Irish literature's roots have been traced to the 7th-9th century. This is a rich and hardy literature starting with descriptions of the brave deeds of kings, saints and other heroes. These were followed by generous veins of religious, historical, genealogical, scientific and other works. The development of prose, poetry and drama raced along with the times. Modern, well-known Irish writers include: William Yeats, James Joyce, Sean Casey, George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, John Synge and Samuel Beckett.

In The Wild Irish Girl, the powerful Irish heroine's marriage to a heroic Englishman symbolizes the Anglo-Irish novelist Lady Morgan's re-imagining of the relationship between Ireland and Britain and between men and women. Using this most influential of pro-union novels as his point of departure, the author argues that nineteenth-century debates over what constitutes British national identity often revolved around representations of Irishness, especially Irish womanhood. He maps out the genealogy of this development, from Edgeworth's Castle Rackrent through Trollope's Irish novels, focusing on the pivotal period from 1806 through the 1870s. The author's model enables him to elaborate the ways in which gender ideals are specifically contested in fiction, the discourses of political debate and social reform, and the popular press, for the purpose of defining not only the place of the Irish in the union with Great Britain, but the nature of Britishness itself.

A New History of Ireland is the largest scholarly project in modern Irish history. In 9 volumes, it provides a comprehensive new synthesis of modern scholarship on every aspect of Irish history and prehistory, from the earliest geological and archaeological evidence, through the Middle Ages, down to the present day. Volume VI opens with a character study of the period, followed by ten chapters of narrative history, and a study of Ireland in 1914. It includes further chapters on the economy, literature, the Irish language, music, arts, education, administration and the public service, and emigration.

Provides empirical data on language use in Ireland in the private, official and public spheres, and also examines the use of Irish English as a reflection of socio-cultural norms of interaction. This volume is a book-length treatment of the pragmatics of a national variety of English, or any other language.

The works of many Anglo-Irish writers are familiar to us. English literature has often been dominated by Irish writers who wrote in English. In this highly entertaining and informative book, Professor Jeffares surveys the whole range of one of the richest literary traditions from its beginnings in the Middle Ages to the modern period. The earlier writing is discussed chronologically, but the great wealth of writing in the last century is discussed in genres: poetry, fiction and drama. The writers are set in their social and political context. Not only are the works of major writers from Swift to Beckett surveyed, but the work of minor and neglected writers such as Charled Maturin, Lady Morgan and Emily Lawless, is bought to the fore. This is a book to help students to a great understanding of the subject. To this end a chronological table, bibliographies and photographs have been included. It is also a book for all those who have enjoyed reading the poems of Yeats, the plays of Shaw or the novels of Joyce.