Jonathan Swift — the first Irish novelist of note

Although the epics of Celtic Ireland were written in prose and not verse, most people would probably consider that Irish fiction proper begins in the 18th century. However, there are aspects of Early Irish prose that appear to have had some influence on the Irish novel: the use of exaggeration for humorous effect, a near obsession with lists, and a strong sense of satire. This article is concerned with the history of Irish fiction written in English. For Irish fiction written in Irish, see Modern literature in Irish. For a general overview of Irish writing in all genres, see Irish literature. Dean Jonathan Swift This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which exposes the follies of its subject (for example, individuals, organizations, or states) to ridicule, often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Although Irish has been used as a literary language for more than a thousand years (see Irish literature), and in a form intelligible to contemporary speakers since at least the sixteenth century, modern Irish literature is thought to begin with the revival movement. ... For a comparatively small country, Ireland has made a disproportionate contribution to world literature in all its branches. ...

The 18th Century

Laurence Sterne Laurence Sterne Portrait Public Domain Downloaded from http://www. ...

Irish fiction can be said to begin with the publication in 1726 of Jonathan Swift's masterpiece Gulliver's Travels. This novel, often treated as a book for children, is one of the most savage satires in the English language and set the highest possible standard for Irish writers to come. Events George Friderich Handel becomes a British subject. ... Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (November 30, 1667 – October 19, 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer who is famous for works like Gullivers Travels, A Modest Proposal, and A Tale of a Tub. ... Gulliver Gullivers Travels (1726, amended 1735) is a novel by Jonathan Swift that is both a satire on human nature and a parody of the travellers tales literary sub-genre. ...

The next Irish novelist of importance was Laurence Sterne (1713-1768). Stern was born in Clonmel, County Tipperary and was in his mid-forties when he published The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentlemen (1759-1767). This satire on the biographical novel is one of the most innovative and influential novels in English, and its foregrounding of the authorial voice and playful refusal to accept a conventional linear timeframe mark it out as a precursor of such modernist novelists as James Joyce and Samuel Beckett. Laurence Sterne Laurence Sterne (November 24, 1713 – March 18, 1768) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and clergyman. ... // Events April 11 - War of the Spanish Succession: Treaty of Utrecht June 23 - French residents of Acadia given one year to declare allegiance to Britain or leave Nova Scotia Canada first Orrery built by George Graham Ongoing events Great Northern War (1700-1721) War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713... 1768 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Clonmel (Cluain Meala in Irish) is a medium-sized town situated in south County Tipperary, Ireland. ... County Tipperary (Tiobraid Árann in Irish) is a traditional county in the Republic of Ireland, in the province of Munster. ... 1759 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1767 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... This article focuses on the cultural movement labeled modernism or the modern movement. See also: Modernism (Roman Catholicism) or Modernist Christianity; Modernismo for specific art movement(s) in Spain and Catalonia. ... James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an expatriate Irish writer and poet, widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. ... Samuel Barclay Beckett (April 13, 1906 – December 22, 1989) was an Irish playwright, novelist and poet. ...

Oliver Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield (1766) is a moral tale based on the story of Goldsmith's own family. It is notable for rejecting the florid style of most fiction of the day in favour of a more direct, conversational mode. Although not particularly successful when published, it has become one of the most enduring works of 18th century fiction in English. Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (November 10, 1730(?) – April 4, 1774) was an Irish writer and physician known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), his pastoral poem The Deserted Village (1770) (written in memory of his brother), and his plays The Good-naturd Man (1768) and She Stoops... 1766 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

The 19th century

The 19th century was a golden age of fiction in English, and Irish writers were to participate fully. Although born in Oxford, Maria Edgeworth (1767 - 1849) spent most of her life in Ireland and wrote what is generally considered the first novel on an Irish theme, Castle Rackrent (1800). This story of landlords and tenants on an Irish estate, and of the abuse of the latter by the former, was criticised at the time for its characters' apparent lack of religious feeling or scruples, but can be seen as a reasonably accurate representation of life on a great estate at the turn of the century, drawing, as it does, on the author's own experience of managing her father's estate. She wrote a number of other novels, the most interesting being Ormond (1817). Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ... Maria Edgeworth (January 1, 1767-May 22, 1849) was an Irish novelist. ... 1767 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1849 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Castle Rackrent is a novel by Maria Edgeworth, published in 1800. ... 1800 (MDCCC) was an common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1817 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

Lady Morgan (Sidney Owenson) (1776(?)-1859) was also a prolific writer but her most successful work was her third novel, The Wild Irish Girl (1806), which can be read as a direct response to Castle Rackrent. Morgan's novel, however, is much more explicitly political, displaying clear Jacobin feminist politics. She emphasizes the legacy of the 1798 rebellion in Ireland and uses the novel to promote an Irish view of Irish history and prehistory. Lady Morgan (Sydney Owenson) (1780? - 1859) was an Irish novelist. ... 1859 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... 1806 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

Some of the early novels of Charles Robert Maturin (1782-1824) covered ground similar to that covered by Edgeworth. However, he is now best remembered for Melmoth the Wanderer (1820). This is a Faustian tale of a man, Melmoth, who sells his soul to the devil and then wanders round Europe trying to find someone to take on his satanic bargain for him. It is told through the accounts of those he approaches to help him. The book brought a whole new dimension to the Gothic novel and is considered a cult masterpiece. Charles Robert Maturin, also known as Charles Maturin or C.R. Maturin, was an Irish Protestant clergyman (ordained by the Church of Ireland) and a writer of gothic plays and novels. ... 1782 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1824 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Faust (Latin Faustus) is the protagonist of a popular German tale of a pact with the Devil, assumed to be based on the figure of the German magician and alchemist Dr. Johann Georg Faust (approximately 1480-1540). ... Strawberry Hill, an English villa in the Gothic revival style, built by seminal Gothic writer Horace Walpole The gothic novel is a literary genre that belongs to Romanticism and began in Britain with The Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole. ...

William Carleton (1794-1869) came from a large family and his father was a poor tenant farmer. Carleton was educated at hedge schools and spent much of his youth surrounded by extreme poverty. His Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry, which made him an extremely popular author, showed life on the other side of the social divide from the many 19th century Irish novels written by members of the landlord class. 1794 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1869 (MDCCCLXIX) is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ...

John Banim (1798-1842) was born in Kilkenny into a prosperous farming family. He studied art in Dublin and then returned home to work as an art teacher. In 1820, after recovering from tuberculosis, he went back to Dublin to pursue a career in writing. He wrote plays and poetry, but is best remembered for his novels, many of them written in collaboration with his brother Michael Banim (1796-1874). Their major works in fiction were the twenty-four volumes of The Tales of the O'Hara Family. One of these, The Nowlans is among the finest of all 19th century novels. The first Catholic Irish novelists of any note, the Banims wrote the first realistic fictional portraits of the Irish peasants and their novels spare no details of the sufferings endured by their people at the time of the Penal Laws. John Banim (April 3, 1798 ? August 30, 1842), Irish novelist, sometimes called the Scott of Ireland, was born at Kilkenny. ... 1798 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Kilkenny (Irish: Cill Chainnigh) is the county seat of County Kilkenny, Ireland, with a population (including environs) of 20,735. ... Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Ireland, located near the midpoint of Irelands east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region. ... 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Tuberculosis (commonly shortened to TB) is an infection caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects the lungs (pulmonary TB) but can also affect the central nervous system (meningitis), lymphatic system, circulatory system (Miliary tuberculosis), genitourinary system, bones and joints. ... Michael Banim (1796-1874) was John Banims brother. ... 1796 was a leap year starting on Friday. ... 1874 (MDCCCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... In the most general sense, penal is the body of laws that are enforced by the State in its own name and impose penalties for their violation, as opposed to civil law that seeks to redress private wrongs. ...

Gerald Griffin (1803–1840) was born in Limerick. Like his friend John Banim, Griffin wrote poetry and plays, and like so many other Irish dramatists he moved to London in search of success. However, his reputation rests on The Collegians (1989), a novel he wrote after returning to Ireland. The Collegians is based on a real life court case in which Daniel O'Connell acted for the defence. Gerald Griffin (December 12, 1803 - June 12, 1840) was an Irish dramatist, novelist and poet. ... 1803 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article is about the city in Ireland. ... Oscar Wilde remains one of Irelands best-known playwrights The history of Irish theatre begins with the rise of the English administration in Dublin at the start of the 17th century. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Daniel OConnell Daniel OConnell (August 6, 1775 – May 15, 1847), known as The Liberator or The Emancipator, was Irelands predominant politician in the first half of the nineteenth century. ...

Charles Kickham (1828-1882) was born in County Tipperary. At the age of thirteen, he was involved in a gunpowder accident, permanently injuring his sight and hearing. A Young Irelander, he was arrested in 1865 for writing 'treasonous' articles and sentenced to fourteen years penal servitude. He started writing novels in prison and his Knocknagown; or The Homes of Tipperary (1879) was the most popular Irish novel of the 19th century. 1828 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... County Tipperary (Tiobraid Árann in Irish) is a traditional county in the Republic of Ireland, in the province of Munster. ... Penal labour is a form of the unfree labour. ... 1879 (MDCCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

Edith Somerville (1858-1949) and her cousin, Violet Florence Martin (1862-1915) published their first novel, An Irish Cousin in 1889 under the names of Somerville and Ross. They went on to enjoy enormous popularity with books like The Irish R.M. and The Real Charlotte, a novel of the first rank. Following in the footsteps of Maria Edgeworth and Lady Morgan, they popularised big house novels as an Irish genre. 1858 (MDCCCLVIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) is a common year starting on Saturday. ... 1862 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Somerville and Ross refers to Edith Somerville and Violet Florence Martin, the latter writing under the name of Martin Ross. ... A genre is a division of a particular form of art according to criteria particular to that form. ...

Bram Stoker (1847 -1912) was born in Dublin and studied Maths at Trinity College. Although he wrote some 18 books, he is best known as the author of Dracula. Abraham Bram Stoker (November 8, 1847–April 20, 1912) was an Irish writer, best remembered as the author of the influential horror novel Dracula. ... 1847 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... It has been suggested that University of Dublin be merged into this article or section. ... Bela Lugosi as Dracula; U.S. postage stamp first issued in 1997 as part of a series celebrating Famous Movie Monsters Dracula (1897) is a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, and the name of the worlds most famous vampire character. ...

By the 1880s, the main outline of the Irish novel had been drawn up. Typically, the best novels of the 19th century addressed the 'national question' via the relationship between landlord and tenant and was written either by a member of the landlord class who used fiction to call for an improved relationship based on mutual respect, or by a member of the Catholic middle class who was sympathetic to the tenants. This situation may be seen as not untypical of colonial literature, the colonists attempt to absorb the colonised into a unified world picture while the colonised attempt to promote a sense of separate identity. This 19th century novel was soon to face two challenges, one from the emergence of modernism, the other from the collapse of colonial rule and the emergence of the Irish Free State. Modernism is a cultural movement that generally includes the progressive art and architecture, music, literature and design which emerged in the decades before 1914. ... The Irish Free State (Irish: Saorstát Éireann) was (1922–1937) the name of the state comprising the 26 of Irelands 32 counties which were separated from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Irish Free State Agreement (or Anglo-Irish Treaty) signed by British and...

Into the Modern

George Moore (1852-1933) spent much of his early career in Paris and was one of the first writers to use the techniques of the French realist novelists in English. His novels were often controversial. A Drama in Muslin (1886) was banned from public libraries because it dealt with lesbianism. Esther Waters (1894), the book that finally established his reputation as a novelist in the tradition of Zola, had as its subject extramarital sex and illegitimacy, and The Brook Kerith (1916) imagined a Christ who did not die on the cross but who was nursed back to health and then travelled to India to study mysticism. Moore was involved in the setting up of the Abbey Theatre and wrote several volumes of memoirs. His short stories helped popularise the form among Irish authors and he can be seen as one of the precursors of the most famous Irish novelist of the 20th century, James Joyce. A portrait of George Moore by Édouard Manet George Augustus Moore (February 24, 1852 - January 21, 1933) was an Irish novelist, short story writer, poet, art critic, memoirist and dramatist. ... 1852 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ... This article is about homosexual women, not inhabitants of the Greek island of Lesbos A lesbian (lowercase L) is a homosexual woman. ... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Zola can refer to several things: Émile_Zola, the French novelist of the literary school of naturalism The alias of Bonginkosi Dlamini, a South African musician and actor The name of a ghetto in Soweto, South Africa Zola (Prix Jean Vigo 1955) a French movie by Jean Vidal Gianfranco Zola the... 1916 (MCMXVI) is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January-February January 1 - The Royal Army Medical Corps first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ... A poster for the opening run at the Abbey Theatre from 27 December, 1904 to 3 January, 1905. ... James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an expatriate Irish writer and poet, widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. ...

Joyce (1882-1941) is often regarded as the father of the literary genre "stream of consciousness" which is best exemplified in his famous work, Ulysses. Joyce also wrote Finnegan's Wake, Dubliners, and the semi-autobiographical A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Ulysses, often considered to be the greatest novel of the 20th century, is the story of a day in the life of a city, Dublin. Told in a dazzling array of styles, it was a landmark book in the development of literary modernism. If Ulysses is the story of a day, Finnegan's Wake is a night epic, partaking in the logic of dreams and written in an invented language something like English, it was a book without followers until the emergence of writers like William Burroughs in the 1950s and 1960s. 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ... A genre is a division of a particular form of art according to criteria particular to that form. ... In psychology and philosophy stream of consciousness, introduced by William James, is the set of constantly changing inner thoughts and sensations which an individual has while conscious, used as a synonym for stream of thought. ... The first edition of Ulysses was published in 1922. ... Finnegans Wake is a song, called a street ballad, that arose perhaps in the 1850s. ... Dubliners audio book cover Dubliners is a collection of short stories by James Joyce, published in 1914. ... An autobiography (from the Greek auton, self, bios, life and graphein, write) is a biography written by the subject or composed conjointly with a collaborative writer (styled as told to or with). The term dates from the late eighteenth century, but the form is much older. ... A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel by James Joyce, published in 1916. ... Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Ireland, located near the midpoint of Irelands east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region. ... William S. Burroughs. ... // Events and No. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ...

Joyce's high modernism had its influence on coming generations of Irish novelists, most notably Samuel Beckett (1906-1989), Brian O'Nolan (1912-1966), who published as both Flann O'Brien and Myles na Gopaleen, and Aidan Higgins (born 1927). Beckett, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969, is one of the great figures in 20th century world literature. Perhaps best known for his plays, he wrote many works of fiction and his trilogy Molly, Malone Dies and The Unnamable, written, like Waiting for Godot, in the period between 1947 and 1949, is perhaps the greatest of all second generation modernist fiction. This article focuses on the cultural movement labeled modernism or the modern movement. See also: Modernism (Roman Catholicism) or Modernist Christianity; Modernismo for specific art movement(s) in Spain and Catalonia. ... Samuel Barclay Beckett (April 13, 1906 – December 22, 1989) was an Irish playwright, novelist and poet. ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Flann OBrien was the best known pseudonym of Brian ONolan (October 5, 1911 - April 1, 1966), who also published under the name Myles na gCopaleen. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Myles na gCopaleen. ... Aidan Higgins (born March 3, 1927) is an Irish writer. ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Nobel Prize in literature is awarded annually to an author from any country who has produced the most outstanding work of an idealistic tendency. The work in this case generally refers to an authors work as a whole, not to any individual work, though individual works are sometimes... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ...

O'Nolan was bilingual and his fiction clearly shows the mark of the native tradition, particularly in the imaginative quality of his storytelling and the biting edge of his satire. These traits are especially evident in At Swim-Two-Birds (1939), which was highly praised by Joyce, and The Third Policeman, published in 1967, after his death. At Swim-Two-Birds is a novel by Irish novelist Flann OBrien (one pen-name of Brian ONolan) published in 1939. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Third Policeman is Flann OBriens second novel, written in 1939 and 1940 but not published until 1967, after the authors death. ...

Cathal Ó Sándair (1922-1996), one of the most prolific Irish language authors, produced over one hundred novels, many of them westerns featuring cowboys and gun fights. Born in Weston Super Mare, England to an English father and Irish mother. His first novel appeared in 1943 and featured Réics Carló, the most famous Irish language detective. Ó Sándair is reputed to have published 160 books and sold more than 500,000 copies. Biography Cathal Ó Sándair (1922-1996), one of the most prolific Irish language authors, produced over one hundred novels, many of them westerns featuring cowboys and gun fights. ...

The big house novel prospered into the 20th century, and Aidan Higgins' first novel Langrishe, Go Down is an experimental example of the genre. Higgins later fiction tended towards greater disjunction and experimentation. He has also published short stories and several volumes of memoirs.

More conventional exponents of the big house novel include Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973), whose novels include Encounters (1923), The Last September (1929), The Funny Bone (1928); and The Death of the Heart (1938) and Molly Keane (1904-1996) (writing as M.J. Farrell), author of Young Entry (1928), Conversation Piece (1932), Devoted Ladies (1934), Full House (1935), and The Loving Without Tears (1951)among others. Elizabeth Dorothea Cole Bowen (7 June 1899 – 22 February 1973) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and short story writer. ... 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1973 calendar). ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Molly Keane (1904 - 1996) was an Irish novelist, born in County Kildare. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ...

Francis Stuart (1902-2000) started his literary life as a protege of W. B. Yeats and married Isuelt, daughter of Maude Gonne. He published his first novel, Women and God in 1931. Stuart was a prolific novelist, but many of his books are now long out of print. He went to work in Germany in the late 1930s, and declined to leave with the outbreak of the Second World War. During the war, he broadcast anti-British talks on German radio. The controversy surrounding these actions was to stay with Stuart until his death. However, his finest and most enduring novel, Black List, Section H (1971), is a barely fictionalised account of those years. Francis Stuart (1902-2000) was a prolific Irish writer whose novels have a thrusting modernist iconoclasm. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... This article is about the year 2000. ... A 1907 engraving of Yeats. ... Maud Gonne MacBride (December 21, 1866 – April 27, 1953) was an English-born Irish revolutionary, feminist and actress, best remembered for her turbulent relationship with William Butler Yeats. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ...

With the rise of the Irish Free State and the Republic of Ireland, the terms of the 'national question' shifted. The issue of land ownership had been more or less resolved and the real question now was how to build a nation state. Inevitably, novelists from the so-called lower social classes began to dominate. Frequently, these authors wrote of the narrow, circumscribed lives of the lower-middle classes and small farmers. Exponents of this style range from Brinsley MacNamara (1890-1963) (real name John Weldon), whose 1918 The Valley of the Squinting Windows could be said to have created the genre, to John McGahern (born 1934), whose first novel, The Dark (1965), a portrayal of child abuse in a rural community, cost him his job as a teacher. The Irish Free State (Irish: Saorstát Éireann) was (1922–1937) the name of the state comprising the 26 of Irelands 32 counties which were separated from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Irish Free State Agreement (or Anglo-Irish Treaty) signed by British and... Brinsley MacNamara (1890 - 1963) - born John Weldon - was a writer born near Ireland. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Valley of the Squinting Windows was a novel by Brinsley MacNamara which was set in the village of Delvin, County Westmeath, Ireland. ... John McGahern (b. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ...

Brian Moore (1921-1999) was born in Belfast but became a citizen of Canada in 1953. He wrote a series of scrupulously written novels examining the Catholic conscience in the modern world. There have been several notable people called Brian Moore. ... 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Belfast (Béal Feirste in Irish) is a city in the United Kingdom. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) is a common year starting on Thursday. ...

The short story has also proven popular with Irish fiction writers. Well known short story writers include Frank O'Connor (1903-1966) and Sean O'Faolain (1900-1991). This article is in need of attention. ... (You might also be looking for actor Frank OConnor, husband of Ayn Rand. ... 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... Sean OFaolain ( the pseudonym of John Whelan) (February 22, 1900 - April 20, 1991) was an Irish short story author and writer. ... 1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Irish Fiction Now

Contemporary Irish fiction has moved to reflect the changes in the society that produces it. There are fewer novels set in the countryside and more urban fiction being written. The last few years has also seen a rise in the volume of popular fiction being published across a range of genres from romantic novels to hardboiled detective stories set in New York. Some notable names are Maeve Binchy, Seamus Deane, Roddy Doyle, Dermot Bolger, Colm Tóibín and Jennifer Johnston. There has also been an increasing emphasis on writing by women which found concrete expression in the founding of the Arlen House publishing venture. However, such is the amount of fiction being published that it is difficult to judge for the moment which are the books and authors that will stand the test of time. Maeve Binchy (born May 28, 1940, Dalkey, Ireland) is a popular Irish novelist and newspaper columnist. ... Born to a Catholic nationalist family in Londonderry, Northern Ireland in 1940, Seamus Deane is a poet, critic and novelist. ... Roddy Doyle (born May 1958 in Dublin) is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. ... Dermot Bolger (born 1959) is an Irish novelist, playwright and poet born in Finglas, a suburb of Dublin. ... Photograph by Perry Ogden Colm Tóibín (b. ... Jennifer Johnston (1930- ) is an Irish novelist. ...

See also

• List of people on stamps of Ireland

This is a list of people on the postage stamps of the Republic of Ireland, including the years when they appeared on a stamp. ...

External links

Web pages devoted to individual authors are too numerous to list here. These two sites give biographical and bibliographical information on most of the writers discussed in this article.

• The Princess Grace Irish Library
• Irish Writers Online

See also: Irish literature, List of Irish novelists, List of Irish short story writers, Irish poetry, Irish theatre, List of Irish poets For a comparatively small country, Ireland has made a disproportionate contribution to world literature in all its branches. ... This is a list of novelists either born in Ireland or holding Irish citizenship. ... This is a list of short story writers either born in Ireland or holding Irish citizenship. ... A 1907 engraving of William Butler Yeats, one of Irelands best-known poets. ... Oscar Wilde remains one of Irelands best-known playwrights The history of Irish theatre begins with the rise of the English administration in Dublin at the start of the 17th century. ... William Butler Yeats This is a list of poets either born in Ireland or holding Irish citizenship. ...