Irish Writing

An Anthology of Irish Literature in English 1789-1939

Edited by Stephen Regan

Oxford World's Classics

A unique anthology covering 150 years of Irish writing in English across a wide range of literary genres, of which Paul Muldoon says: 'Stephen Regan's anthology vividly and valiantly presents a nation, and a national literature, coming into being.'
The best-value single-volume anthology of Irish writing, featuring essays, speeches, and memoirs as well as fiction, poems, plays, and stories.
The anthology charts the emergence of a distinctive Irish literature in which Irish writers forged a tradition of their own using the English language for their own purposes.
The introduction offers a clear account of the growth of an Irish national literature between 1789 and 1939. It explores the concept of cultural nationalism and the distinctive features of Irish literature written in English. It highlights the concern of Irish writers with questions of national destiny and identity.
The notes offer guidance on cultural, historical, and political issues.
Writers' biographies provide a wealth of additional information, and a chronology provides a useful summary of key dates and events in Irish history.
Includes three plays in their entirety and the opening episode of Ulysses, material rarely anthologized.

Irish Writing

An Anthology of Irish Literature in English 1789-1939

Edited by Stephen Regan

Description

'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. Yeats

This 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

ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Irish Writing

An Anthology of Irish Literature in English 1789-1939

Edited by Stephen Regan

Oxford World's Classics

Author Information

Edited by Stephen Regan, Lecturer in English, Royal Holloway, University of London

Contributors:

Charlotte Brooke,Edmund Burke, Wolfe Tone, Robert Emmet, Daniel O'Connell, James Fintain Lalor, Le Chevalier de la Tocnaye, John Gamble, William Carleton, Thomas Davis, Maria Edgeworth, Sydney Owenson (Lady Morgan), Charles Maturin, Sheridan Le Fanu, Emily Lawless, Antoine Rafferty, Thomas Moore, Thomas Furlong, James Clarence Mangan, Francis Mahony, Samuel Ferguson, Thomas Davis, Aubrey Thomas de Vere, John Kells Ingram, William Allingham, Popular Songs and Ballads, George Moore, Thomas MacDonagh, Maud Gonne, Patrick Pearse, James Connolly, James Stephens, Constance Markiewicz, Roger Casement, John O'Leary, J. M. Synge, Earnan O'Malley, Somerville and Ross, Bram Stoker, James Joyce, Elizabeth Bowen, Samuel Beckett, Flann O'Brien, Liam O'Flaherty, Frank O'Connor, Sean O'Faolain, Elizabeth Connor, Augusta Gregory, Oscar Wilde, Douglas Hyde, W. B. Yeats, Ethna Carbery, Lionel Johnson, George Russell, Eva Gore-Booth, Oliver St John Gogarty, Thomas MacDonagh, Joseph Campbell, Seamus O'Sullivan, Padraic Pearse, Padraic Colum, Francis Ledwidge, Austin Clarke, F. R. Higgins, Patrick Kavanagh, John Hewitt, Louis MacNeice, Sean O'Casey

Irish Writing

An Anthology of Irish Literature in English 1789-1939

Edited by Stephen Regan

Oxford World's Classics

Reviews and Awards

"a lucid and informative introduction...the extracts are cleverly chosen" - P.J. Matthews, Irish Times (Dublin)

Irish Writing

An Anthology of Irish Literature in English 1789-1939

Edited by Stephen Regan

Oxford World's Classics

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Elizabeth Bowen in European modernism and the awakening of Irish consciousness

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