Although the epics of Celtic Ireland were written in prose and not verse, most people would probably consider that Irish fiction proper begins in the 18th century. However, there are aspects of Early Irish prose that appear to have had some influence on the Irish novel: the use of exaggeration for humorous effect, a near obsession with lists, and a strong sense of satire. Satire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and Performing arts In satire human This article is concerned with the history of Irish fiction written in English. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States For Irish fiction written in Irish, see Modern literature in Irish. Irish (ga ''Gaeilge'' is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish. Although Irish has been used as a Literary language for more than a thousand years (see Irish literature) and in a form intelligible to contemporary speakers since For a general overview of Irish writing in all genres, see Irish literature. For a comparatively small island Ireland has made a disproportionate contribution to World literature in all its branches

Contents 1 The 18th Century 2 The 19th century 3 Into the Modern 4 Irish Fiction Now 5 See also 6 External links

The 18th Century

Irish fiction can be said to begin with the publication in 1726 of Jonathan Swift's masterpiece Gulliver's Travels. Year 1726 ( MDCCXXVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 Gulliver's Travels (1726 amended 1735 officially Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World in Four Parts This novel, often treated as a book for children, is one of the most savage satires in the English language and set a high standard for Irish writers to come.

The next Irish novelist of importance was Laurence Sterne (1713-1768). Laurence Sterne ( November 24, 1713 &ndash March 18, 1768) was an Irish -born English Novelist and an Anglican Year 1713 ( MDCCXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Year 1768 ( MDCCLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Stern was born in Clonmel, County Tipperary and was in his mid-forties when he published The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1759-1767). Clonmel ( Cluain Meala in Irish) in County Tipperary is the county seat of South Tipperary County Council. County Tipperary (Contae Thiobraid Árann is a County in Ireland situated in the Province of Munster. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy Gentleman (or more briefly Tristram Shandy) is a novel by Laurence Sterne. Year 1759 ( MDCCLIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Year 1767 ( MDCCLXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a This satire on the biographical novel is one of the most innovative and influential novels in English, and its foregrounding of the authorial voice and playful refusal to accept a conventional linear timeframe mark it out as a precursor of such modernist novelists as James Joyce and Samuel Beckett. Modernism describes an array of Cultural movements rooted in the changes in Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 &ndash 13 January 1941 was an Irish expatriate writer widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989 was an Irish Writer, Dramatist and poet

Oliver Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield (1766) is a moral tale based on the story of Goldsmith's own family. Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1730 or 1728 &ndash 4 April 1774 was an Anglo-Irish writer poet and Physician known for his Novel The Vicar The Vicar of Wakefield is a novel by the Irish author Oliver Goldsmith. Year 1766 ( MDCCLXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a It is notable for rejecting the florid style of most fiction of the day in favour of a more direct, conversational mode. Although not particularly successful when published, it has become one of the most enduring works of 18th century fiction in English.

The 19th century

The 19th century was a golden age of fiction in English, and Irish writers were to participate fully. Although born in Oxford, Maria Edgeworth (1767 - 1849) spent most of her life in Ireland and wrote what is generally considered the first novel on an Irish theme, Castle Rackrent (1800). Oxford is currently bidding for the 2010 Wikimania Conference Oxford () is a city, and the County town of Oxfordshire, Maria Edgeworth (1 January 1767 &ndash 22 May 1849 was an Anglo-Irish novelist Year 1767 ( MDCCLXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Year 1849 ( MDCCCXLIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Castle Rackrent a short novel by Maria Edgeworth published in 1800, is often regarded as the first true Historical novel and the first true Year -of the Julian calendar. The Gregorian calendar was 11 days ahead of the Julian calendar until Friday, but 12 days ahead since Saturday. This story of landlords and tenants on an Irish estate, and of the abuse of the latter by the former, was criticised at the time for its characters' apparent lack of religious feeling or scruples, but can be seen as a reasonably accurate representation of life on a great estate at the turn of the century, drawing, as it does, on the author's own experience of managing her father's estate. She wrote a number of other novels, the most interesting being Ormond (1817). Year 1817 ( MDCCCXVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common

Lady Morgan (Sidney Owenson) (1776(?)-1859) was also a prolific writer but her most successful work was her third novel, The Wild Irish Girl (1806), which can be read as a direct response to Castle Rackrent. Lady Morgan ( Sydney Owenson) (ca 1776 &ndash 14 April, 1859) was an Irish Novelist Early life She was born in Year 1776 ( MDCCLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Year 1859 ( MDCCCLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1806 ( MDCCCVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Morgan's novel, however, is much more explicitly political, displaying clear Jacobin feminist politics. She emphasizes the legacy of the 1798 rebellion in Ireland and uses the novel to promote an Irish view of Irish history and prehistory.

Some of the early novels of Charles Robert Maturin (1782-1824) covered ground similar to that covered by Edgeworth. Charles Robert Maturin, also known as CR Maturin ( September 25, 1782 in Dublin – October 30, 1824 in Dublin was an Year 1782 ( MDCCLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1824 ( MDCCCXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year However, he is now best remembered for Melmoth the Wanderer (1820). Year 1820 ( MDCCCXX) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year This is a Faustian tale of a man, Melmoth, who sells his soul to the devil and then wanders round Europe trying to find someone to take on his satanic bargain for him. Faust or Faustus ( Latin for "auspicious" or "lucky" is the protagonist of a classic German Legend in which he makes It is told through the accounts of those he approaches to help him. The book brought a whole new dimension to the Gothic novel and is considered a cult masterpiece. Gothic fiction (sometimes referred to as Gothic horror) is a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance.

William Carleton (1794-1869) came from a large family and his father was a poor tenant farmer. Year 1794 ( MDCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Year 1869 ( MDCCCLXIX) is a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Carleton was educated at hedge schools and spent much of his youth surrounded by extreme poverty. A hedge school ( Irish names include scoil chois claí, scoil ghairid and scoil scairte) is the name given to an Educational practice His Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry, which made him an extremely popular author, showed life on the other side of the social divide from the many 19th century Irish novels written by members of the landlord class.

John Banim (1798-1842) was born in Kilkenny into a prosperous farming family. John Banim ( April 3, 1798 - August 30, 1842) Irish Novelist, sometimes called the "Scott of Ireland" was born Year 1798 ( MDCCXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Year 1842 ( MDCCCXLII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Kilkenny, ( is a city and county town of County Kilkenny in Ireland. He studied art in Dublin and then returned home to work as an art teacher. Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. In 1820, after recovering from tuberculosis, he went back to Dublin to pursue a career in writing. Year 1820 ( MDCCCXX) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or T u' b' erculosis Bacillus --> is a common He wrote plays and poetry, but is best remembered for his novels, many of them written in collaboration with his brother Michael Banim (1796-1874). Michael Banim (1796-1874 was John Banim 's brother He assisted him in the O'Hara Tales, and there is difficulty in allocating their respective contributions Year 1796 ( MDCCXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Year 1874 ( MDCCCLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Their major works in fiction were the twenty-four volumes of The Tales of the O'Hara Family. One of these, The Nowlans is among the finest of all 19th century novels. The first Catholic Irish novelists of any note, the Banims wrote the first realistic fictional portraits of the Irish peasants and their novels spare no details of the sufferings endured by their people at the time of the Penal Laws. Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete". The Penal Laws in Ireland (Na Péindlíthe refers to a series of laws imposed under British rule that sought to discriminate against Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters in favour

Gerald Griffin (1803–1840) was born in Limerick. This article is about the Irish Author Gerald Griffin For the American Author, Educator and Professor, see 1803 ( MDCCCIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Year 1840 ( MDCCCXL) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Limerick (pronounced /ˈlɪmrɪk/ Luimneach in Irish) is a city and the county seat of County Limerick in the Province of Munster Like his friend John Banim, Griffin wrote poetry and plays, and like so many other Irish dramatists he moved to London in search of success. The history of Irish theatre begins with the Gaelic Irish tradition However, his reputation rests on The Collegians (1989), a novel he wrote after returning to Ireland. Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar) The Collegians is based on a real life court case in which Daniel O'Connell acted for the defence. Daniel O'Connell ( 6 August 1775 &ndash 15 May 1847) ( Dónal Ó Conaill) known as The Liberator, or The Emancipator

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-1873) was born in Dublin into a literary family of Huguenot origins and lived there for most of his life. Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu (28 August 1814 &ndash 7 February 1873 was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels Year 1814 ( MDCCCXIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1873 ( MDCCCLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common He is famous for his Gothic fiction (some of which is based on Irish folklore) and mystery novels. Gothic fiction (sometimes referred to as Gothic horror) is a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. He was the premier ghost story writer of the nineteenth century and had a seminal influence on the development of this genre in the Victorian era. Both his grandmother, Alice Sheridan Le Fanu and great uncle, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, were playwrights. Richard Brinsley Sheridan (30 October 1751 &ndash 7 July 1816 was an Irish playwright and Whig Statesman. His niece, Rhoda Broughton, would become a very successful novelist. Rhoda Broughton ( November 20, 1840 &ndash June 5, 1920) was a Novelist.

Charles Kickham (1828-1882) was born in County Tipperary. Charles Joseph Kickham ( 9 May 1828 – 22 August 1882) was an Irish revolutionary novelist poet journalist and one of the most prominent The year 1828 ( MDCCCXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap Year 1882 ( MDCCCLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common County Tipperary (Contae Thiobraid Árann is a County in Ireland situated in the Province of Munster. At the age of thirteen, he was involved in a gunpowder accident, permanently injuring his sight and hearing. A Young Irelander, he was arrested in 1865 for writing 'treasonous' articles and sentenced to fourteen years penal servitude. Young Ireland ( Irish: Éire Óg) was a political cultural and social movement which was to revolutionise the way that Irish nationalism was perceived Penal labour or penal servitude is a form of Unfree labour. The term may refer to two different notions labour as a form of punishment and labour as a form of occupation He started writing novels in prison and his Knocknagown; or The Homes of Tipperary (1879) was the most popular Irish novel of the 19th century. Year 1879 ( MDCCCLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common

Edith Anna Somerville (1858-1949) and her cousin, Violet Florence Martin (1862-1915) published their first novel, An Irish Cousin in 1889 under the names of Somerville and Ross. Edith Anna Œnone Somerville ( May 2, 1858 – October 8, 1949) was an Irish Novelist who habitually signed herself Year 1858 ( MDCCCLVIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1862 was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting on Monday Year 1915 ( MCMXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Year 1889 ( MDCCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Somerville and Ross refers to Edith Somerville and Violet Florence Martin, the latter writing under the name of Martin Ross They went on to enjoy enormous popularity with books like The Irish R. M. and The Real Charlotte, a novel of the first rank. Following in the footsteps of Maria Edgeworth and Lady Morgan, they popularised big house novels as an Irish genre. A genre (ˈʒɑːnrə also /ˈdʒɑːnrə/ from French "kind" or "sort" from Latin: genus (stem gener-) is a loose set

Bram Stoker (1847-1912) was born in Dublin and studied Mathematics at Trinity College. Abraham "Bram" Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912 was an Irish writer of novels and short stories who is best known today for his 1897 horror Year 1847 ( MDCCCXLVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Year 1912 ( MCMXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting Trinity College Dublin ( TCD; Irish Coláiste na Tríonóide Baile Átha Cliath; Latin: Collegium Sacrosanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Although he wrote some 18 books, he is best known as the author of Dracula. Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary Antagonist the vampire Count Dracula. His work represents a continuation of the Irish Gothic tradition of Maturin and Le Fanu.

By the 1880s, the main outline of the Irish novel had been drawn up. Typically, the best novels of the 19th century addressed the 'national question' via the relationship between landlord and tenant and was written either by a member of the landlord class who used fiction to call for an improved relationship based on mutual respect, or by a member of the Catholic middle class who was sympathetic to the tenants. This situation may be seen as not untypical of colonial literature, the colonists attempt to absorb the colonised into a unified world picture while the colonised attempt to promote a sense of separate identity. This 19th century novel was soon to face two challenges, one from the emergence of modernism, the other from the collapse of colonial rule and the emergence of the Irish Free State. Modernism describes an array of Cultural movements rooted in the changes in Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century The Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann (1922&ndash1937 was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by

Into the Modern

George Moore (1852-1933) spent much of his early career in Paris and was one of the first writers to use the techniques of the French realist novelists in English. George Augustus Moore (24 February 1852 – 21 January 1933 was an Irish Novelist, short-story writer, Poet, art critic, Year 1852 ( MDCCCLII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city This article is a general introduction to French literature For detailed information on French literature in specific historic periods see the separate historical articles in the His novels were often controversial. A Drama in Muslin (1886) was banned from public libraries because it dealt with lesbianism. Year 1886 ( MDCCCLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common A lesbian is a Woman who is romantically or sexually attracted only to other women Esther Waters (1894), the book that finally established his reputation as a novelist in the tradition of Zola, had as its subject extramarital sex and illegitimacy, and The Brook Kerith (1916) imagined a Christ who did not die on the cross but who was nursed back to health and then travelled to India to study mysticism. Year 1894 ( MDCCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Émile François Zola ( (2 April 1840 &ndash 29 September 1902 was an influential French Writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of Year 1916 ( MCMXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Moore was involved in the setting up of the Abbey Theatre and wrote several volumes of memoirs. The Abbey Theatre (Amharclann na Mainistreach also known as the National Theatre of Ireland (Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann is a Theatre located in Dublin His short stories helped popularise the form among Irish authors and he can be seen as one of the precursors of the most famous Irish novelist of the 20th century, James Joyce. James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 &ndash 13 January 1941 was an Irish expatriate writer widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the

Joyce (1882-1941) is often regarded as the father of the literary genre "stream of consciousness" which is best exemplified in his famous work, Ulysses. Year 1882 ( MDCCCLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A genre (ˈʒɑːnrə also /ˈdʒɑːnrə/ from French "kind" or "sort" from Latin: genus (stem gener-) is a loose set Ulysses is a novel by James Joyce, first serialized in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920 Joyce also wrote Finnegans Wake, Dubliners, and the semi-autobiographical A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Finnegans Wake is a fictional work by James Joyce, published in 1939 Dubliners is a collection of 15 short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914 An autobiography, from the Greek αὐτός autos "self" βίος bios "life" and γράφειν graphein "to write" A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a semi-autobiographical Novel by James Joyce, first serialized in The Egoist Ulysses, often considered to be the greatest novel of the 20th century, is the story of a day in the life of a city, Dublin. Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. Told in a dazzling array of styles, it was a landmark book in the development of literary modernism. If Ulysses is the story of a day, Finnegans Wake is a night epic, partaking in the logic of dreams and written in an invented language something like English, it was a book without followers until the emergence of writers like William Burroughs in the 1950s and 1960s. William Seward Burroughs II ( – ˈbʌroʊz was an American Novelist, Essayist, Social critic, painter and Spoken word The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969

Joyce's high modernism had its influence on coming generations of Irish novelists, most notably Samuel Beckett (1906-1989), Brian O'Nolan (1912-1966), who published as both Flann O'Brien and Myles na Gopaleen, and Aidan Higgins (born 1927). Modernism describes an array of Cultural movements rooted in the changes in Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989 was an Irish Writer, Dramatist and poet Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar) Brian O'Nolan (Brian Ó Nualláin (5 October 1911 – 1 April 1966 was an Irish novelist and satirist best known for his novels An Béal Bocht, At Year 1912 ( MCMXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting Year 1966 ( MCMLXVI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. Brian O'Nolan (Brian Ó Nualláin (5 October 1911 – 1 April 1966 was an Irish novelist and satirist best known for his novels An Béal Bocht, At Aidan Higgins (born March 3, 1927) is an Irish writer His upbringing in a landed Catholic family in Celbridge, County Kildare Year 1927 ( MCMXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Beckett, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969, is one of the great figures in 20th century world literature. The Nobel Prize in Literature (Nobelpriset i litteratur is awarded annually since 1901 to an author from any country who has in the words from the will of Alfred Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Perhaps best known for his plays, he wrote many works of fiction and his trilogy Molly, Malone Dies and The Unnamable, written, like Waiting for Godot, in the period between 1947 and 1949, is perhaps the greatest of all second generation modernist fiction.

O'Nolan was bilingual and his fiction clearly shows the mark of the native tradition, particularly in the imaginative quality of his storytelling and the biting edge of his satire. These traits are especially evident in At Swim-Two-Birds (1939), which was highly praised by Joyce, and The Third Policeman, published in 1967, after his death. At Swim-Two-Birds is a 1939 novel by Irish author Brian O'Nolan, writing under the pseudonym Flann O'Brien Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Third Policeman is a novel by Irish author Brian O'Nolan, writing under the pseudonym Flann O'Brien.

Cathal Ó Sándair (1922-1996), one of the most prolific Irish language authors, produced over one hundred novels, many of them westerns featuring cowboys and gun fights. Cathal Ó Sándair (1922-1996 was one of the most prolific Irish language authors Born in Weston Super Mare, England to an English father and Irish mother. His first novel appeared in 1943 and featured Réics Carló, the most famous Irish language detective. Ó Sándair is reputed to have published 160 books and sold more than 500,000 copies.

The big house novel prospered into the 20th century, and Aidan Higgins' first novel Langrishe, Go Down is an experimental example of the genre. Higgins later fiction tended towards greater disjunction and experimentation. He has also published short stories and several volumes of memoirs.

More conventional exponents of the big house novel include Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973), whose novels include Encounters (1923), The Last September (1929), The Funny Bone (1928); and The Death of the Heart (1938) and Molly Keane (1904-1996) (writing as M.J. Farrell), author of Young Entry (1928), Conversation Piece (1932), Devoted Ladies (1934), Full House (1935), and The Loving Without Tears (1951)among others. Elizabeth Dorothea Cole Bowen (7 June 1899 &ndash 22 February 1973 was an Anglo-Irish novelist and short story writer Year 1899 ( MDCCCXCIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. Year 1923 ( MCMXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1928 ( MCMXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Molly Keane (1905 &ndash 1996 was an Irish novelist (born Mary Nesta Skrine in Ballyrankin County Kildare) Year 1904 ( MCMIV) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting on Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) Molly Keane (1905 &ndash 1996 was an Irish novelist (born Mary Nesta Skrine in Ballyrankin County Kildare) Year 1928 ( MCMXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1951 ( MCMLI) was a Common year starting on Monday. Events of 1951 January

Francis Stuart (1902-2000) started his literary life as a protege of W. B. Yeats and married Isuelt, daughter of Maude Gonne. Henry Francis Montgomery Stuart (1902–2000 was a prolific Irish writer whose novels have a thrusting modernist iconoclasm Year 1902 ( MCMII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. Maud Gonne MacBride (Maud Nic Ghoinn Bean Mhic Giolla Bhríde 21 December 1866 – 27 April 1953) was an English -born He published his first novel, Women and God in 1931. Year 1931 ( MCMXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Stuart was a prolific novelist, but many of his books are now long out of print. He went to work in Germany in the late 1930s, and declined to leave with the outbreak of the Second World War. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including During the war, he broadcast anti-British talks on German radio. The controversy surrounding these actions was to stay with Stuart until his death. However, his finest and most enduring novel, Black List, Section H (1971), is a barely fictionalised account of those years. Year 1971 ( MCMLXXI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1971 Gregorian calendar.

With the rise of the Irish Free State and the Republic of Ireland, the terms of the 'national question' shifted. The Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann (1922&ndash1937 was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe. The issue of land ownership had been more or less resolved and the real question now was how to build a nation state. Inevitably, novelists from the so-called lower social classes began to dominate. Frequently, these authors wrote of the narrow, circumscribed lives of the lower-middle classes and small farmers. Exponents of this style range from Brinsley MacNamara (1890-1963) (real name John Weldon), whose 1918 The Valley of the Squinting Windows could be said to have created the genre, to John McGahern (born 1934), whose first novel, The Dark (1965), a portrayal of child abuse in a rural community, cost him his job as a teacher. Brinsley MacNamara (1890 - 1963 - born John Weldon - was a Writer born near Delvin, County Westmeath, Ireland. Year 1918 ( MCMXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Valley of the Squinting Windows is a Novel by Brinsley MacNamara, set in the fictional village of "Garradrimna" County Westmeath, John McGahern (12 November 1934 – 30 March 2006 was an Irish author Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar.

Brian Moore (1921-1999) was born in Belfast but became a citizen of Canada in 1953. Brian Moore ( Christian name pronounced Bree-an) ( 25 August 1921 &ndash 11 January 1999) was an Irish novelist Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) Belfast ( is the capital city of Northern Ireland and the seat of government in Northern Ireland. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. He wrote a series of scrupulously written novels examining the Catholic conscience in the modern world.

The short story has also proven popular with Irish fiction writers. The short story is a literary genre of Fictional Prose Narrative that tends to be more concise and to the point than longer works of fiction such Well known short story writers include Frank O'Connor (1903-1966) and Sean O'Faolain (1900-1991). Frank O’Connor (born Michael Francis O'Connor O'Donovan) (17 September 1903 – 10 March 1966 was an Irish author of over 150 works who was best known for his Year 1903 ( MCMIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar or a Common year starting Year 1966 ( MCMLXVI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. Seán Proinsias Ó Faoláin (22 February 1900 &ndash 20 April 1991 was an Irish Short story writer Year 1900 ( MCM) was an exceptional Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar.

Irish Fiction Now

Contemporary Irish fiction has moved to reflect the changes in the society that produces it. There are fewer novels set in the countryside and more urban fiction is being written. The last few years have also seen a rise in the volume of popular fiction being published across a range of genres from romantic novels to hardboiled detective stories set in New York. Some notable names are John McGahern, John Banville, Maeve Binchy, Seamus Deane, Roddy Doyle, Dermot Bolger, Colm Tóibín, William Wall, John Boyne, Keith Ridgway, Mike McCormack, Patrick McCabe,Joseph O'Connor and Jennifer Johnston. John McGahern (12 November 1934 – 30 March 2006 was an Irish author John Banville (born 1945 is an Irish Novelist and Journalist. Maeve Binchy (born 28 May 1940 Dalkey) is an Irish Novelist newspaper columnist and speaker. Seamus Deane (born 1940 in Derry, Northern Ireland) is an Irish Poet, Critic and Novelist. Roddy Doyle (Ruaidhrí Ó Dúill born 8 May 1958 in Dublin) is an Irish Novelist Dramatist and Screenwriter. Dermot Bolger (born 1959 is an Irish novelist playwright and poet born in Finglas, a suburb of Dublin. Colm Tóibín ( (born 1955 in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland) is an multi award winning Irish novelist and critic William Wall (b 1955 is an Irish Novelist, Poet and Short story writer John Boyne (born April 30 1971) is an Irish novelist He was educated at Terenure College, Dublin and then studied English at Keith Ridgway (born 1965, Dublin, Ireland) is a writer Biography Born in Dublin in 1965 Ridgway currently lives in London Mike McCormack may refer to Mike McCormack (American football, played with the Cleveland Browns and coached the Eagles Colts and Seahawks Patrick McCabe or Pat McCabe may refer to Patrick McCabe (novelist, Irish novelist Patrick McCabe member of the Irish Republican Army Joseph Victor O'Connor (born 20 September 1963 is an Irish novelist and brother of singer Sinéad O'Connor. Jennifer Johnston (born 12 January 1930) is an Irish Novelist winner of the Whitbread Book Award for The Old Jest There are many upcoming writers including Gerard Beirne and Claire Keegan. Gerard Beirne is an Irish author currently resident in Canada. Claire Keegan (born 1968 is an Irish short stories writer She was born in Co Wicklow in 1968 the youngest of a large Roman Catholic family There has also been an increasing emphasis on writing by women which found concrete expression in the founding of the Arlen House publishing venture. However, such is the amount of fiction being published that it is difficult to judge for the moment which are the books and authors that will stand the test of time.

See also

• List of people on stamps of Ireland
• Eoin Colfer who wrote the Artemis Fowl books

External links

Web pages devoted to individual authors are too numerous to list here. This is a list of people on the Postage stamps of the Irish Free State between 1922 and 1937 and on the postage stamps of Ireland since 1937, including Eoin Colfer (born 14 May 1965) is an Irish Author of children's books and a comedian There is a draft page for this article here. Artemis Fowl is a series of Fantasy novels written by Irish author Eoin Colfer These two sites give biographical and bibliographical information on most of the writers discussed in this article.

• The Princess Grace Irish Library
• Irish Writers Online
• Contemporary Irish texts available for free download under Creative Commons Licence

See also: Irish literature, List of Irish novelists, List of Irish short story writers, Irish poetry, Irish theatre, List of Irish poets

For a comparatively small island Ireland has made a disproportionate contribution to World literature in all its branches This is a list of novelists either born in Ireland or holding Irish citizenship This is a list of short story Irish writers either born in Ireland or holding Irish citizenship The history of Irish poetry includes the poetries of two languages one in Irish and the other in English. The history of Irish theatre begins with the Gaelic Irish tradition This is a list of poets either born in Ireland or holding Irish citizenship

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