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Distributed for University College Dublin Press

Gaelic Prose in the Irish Free State 1922-1939

A continuation of the author’s previous path-breaking book on the prose literature of the Gaelic Revival. For the first time, the development of a modern literature in Irish following the War of Independence and Civil War is outlined and analysed. This period saw an outpouring of book-length works in Irish from the state publishing agency An Gum, and the frequency and production of new plays, both original and translated, have never been approached since. Philip O’Leary has investigated all of these works as well as journalism and manuscript material. This book fills a large gap and will raise scholarly awareness of a major neglected aspect of the Irish cultural renaissance. The many quotations from the works discussed have been translated into English by the author, with the original Irish versions provided in the notes. Short biographies of the leading figures are given in an appendix.

© 2004


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Table of Contents

Preface Introduction - A world turned rightside up? Maimed from the start - Debates within the Gaelic literary movement in the new state The real and better Ireland - Rural life in Gaelic prose Bringing Mohammed to the mountain - New directions in Gaelic prose Wellspring of nationality - The Gaelic writer and the Irish past ’Rebuilding Tara in our mental world’ - The Gaelic author and the heroic tradition Flawed, failed, forgotten? The question of translation ’The trail of the serpent’ - The Gaelic movement and Irish literature in English At the cow’s rump or in the national theatre? Issues in Gaelic drama Taking stock, taking chances Notes Selected bibliography Index

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