Irish Literature

I

Introduction

Irish Literature, literature written either in Gaelic (see Celtic Languages) or in English by writers of Irish birth who remain identified with Irish life and culture. For discussions of the work of those Irish-born writers in English who are closely identified with English life and literature—such as Jonathan Swift, Oliver Goldsmith, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, and James Joyce—see Drama and Dramatic Arts: Western Theatre; English Literature; and articles under the names of individual writers. For a discussion of Irish literature in Gaelic, see Gaelic Literature.

II

18th- and 19th-Century Irish Literature in English

The beginnings of Irish literature in the English language coincided with a decline in the use of written and spoken Gaelic, which began about the end of the 18th century.

A

Early Irish-English Literature

The earliest Irish-English literature was of two types: the pastoral, patriotic, convivial, and humorous verse written by anonymous poets of the people and including such well-known examples as “The Wearin' O' the Green” (1798), “The Boyne Water”, and “Irish Molly O”; and sophisticated verse written by known poets. The principal writers of the latter type of poetry were Thomas Moore, the author of Irish Melodies (10 parts, 1807-1834) and National Airs (1815); Gerald Griffin, the author of “Aileen Aroon” and many other poems; and Francis Sylvester Mahony, better known as Father Prout, the author of the famous “Bells of Shandon”. Two writers who were better known as novelists (see below), Charles James Lever and Samuel Lover, wrote the verses for two of the best-known Irish comic songs, “The Widow Malone” and “The Widow Machree”, respectively.

B

19th-Century Literature

From about the middle to the end of the 19th century, the work of patriotic and lyric poets dominated Irish poetry written in English. Seriocomic novels, often caricaturing Irish life and character, were also a popular form of 19th-century Irish literature.