Irish Literature: Home

Gathered by the renowned Irish poet, playwright, and essayist William Butler Yeats, the sixty-five tales and poems in this delightful collection uniquely capture the rich heritage of the Celtic imagination.

A team of international contributors examine Yeats's poetry, drama and prose in their historical and national contexts. The essays explain and synthesise major aspects and themes of his life and work: his lifelong engagement with Ireland, his complicated relationship to the English literary tradition, his literary, social, and political criticism and the evolution of his complex spiritual and religious sense.

Coverage of this title includes: all of Yeats' important poems, as well as all his volumes of poetry; all his plays and important drama-related topics, including Dublin's Abbey Theatre, which he helped establish; his critical and other nonfiction writing, including his famous autobiographiesImportant themes in his work; friends and literary influences, including Maud Gonne and James JoyceAppendixes, including a chronology, bibliographies of primary and secondary sources; and, more.

A collection of critical articles and essays of Yeat's works originally published between 1958 and 1983.

This Companion gives an up-to-date overview of Heaney's career thus far, and of his reception in Ireland, England and around the world. Its distinguished contributors offer detailed readings of all his major publications, in poetry, prose and translation. The essays further explore the central themes of his poetry, his relations with other writers, and his prose writing.

Profiles the work of Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney and discusses how his writing changed throughout his career, how his work was influenced by his family heritage, and how his poems often addressed specific themes and ideas.

Monologues, scenes, and critical context from 20th century Irish drama.

A collection of 19 essays that critically examine the works of James Joyce.

Nineteen critical essays on the Irish writer and his works.

Re-reading the whole span of Flann O'Brien's work, this study reintroduces O'Brien as a figure more relevant than ever to contemporary debates in Modernism and Irish studies.

Coverage includes: a biography of Joyce; synopses and critical discussions of all Joyce's published work; profiles of significant members of Joyce's family and social circle; discussions of intellectual and literary influences on Joyce; and accounts of censorship and legal battles. Additional material includes: a working outline of Finnegans Wake; and the Ulysses schema.

This reference offers a broad overview of the elements that constitute and characterize Celtic mythology and folklore. Approximately 1000 entries cover such topics as mythic figures; heroic figures; narrative and epic cycles; sacred places and objects; and theories and controversies.

From the beginning of his literary career, James Joyce was the most distinctive figure in the renaissance that occurred in Irish cultural life after the death of Charles Stewart Parnell.

In this book, Aidan Doyle traces the history of the Irish language from the time of the Norman invasion at the end of the 12th century to independence in 1922, combining political, cultural, and linguistic history.

The Book of Kells is a masterpiece of medieval art—a brilliantly decorated version of the four Gospels with full-page depictions of Christ, the Virgin and the Evangelists as well as a wealth of smaller decorative painting. This edition reproduces the most important of the fully decorated pages plus a series of enlargements showing the almost unbelievable minuteness of the detail; spiral and interlaced patterns, human and animal ornament—a combination of high seriousness and humor.

Draws upon archaeological evidence to paint a picture of the Celts in ancient Europe, discussing their social and religious systems, art, language, and law.

Written by one of the most brilliant and provocative historians at work today, The Isles is a revolutionary narrative history that takes a new perspective on the development of Britain and Ireland, looking at them not as self-contained islands, but as an inextricable part of Europe.

In this entertaining and compelling narrative, Thomas Cahill tells the story of how Europe evolved from the classical age of Rome to the medieval era. Without Ireland, the transition could not have taken place.

First published over forty years ago and now updated to cover the Celtic Tiger economic boom of the 2000s and subsequent worldwide recession, this new edition of a perennial bestseller interprets Irish history as a whole. Designed and written to be popular and authoritative, critical and balanced, it has been a core text in both Irish and American universities for decades.

Discusses the events that have shaped the history of Ireland, covering its proximity to Great Britain and the resulting confrontation between the two cultures as Ireland tried to maintain their separate ethnic identity during political, economic, and social developments.

This engaging book traces the history, archaeology, and legends of ancient Ireland from 9000 B.C., when nomadic hunter-gatherers appeared in Ireland at the end of the last Ice Age to 1167 A.D., when a Norman invasion brought the country under control of the English crown for the first time.

This series examines the key consequences of arbitrary border making in world history - past and present. These studies describe arbitrary borders as places where people interact differently from the way they would had the boundary not existed.

In this cogent and balanced history, Holland unravels the complex and often misunderstood story of "the troubles," offering an insightful look at the past, a thorough vision of the present, and a glimpse of what the future may hold.

With over 1,800 entries, this acclaimed Companion offers a comprehensive and authoritative guide to all aspects of Ireland's past, from earliest times to the present day.

This is an account of the Great Irish Potato Famine of the late 1840s, a famine which resulted in the death of about one million people and was also largely responsible, in conjunction with British government policies, for one of the great international human migrations of British history--the mass exodus of some two million people from Ireland, mostly to North America, in the years 1845-1855. This book combines narrative, analysis, historiography, and scores of contemporary illustrations. This work aims to provide an insight into the misery of the famine and the nightmare of mass evictions that followed.

Read about the life of Brian Boru and the battle that changed the course of Irish history in this exciting and accessible account.

Ireland, from the ""European Nations"" series, is a useful reference guide for any student interested in the modern history of Ireland. This new volume provides a wealth of information on the people, places, events, and issues that are crucial to the study of Irish history, as well as a chronology of Irish history from the 16th century to the present and a general narrative of Irish history in the same time frame.