Book Description

The long nineteenth century, arguably the most significant period in Irish history, is marked by a series of events that changed the political landscape of the nation forever and gave rise to art and ideas of international importance. At one end of this tumultuous period, we have Grattan’s Parliament, the United Irishmen, the Rebellion of 1798 led by Wolfe Tone, and the Union of 1801, and at the other, the fall of Parnell, the Easter Rising, Civil War and partition. Between times there are the great hinge events of Catholic Emancipation, the Famine, and the Land War. From Wolfe Tone to Maud Gonne, Ireland went through a period of enormous upheaval that carved out the culture and politics of the modern nation. Irish Studies has not yet fully engaged with the range and richness of this material, nor have critics in the various Anglophone literary fields grasped the extent to which Irish and Scottish events and authors contributed decisively to the development of their own areas. Bringing together an international line-up of established and emerging scholars, Romantic Ireland: From Tone to Gonne takes Irish Studies in new directions, in particular in terms of a cross-cultural comparison with Scotland and the distinct phenomenon of Unionism, thus breaking out of the double binds of Anglo-Irish approaches. The Irish-Scottish interface throws up fascinating insights that enhance our awareness of the interaction between colonialism, nationalism and culture. All of the major figures of the period are represented here, from Edgeworth and Moore to Yeats and Synge, but there are other, often less noticed but hugely significant writers, such as Charles Robert Maturin, Dion Boucicault and May Laffan. There are non-Irish commentators on Ireland like Cobbett and Engels, as well as a series of key Scottish figures – including Burns and Scott – in addition to lesser-known or lesser-noticed Scottish writers with strong Irish interests such as R. M. Ballantyne and Robert Tannahill – whose work opens up new and promising avenues into Irish writing.