Irish literature

For a comparatively small country, Ireland has made a disproportionate contribution to world literature in all its branches. The works that are best known outside the country are in English, but Irish Gaelic also has the most significant body of written literature, both ancient and recent, in any Celtic language, in addition to a strong oral tradition of legends and poetry. See also the main article on modern literature in Irish.

Poetry

Irish poetry has a long and complex history. The Irish language has the oldest vernacular literature and poetry in that language represents a more or less unbroken tradition from the 6th century to the present day. However, since at least the 14th century, poetry in English has also been written in Ireland and by Irish writers abroad.

Related Topics:
Irish poetry - Irish language

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During the late middle ages, the breakdown of the old Gaelic order that had supported the old professional bards broke down, and Irish language poetry started to become marginalised and by the 19th century had entered the realms of folk art.

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The 18th century witnessed both a late flowering of bardic poetry and song and the first major Irish poets in English, Jonathan Swift and Oliver Goldsmith.

Related Topics:
Jonathan Swift - Oliver Goldsmith

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In the 19th century, Irish poets writing in English set out to reinvent the Gaelic tradition in the new language, frequently translating bardic and other early Irish poets and retelling stories from Celtic mythology in Victorian verse. This trend resulted in the early work of W. B. Yeats.

Related Topics:
Celtic mythology - Victorian - W. B. Yeats

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At the beginning of the 20th century, Yeats' style changed under the influence of his contact with modernism. The generation of Irish poets that followed Yeats were, to simplify, divided between those who were influenced by his early Celtic style and those who followed such modernist figures as James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, both of whom wrote poetry as well as their better known fiction and drama.

Related Topics:
Modernism - James Joyce - Samuel Beckett

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During the course of the 20th century, the influence of Yeats has tended to dominate, either as role model or as someone to rebel against. However, this period also saw the emergence of such significant figures as Patrick Kavanagh, Seamus Heaney and Brian Coffey. This period also saw a revival of poetry in Irish, at least partly as a result of government policy decisions in support of the language.

Related Topics:
Patrick Kavanagh - Seamus Heaney - Brian Coffey

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