Lecture One: Presenting Ireland

Scope:
This lecture will introduce students to key facts regarding the geography and
history of Ireland, attempting to highlight the political, religious and
linguistic phenomena that had a shaping influence on Irelands cultural and
artistic life.
Outline
I. This course introduces you to Irish Studies:
A. Primarily, we shall study two key factors that shaped the development of AngloIrish
literature: Irelands !eltic heritage and its controversial relationship with "reat #ritain.
B. $e shall devote some attention to the following cultural components of Irelands !eltic
heritage: the stereotype of the !elt, druidism, "aelic myth, the "aelic language and its
impact on %i&erno'nglish.
C. (egarding Irelands relationship with "reat #ritain you will &e presented with a &rief
outline of the history of Irelands interrelationship with "reat #ritain and its chief socio
political outcomes: the &irth of a new ethnic group: the AngloIrish, the "reat )amine of
the *+,-s and its disastrous outcomes, the *.// Partition of Ireland into the Irish )ree
State and 0orthern Ireland 1which remained part of the 2.3.4 and the su&se5uent, and
still ongoing, conflict &etween its Protestant and !atholic population.
D. 6ast, &ut not least, we will study the writings of such prominent AngloIrish writers as
the poets: $illiam #utler 7eats and Seamus %eaney 8 the playwrights: "eorge #ernard
Shaw, 9ohn :illington Synge, Sean ;!asey and #rian )riel, the prosewriters:
9onathan Swift, :aria 'dgeworth, 9ames 9oyce and )lann ;#rien.
II. Irelands geographical position and political dividedness:
A. The third largest island in 'urope, Ireland lies &etween the Atlantic ;cean and the Irish
Sea. It is made up of four historical provinces: Leinster, Munster, Connacht and
Ulster.
B. Politically, Ireland is divided into: the (epu&lic of Ireland, with its capital <u&lin and
0orthern Ireland, a state within the 2nited 3ingdom.
C. The population of the island is appro=imately > million people 1/-->48 ,./ million in the
(epu&lic of Ireland and *.? million in 0orthern Ireland.
D. The (epu&lic of Ireland is a parliamentary democracy.
III. Irelands history: a history of invaders who eventually adapted to native circumstances.
A. The "aels, of central 'uropean origin, invaded Ireland, which they called 'riu 1@rin4 as
early as the >
th
century #!.
B. They were followed &y the Aikings in the +
th
and .
th
c., and in the */
th
c. &y the
0ormans. #oth the Aikings and the 0ormans were a&sor&ed &y the "aelic population.
C. #y the end of the *?
th
c. 'ngland took control over Ireland and within the span of three
hundred years managed to destroy its native institutions, and contri&uted largely to the
destruction of the "aelic language and of the "aelic culture
IA. The Irish language:
A. Irish "aelic B or simply Irish B the States first official language, is part of the !eltic
family of languages, and is closely related to Scottish "aelic, $elsh and #reton.
B. :ost people spoke Irish until the early *.
th
century, &ut today only a small num&er of
people speak it as their first language B perhaps as few as C-,---.
C. Irish is natively used in the Irishspeaking districts known under the name of
Gaeltacht., situated mainly along the $est !oast of Ireland 1along the coasts of
<onegal, :ayo, "alway, 3erry, !ork and $aterford4. The people living in these areas
are &ilingual, &ut the language spoken in everyday life will &e Irish.
D. Irish is uni5ue in 'urope as &eing proclaimed the first official language of the state
despite its e=treme minority position. All government legislation is written and passed in
&oth Irish and 'nglish 1'nglish &eing the second official language of the(epu&lic of
Ireland4 and in the courts every citiDen has the right to &e heard in Irish. All children in
the statesupported schools must learn it and it is a re5uirement for entry into the
0ational 2niversity.
E. The Irish people see the Irish language as an ethnic sym&ol, as means of e=pressing
national identity. Thus the Irish language survives as sym&olic 1if not communicative4
national language.
A. Irish vs. AngloIrish 6iterature:
A. Ireland is famous for its writers in 'nglish, &ut there is also a vast &ody of literature in
the Irish language, heritage of a civiliDation that lasted from &efore recorded history 1the
"aelic culture was an oral one4 up to the end of the *?
th
century.
B. The history of AngloIrish literature e=tends from the medieval period to the present and
it is composed of a &ody of literature in 'nglish which, though it is often su&sumed into
histories of 'nglish literature, is generally speaking, intimately &ound up with Ireland.
C. !ontinual themes run through AngloIrish literature through which a comple= cultural
and political history is e=pressed. This literature records pleasures, pressures and
tensions within an island of mi=ed races and religions where the instinct of survival B
against local enemies, invaders, occupiers, poverty and climate, and eventually a
stifling, parochial religion B has resulted in:
*. the cult of the hero8
/. inventive wit and often &lack humour8
C. the acceptance of the intuition and an awareness of the supernatural8
,. fre5uent assertion of nationalism against the domination of the neigh&ouring
island 1i.e. "reat #ritain48
E. praise of particular places8
>. a mi=ture of dreaming and often e=aggerated talk that marks the influence of
an oral culture the test of which is a capacity to impress and to entertain.
?. the struggle with Irish !atholicism
D. )oremost AngloIrish authors: 9onathan Swift, !harlotte #rooke, :aria 'dgeworth,
;scar $ilde, 6ady Augusta "regory, $illiam #utler 7eats 1awarded the 0o&el PriDe in
6iterature in *./C4, "eorge #ernard Shaw 1awarded the 0o&el PriDe in 6iterature in
*./E4, 9ohn :illington Synge, Sean ;!asey, 9ames 9oyce, Samuel #eckett 1awarded
the 0o&el PriDe in 6iterature in *.>.4, )lann ;#rien, Seamus %eaney 1awarded the
0o&el PriDe in 6iterature in *..E4, 'liDa&eth #owen, 'avan #oland.