Representing the interests of Irish writers
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Representing the interests of Irish writers
~ a brief history
The earliest recorded Irish Gaelic was found in 4th Century inscriptions cut into wood and stone, with 6th Century manuscripts preserving Ireland’s rich folklore, making Irish literature one of the oldest traditions, behind only that of Greek and Latin literature. Among the earliest preserved poems is Amra Choluim Chille “Elegy of St. Columba” (c.597) by Dallán Fórgaill.
This tradition of verse sagas and prose continued throughout the 9th, 10th and 11th Centuries, preserving Ireland’s legends for posterity, such as Fianna bátar in Emain “The Warriors Who Were In Emain” by Cináed ua Artacáin, and Dinnsheanchas “Lore Of Places” said to be written by Amhairgin mac Amhalgaidh in the 6th Century. Leabhar na h-Uidhri “The Book Of The Dun Cow” was compiled by monks in c.1100 and supposedly written on the vellum taken from St. Ciarán’s famous cow.
The advent of the printing press at the end of the 15th Century opened new literary horizons throughout Europe, but a changing political landscape saw the demise of Gaelic. Ireland continued to earn worldwide respect for its great literary tradition, but through English-language writers often writing in exile, such as James Joyce, Edmund Burke, Jonathan Swift, Oliver Goldsmith, Maria Edgeworth, Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw.
It was not until the 19th Century that a revival of Gaelic literature occurred and the Irish-language authors of the 20th Century took their work to the rest of the world, Máire Mhac an tSaoi, Patrick Pearse, Liam O’Flaherty, Pádraic Ó Conaire, Máirtín Ó Cadhain, Máirtín Ó Direáin and Seán Ó Riordáin earning international acclaim for Irish-language poetry and literature.
Writers of renown to emerge from Northern Ireland include Seamus Heaney, C. S. Lewis, Louis MacNeice, Flann O’Brien, Brian Moore, Bernard MacLaverty, Brian Ó Nualláin, Robert Greacen, Bob Shaw and Brian Friel. This fine tradition is continued through the latest works of Jennifer Johnston, Michael Longley, Glenn Patterson, Ian McDonald and Maggie O’Farrell, to name but a few.
John Banville
Critically acclaimed, Booker Prize-winning Banville was born in Wexford in 1945. His 18 novels, short story collections, plays and non-fiction also include work written under his pseudonym, Benjamin Black. His most celebrated book is The Sea, as well as The Book of Evidence and its sequel, Ghosts.
Samuel Beckett
Beckett is best-known for his plays, but he also wrote many poems and novels. He spent most of his adult life in Paris and wrote in both English and French, joining the French Resistance in 1940 and receiving two medals for his bravery. Born in Dublin in 1906, he died in Paris in 1989 and his great legacy remains the masterpiece Waiting for Godot, a two-act play, which first opened in 1953 and is still regularly performed today.
Maeve Binchy
Binchy is loved around the world and her numerous bestsellers include Circle of Friends and Tara Road. Born in Dublin in 1939, she died in 2012, and despite her Dublin roots, many of her novels depict rural and small-town Ireland. In a career spanning 50 years, she has written 16 novels and four collections of short stories, her work translated into 37 languages.
Eilís Dillon
Dillon (1920-1994) was born in Galway and before her career as a writer, with 50 books to her credit, she had been a professional cellist. Writing for adults and children, she earned an international reputation for both, but is best-loved for her children’s adventure books.
Roddy Doyle
Doyle is another Dubliner whose novels encapsulate the sense of humour and heart of the city’s inhabitants. Born in 1958, he has always lived and worked in Dublin and his most popular novels form the “Barrytown Trilogy” – The Commitments, the Van and The Snapper. His children’s books are just as successful and he runs a creative writing centre for children, young adults, and adults with special needs.
Jennifer Johnston
One of Ireland’s foremost contemporary novelists, Johnston was born in Dublin in 1930 and her first novel was published in 1972, winning The Evening Standard Best First Novel Award for The Captain And The Kings. She has since published 18 novels, The Old Jest earning the Whitbread Prize, and in 2012 she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Irish Book Awards.
James Joyce
Born in Dublin in 1882, Joyce is regarded as one of the most significant writers in the world. His best-known work is Ulysses, which revolutionised modern fiction through its complex style and passages reflecting streams of consciousness. His collection of short stories in Dubliners provided an insight into every level of Dublin life. Joyce later travelled and lived in Trieste, Paris and Zurich, where he died from a perforated ulcer at the age of 58. June 16th each year is marked by Bloomsday, when Ulysses is commemorated internationally.
Molly Keane
Also known as M.J. Ferrell, Keane (1904-1996) wrote under both names to avoid gender discrimination. She was well known for her witty but critical depiction of the Big House families in Ireland, and her novel Good Behaviour was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 1986.
C.S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis was born in Belfast in 1898, before moving to England at the age of ten. His perennial children’s classic, The Chronicles of Narnia, continues to be much-loved and to date the series of seven novels has sold over 100 million copies in 41 different languages. He was proud of his Irish identity, which he wrote of in Surprised By Joy, and died in 1963.
Dame Iris Murdoch
Winner of the Booker Prize, Dublin-born Murdoch, 1919-1999, produced 26 novels, six plays, two volumes of poetry and a radio opera, and throughout her work her passion for Ireland and her Irish identity is strong. Her only short story was the acclaimed Something Special and she is best known for the novels The Unicorn and The Red And The Green.
Nuala Ní Chonchúir
Writing in both English and Gaelic, Ní Chonchúir was born in Dublin in 1970 and her work includes poetry, short stories and novels. Her semi-autobiographical novel The Closet of Savage Mementoes was an Irish Times Book Club choice and her versatility extends to new mediums, her chapbook Of Dublin And Other Fictions highly-acclaimed.
Edna O’Brien
O’Brien was born in County Clare in 1930 and is regarded as one of the most gifted writers. Her novel The Country Girls was in recent years chosen as Dublin’s “One City, One Book”, but on publication was banned, burned and denounced because of its frankness on sexual and social issues. O’Brien’s craft alone ensures her place in literary history, but she must be saluted for bravely paving the way for contemporary fiction.
Kate O’Brien
Kate O’Brien was born in Limerick in 1897 and her early influences are reflected in The Land Of Spices. She also lived in Spain, which is captured in some of her other novels. Critical of the Irish Censorship Act, many of her novels were banned in Ireland. She died in 1974.
Bram Stoker
Abraham “Bram” Stoker, born in Dublin in 1847, is best known for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula, but also wrote The Lady Of The Shroud and The Lair Of The White Worm, among other works. He was a respected theatre critic in Dublin and later became the personal assistant to actor Sir Henry Irving and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London. He died in 1912.
Jonathan Swift
Swift, born in Dublin in 1667, is famed for Gulliver’s Travels. Regarded still as a children’s classic, the satire reflects Swift’s political views and parodies popular literature of his day. He became Dean of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin and died of a stroke at the age of 75. The large fortune he left behind was used to found a hospital for the mentally ill.
Oscar Wilde
Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854 and was noted for his wit and flamboyance. He enjoyed early success with his satirical plays, The Importance Of Being Ernest his best-loved and still as popular today. His novels included enjoyable children’s classics alongside the chilling The Picture Of Dorian Gray. Notoriously imprisoned for homosexual activities, he lived in Paris upon his release and died in poverty at the age of 46.
W.B Yeats
Born in Dublin in 1865, William Butler Yeats spearheaded the Irish literary revival of the 1800s and was a founder of the Abbey Theatre, as well as becoming, in 1923, the first Irish person to be awarded a Nobel Prize for literature. In his later years he served two terms as a Senator of the Irish Free State. His poetry remains part of the National Curriculum in schools and his best-loved poems reflect his love of Sligo, known now as Yeats Country, typified by Lake Isle Of Innisfree. Yeats died in 1939.
The Irish Writers Union represents the interests of Irish writers, whether they were born in Ireland or elsewhere.
