purchase." --Library Journal "The result is two volumes which span nearly 15 centuries of Irish women and their cultural experiences. Covering literature, journalism, history, and criticism, as well as legal, medical, theological, and scientific writings, the works often appear in both English and Irish. Other sections explore oral traditions, sexuality, religion and theology, and contemporary writing." --Irish America "Readers will be amazed at the breadth and depth of these selections, which range from medieval to contemporary, from politics to poetry. There is much of interest here for both the literary specialist and the devotee of Irish literature. . . . Essential." --CHOICE "A monumental and heroic work of collective scholarship that will transform our understanding of the Irish literary tradition. Yes she said yes yes." --Elaine Showalter, Princeton University "The literary event of the year..." --Caroline Walshe, Irish Times "These new volumes are a mighty achievement: the texts and contexts of more than a thousand years of Irish women's writing brilliantly, abundantly presented and comprehended. The editors have redefined the curriculum of studies." --Seamus Heaney, Nobel Laureate "The long-anticipated, two-volume publication of Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing: Irish Women's Writing and Traditions will...redress the traditional exclusion of women's voices from Irish literature." --Los Angeles Times "One looks at these two huge volumes of women's writings and traditions and it's difficult not to suspect that this compilation is not a monument to the culmination of the power and creativity of Irish women but rather a signal of almost the beginning of it. It took invincibleness to produce the stories in these 3,200 pages and even to bring the pages together." --The New York Times Eleven years in the making, harnessing the skills and expertise of dozens of scholars, Irish Women's Writing and Traditions, Volumes IV and V of the Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing is a true publishing landmark. It represents the most comprehensive volume of Irish women's writing ever published, including more than 900 female writers, from poets of the middle ages to contemporary writers whose work graces international bestseller lists. Spanning a period from 600 AD to the end of the twentieth century, these two volumes provide a unique resource for the study of Irish society from the perspective of Irish women's writing. This wide-ranging, interdisciplinary work covers literature, journalism, history, and criticism, as well as legal, medical, theological, and scientific writings, and includes sections on oral traditions, sexuality, religion and theology, and contemporary writing. Within these pages, readers will find the work of both familiar and undiscovered or under-appreciated writers, much of which is previously unpublished or translated from the Irish language for the first time. There are extensive author biographies and bibliographies facilitating further reading and research. Both volumes are fully cross-referenced--including an index to first lines of poetry--with Volumes I-III, which focused on Irish men's writing. An indispensable resource for scholars, students, and anyone interested in Irish culture, literature, history, or politics. The publication of the final two volumes of the Field Day Anthology is a watershed moment in scholarship and publishing.

The New Yorker contributor's fascinating account of Irish history from legendary kings to occupation, independence, and modern political strife. The author of The Soong Sisters and China to Me turns her observant and discerning eye to the oft‑troubled land of Ireland. In a magisterial combination of historical research and keen personal observation on the scene, Emily Hahn gives us a view of the whole of Ireland and its history, from the legends of the great kings and the heroes of myth to the Saint who converted Ireland to Christianity many centuries ago to modern times. She details the trials and tribulations of a conquered people as they rebel against their exploiters and fight and die for independence, eventually achieving their goal but only at the price of a bitter partition that haunts the country to this day. Hahn's breadth of vision and acute sense of the telling detail paints the big picture while also pinpointing the small but important moments. Perhaps the subtitle manages to encapsulate it all: Ireland, Its Legends, Its History, Its People from St. Patrick to Bernadette Devlin.

The Irish Revival of 1891 to 1922 was an extraordinary era that generated not only a remarkable crop of poets and writers but also a range of innovative political thinkers and activists. The contributors to this period exchanged ideas and opinions about what Ireland was and could become, yet much of this discourse remains out of print, some of these voices almost forgotten. Handbook of the Irish Revival: An Anthology of Irish Cultural and Political Writings 1891-1922 collects for the first time many of the essays, articles, and letters by renowned figures such as James Joyce, Maud Gonne, W. B. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Sean O'Casey, and J. M. Synge, among others. The anthology also contains pieces by lesser-known individuals such as Stopford A. Brooke, Mary Colum, and Helena Molony. Many of the lesser-known texts contextualize the social, political, and cultural lives, values, and aspirations of those involved in and on the periphery of the Revivalist movement. The introduction and commentary by Declan Kiberd and P. J. Mathews convey the ideas of a brilliant generation that, in spite of difficulty and demoralization, audaciously shaped a modern Ireland. Divided into sixteen sections covering issues as diverse as literature, religion, drama, education, women's rights, and the 1916 Rising, this is the ultimate reference book for anyone with an interest in Irish literature and history.

Histories of the Irish Future is an intellectual history of Ireland and a history of Irish crises viewed through the eyes of twelve key writers: William Petty, William Molyneux, Edmund Burke, Thomas Malthus, Richard Whately, Friedrich Engels, John Mitchel, James Connolly, Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, Jeremiah Newman, Conor Cruise O'Brien and Fintan O'Toole. Their analyses of the shifting conditions of Ireland and their efforts to address Ireland's predicaments are located within the wider social, political, economic and cultural anxieties of their times. The result is a pioneering interdisciplinary contribution to modern Irish history and Irish Studies that will appeal to students of politics, economic history, and philosophy.

This book provides a fascinating history of Ireland, focusing on the ways in which the nation has been depicted by competing interests, from political factions to religious groups to commercial powers. The book examines the origins of Ireland's various identities, looking at Irish culture, religion, and language. The result is an original work of scholarship that analyzes Ireland's rich history and traces the formation of its national identity.

Drawing from a wealth of historical and scholarly sources, Johnson traces the important social, religious and political development of Ireland's struggle to become a unified, settled country. Johnson describes with accurate detail Ireland's barbarous beginnings, Oliver Cromwell's religious "crusade," the tragic Irish potato famine, the Ulster resistance and the outstanding fact of the constant British-Irish connection and the fearful toll of life it exacted. Among the anonymous multitude are famous names such as "Silken Thom" Kildare, Thomas Wentworth, Archbishop Plunkett and Lord Frederick Cavendish. And yet many great men marshaled their energies and wits to settle Ireland: Sir Henry Sidney, Sire Walter Raleigh, Edmund Spenser, Churchill and others.

Why did the Romans never try to conquer Ireland? Why did the King of Spain give his name to an Irish county? And how did brandy change the course of Irish history? Turtle Bunbury explores unexpected corners of the past to offer an informative and entertaining glimpse into 36 lesser-known tales from Irish history, from the eruption of a massive volcano in County Armagh sixty million years ago to more recent events that have made Ireland the vibrant place it is today. In his inimitable sparkly style, Bunbury explores the people and events from high to low that played major roles in Ireland's fascinating past but have since been overlooked. These alternative annals include tales of spymasters and scientists, battlefields and brothels, tailors and traitors. Ireland's Forgotten Past paints a surprising, witty and engaging new portrait of an Ireland you thought you knew.

This is the first volume of its kind to present a collection of writings by and about Ireland's women. From Queen Maeve of Connaught to President Mary Robinson, this book presents Irish women as their compatriots--men and women both--have described and interpreted them. Modern Irish women are outspoken about the issues that rouse their passion--love and sex, marriage and divorce, abortion and adoption. As Katie Donovan says in her introduction: "Our selection is intended to give the reader a taste of the varied spectrum, from the courtly praise of men to swinish male chauvinism; from women's declarations of outrage against church and state to their celebrations of childbirth and motherhood." This book celebrates the vast range of women's thought and activity, their spirituality, and their passions. The women who appear in this collection are both well known and unknown, real and invented. The editors have drawn freely upon translations of the mythological tales and later Irish poems, upon letters, biographies, and newspapers as well as prose and poetry, plays, recordings and songs, in order to present a complex multilayered and richly rewarding view of Ireland's women.

From traditional dances and dishes to words of wit and wisdom, Ireland: A Very Peculiar History(tm) takes a lively look at the Emerald Isle. Starting with the earliest inhabitants, it celebrates the country's cultural achievements and colorful history, and recounts the turbulent political events that have helped shape today's Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. A timeline, background on Celtic names, and a recipe round out this fascinating little book. 

In a volume that has become a standard text in Irish studies and serves as a course-friendly alternative to the Field Day anthology, editors Maureen O’Rourke Murphy and James MacKillop survey thirteen centuries of Irish literature, including Old Irish epic and lyric poetry, Irish folksongs, and drama. For each author the editors provide a biographical sketch, a brief discussion of how his or her selections relate to a larger body of work, and a selected bibliography. In addition, this new volume includes a larger sampling of women writers.

'Can we not build up a national tradition, a national literature, which shall be none the less Irish in spirit from being English in language?' W. B. YeatsThis anthology traces the history of modern Irish literature from the revolutionary era of the late eighteenth century to the early years of political independence. From Charlotte Brooke and Edmund Burke to Elizabeth Bowen and Louis MacNeice, the anthology shows how, in forging a tradition of their own, Irish writers have continually challenged and renewed the ways in which Ireland is imagined and defined. The anthology includes a wide-ranging and generous selection of fiction, poetry, and drama. Three plays by W. B. Yeats, Augusta Gregory, and J. M. Synge are printed in their entirety, along with the opening episode of James Joyce's Ulysses. The volume also includes letters, speeches, songs, memoirs, essays, and travel writings, many of which are difficult to obtain elsewhere.'Stephen Regan's anthology vividly and valiantly presents a nation, and a national literature, coming into being.' Paul Muldoon

"Extending to over 1300 pages Irish Writing in the Twentieth Century: A Reader offers a comprehensive and pleasurable introduction to modern Irish literature in a single volume. The Reader contains over 400 pieces including letters, diaries, newspaper and journal articles, songs, poems, critical essays, literary profiles, entire plays and short stories as well as extracts from novels and other longer works. Texts which until now have been out of print or difficult to locate are made easily accessible once more." "Arranged chronologically by decade, from the 1890s to the 1990s, each decade is divided into two different types of writing: critical/documentary and imaginative writing, and is accompanied by a headnote which situates it thematically and chronologically. The Reader is also structured for thematic study by listing all the pieces included under a series of topic headings. The wide range of material encompasses writings of well-known figures in the Irish canon and neglected writers alike. This will appeal to the general reader, but also makes Irish Writing in the Twentieth Century ideal as a core text, providing a unique focus for detailed study in a single volume."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This book provides a scholarly yet accessible account of the Irish nationalist youth organisation Na Fianna Éireann and its contribution to the Irish Revolution in the period 1909-23. Countess Constance Markievicz and Bulmer Hobson established Na Fianna Éireann, or the Irish National Boy Scouts, as an Irish nationalist antidote to Robert Baden-Powell's scouting movement founded in 1908. Between their establishment in 1909 and near decimation during the Irish Civil War of 1922-23, Na Fianna Éireann recruited, trained and nurtured a cadre of young nationalist activists who made an essential contribution to the struggle for Irish independence. This book will be of interest to historians and students specialising in the history of the Irish Revolution, youth culture, paramilitarism and twentieth-century Ireland. It will also appeal to the general reader with an interest in the history of the Irish Revolution.

A New History of Ireland is the largest scholarly project in modern Irish history. In 9 volumes, it provides a comprehensive new synthesis of modern scholarship on every aspect of Irish history and prehistory, from the earliest geological and archaeological evidence, through the Middle Ages, down to the present day. The third volume opens with a character study of early modern Ireland and a panoramic survey of Ireland in 1534, followed by twelve chapters of narrative history. There are further chapters on the economy, the coinage, languages and literature, and the Irish abroad. Two surveys, `Land and People', c.1600 and c.1685, are included.

A New History of Ireland is the largest scholarly project in modern Irish history. In 9 volumes, it provides a comprehensive new synthesis of modern scholarship on every aspect of Irish history and prehistory, from the earliest geological and archaeological evidence, through the Middle Ages, down to the present day. Volume I begins by looking at geography and the physical environment. Chapters follow that examine pre-3000, neolithic, bronze-age and iron-age Ireland and Ireland up to 800. Society, laws, church and politics are all analysed separately as are architecture, literature, manuscripts, language, coins and music. The volume is brought up to 1166 with chapters, amongst others, on the Vikings, Ireland and its neighbours, and opposition to the High-Kings. A final chapter moves further on in time, examining Latin learning and literature in Ireland to 1500.

A New History of Ireland is the largest scholarly project in modern Irish history. In 9 volumes, it provides a comprehensive new synthesis of modern scholarship on every aspect of Irish history and prehistory, from the earliest geological and archaeological evidence, through the Middle Ages, down to the present day. Volume II opens with a character study of medieval Ireland and a panoramic view of the country c.1169, followed by nineteen chapters of narrative history, with a survey of `Land and People, c.1300'. There are further chapters on Gaelic and colonial society; economy and trade; literature in Irish, French, and English; architecture and sculpture; manuscripts and illuminations; and coinage.

A New History of Ireland is the largest scholarly project in modern Irish history. In 9 volumes, it provides a comprehensive new synthesis of modern scholarship on every aspect of Irish history and prehistory, from the earliest geological and archaeological evidence, through the Middle Ages, down to the present day. The third volume opens with a character study of early modern Ireland and a panoramic survey of Ireland in 1534, followed by twelve chapters of narrative history. There are further chapters on the economy, the coinage, languages and literature, and the Irish abroad. Two surveys, `Land and People', c.1600 and c.1685, are included.

A New History of Ireland is the largest scholarly project in modern Irish history. In 9 volumes, it provides a comprehensive new synthesis of modern scholarship on every aspect of Irish history and prehistory, from the earliest geological and archaeological evidence, through the Middle Ages, down to the present day. Volume VI opens with a character study of the period, followed by ten chapters of narrative history, and a study of Ireland in 1914. It includes further chapters on the economy, literature, the Irish language, music, arts, education, administration and the public service, and emigration.

A New History of Ireland is the largest scholarly project in modern Irish history. In 9 volumes, it provides a comprehensive new synthesis of modern scholarship on every aspect of Irish history and prehistory, from the earliest geological and archaeological evidence, through the Middle Ages, down to the present day. Volume VII covers a period of major significance in Ireland's history. It outlines the division of Ireland and the eventual establishment of the Irish Republic. It provides comprehensive coverage of political developments, north and south, as well as offering chapters on the economy, literature in English and Irish, the Irish language, the visual arts, emigration and immigration, and the history of women. The contributors to this volume, all specialists in their field, provide the most comprehensive treatment of these developments of any single-volume survey of twentieth-century Ireland.

An anthology of Irish fiction, from Gulliver's Travels to the current younger generation of Irish writers. It includes sections from novels, with an introduction explaining the context, as well as short stories. Work is chosen on literary merit rather than the light it throws on Irish history or politics. The way writers use form and language is the central concern.

Rock the Sham tells the story of the persistent campaign waged by a small group of Irish lesbians and gay men, along with their American supporters, to take their place in the worlds largest St. Patrick's Day celebration. Banned and slandered by church and state alike, the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization persisted for over ten years to fight a campaign for inclusion, against the enormous powers of the Church, City Hall, and the Ancient Order of Hibernians in New York. Veteran activist Maguire tells the amazing, funny, and terrible story of this epic grass-roots political battle. Rock the Sham! is Anne Maguire's personal account of what happened when a small group, mostly immigrants, decided to start an organization for Irish lesbians and gay men in New York, and then defiantly refused to go back in the closet.

On Saint Patrick's Day, an Irish American writer visiting Dublin takes a day trip around the city and muses on death, sex, lost love, Irish immigrant history, and his younger days as a student in Europe. Like James Joyce's Ulysses, Thomas McGonigle's award-winning novel St. Patrick's Day takes place on a single day, combining a stream-of-consciousness narrative with masterful old-fashioned storytelling, which samples the literary histories of both Ireland and America and the worlds they influence. St. Patrick's Day relies on an interior monologue to portray the narrator's often dark perceptions and fantasies; his memories of his family in Patchogue, New York, and of the women in his life; and his encounters throughout the day, as well as many years ago, with revelers, poets, African students, and working-class Dubliners. Thomas McGonigle's novel is a brilliant portrait of the uneasy alliance between the Irish and Irish Americans, the result of the centuries-old diaspora and immigration, which left unsettled the mysteries of origins and legacy. St. Patrick's Day is a rollicking pub-crawl through multi-sexual contemporary Dublin, a novel full of passion, humor, and insight, which makes the reader the author's accomplice, a witness to his heartfelt memorial to the fraught love affair between ancestors and generations. McGonigle tells the stories both countries need to hear. This particular St. Patrick's Day is an unforgettable one.

To understand modern Ireland one must understand the history of Ireland. Its legends, religious and political life, culture, and wider contributions to the world remain linked to its rich past. In The Story of the Irish Race, popular writer and storyteller Seumas MacManus provides a wide-ranging look at the development of Ireland and its people. Beginning with the early colonization by the Milesius of Spain, MacManus explores ancient stories about the Tuatha De Danann, Cuchullain, Fionn and the Fian, Irish invasions of Britain, St. Bridget and St. Patrick, Irish missionaries and scholars abroad, and life and culture in ancient and medieval Ireland. He also investigates more recent events and names in Irish history, such as Oliver Cromwell, "The Wild Geese," Wolfe Tone, Daniel O'Connell, the Fenians, the Famine, Charles Stewart Parnell, and the Land League. From its earliest days to the Easter Rising, MacManus provides an entertaining and enlightening look at one of the most fascinating cultures we know.

This volume has been produced to mark the retirement of Roy Foster from the Carroll Professorship of Irish history at the University of Oxford, and to mark his extraordinary career as a historian, literary critic, and public intellectual. It consists of twenty three essays contributed by many of the leading historians of modern Ireland, including scholars whose work has influenced Roy Foster's own research, leading Irish historians who have influenced and have been influenced by Foster, and younger scholars who were supervised and/or mentored by Roy and whose work he greatly admires. Essays chart Foster's career while reflecting on developments in the field of Irish history writing, teaching, and research since the 1970s. Focussing on the history of Ireland since 1800, these essays cover a wide spectrum of topics and ideas including aspects of the Irish land question, generational and intellectual tensions, political biography, and social and cultural change.

The full history of St. Patrick's day is captured here for the first time in The Wearing of the Green. Illustrated with photos, the book spans the medieval origins, steeped in folklore and myth, through its turbulent and troubled times when it acted as fuel for fierce political argument, and tells the fascinating story of how the celebration of 17th March was transformed from a stuffy dinner for Ireland's elite to one of the world's most public festivals. Looking at more general Irish traditions and Irish communities throughout the world, Mike Cronin and Daryl Adairnbsp;follow the history of this widely celebrated event,nbsp;examining how the day has been exploited both politically and commercially, and they explore the shared heritage of the Irish through the development of this unique patriotic holiday. Highly informative for students of history, cultural studies and sociology, and an absolute delight for anyone interested in the fascinating and unique culture of Ireland.

After all the green beer has been poured and the ubiquitous shamrocks fade away, what does it mean to be Irish American besides St. Patrick’s Day? Who’s Your Paddy traces the evolution of “Irish” as a race-based identity in the U.S. from the 19th century to the present day. Exploring how the Irish have been and continue to be socialized around race, Jennifer Nugent Duffy argues that Irish identity must be understood within the context of generational tensions between different waves of Irish immigrants as well as the Irish community’s interaction with other racial minorities. Using historic and ethnographic research, Duffy sifts through the many racial, class, and gendered dimensions of Irish-American identity by examining three distinct Irish cohorts in Greater New York: assimilated descendants of nineteenth-century immigrants; “white flighters” who immigrated to postwar America and fled places like the Bronx for white suburbs like Yonkers in the 1960s and 1970s; and the newer, largely undocumented migrants who began to arrive in the 1990s. What results is a portrait of Irishness as a dynamic, complex force in the history of American racial consciousness, pertinent not only to contemporary immigration debates but also to the larger questions of what it means to belong, what it means to be American.