Irish literature

Early Irish literature, in Gaelic, consists of the sagas, which are mainly in prose, and a considerable body of verse. The chief cycles are that of Ulster, which deals with the mythological Conchobar and his followers, and the Ossianic, which has influenced European literature through Macpherson's version.

Literature in Gaelic Early Irish poetry has a unique lyric quality and consists mainly of religious verse and nature poetry, for example, St Patrick's hymn and Ultán's hymn to St Brigit. Much pseudohistorical verse is also extant, ascribed to such poets as Mael Mura (9th century), Mac Liac (10th century), and Flann Mainistrech (11th century). Religious literature in prose includes sermons, saints' lives (for example, those in the Book of Lismore and in the writings of Michael O'Clery), and visions. History is represented by annals and by isolated texts like the Cogad Gaedel re Gallaib, an account of the Viking invasions by an eyewitness. The ‘official’ or ‘court’ verse of the 13th to 17th centuries was produced by a succession of professional poets, notably Tadhg Dall O' Huiginn (died c. 1617), Donnchadh Mór O'Dálaigh (d. 1244), and Geoffrey Keating (d. 1646), who wrote in both verse and prose. The bardic schools ceased to exist by the end of the 17th century. Metre became accentual rather than syllabic. The greatest exponents of the new school were Egan O'Rahilly (early 18th century) and the religious poet Tadhg Gaelach O'Súilleabháin.

Literature in English The late 19th century onwards saw a resurgence of Irish literature written in English. Oscar Wilde, G B Shaw, and James Joyce represent those who chose to live outside Ireland. More culturally nationalistic were the writers, including W B Yeats, who supported the Gaelic League (aiming to revivify the Irish language) and founded the Abbey Theatre Company in Dublin: this provided a milieu for the realism and fantasy of J M Synge and the intensity and compassion of Sean O'Casey. Since World War II, Ireland has produced two Nobel prizewinners – the dramatist Samuel Beckett and the poet Seamus Heaney – as well as novelists of the calibre of Brian Moore and Edna O'Brien (1936– ).