Irish revival

Movement that sought to create, promote, and sustain Irish art, starting in the late 19th century. An extraordinary period of artistic and cultural activity, it had its roots in the earlier Celtic revival of the late 18th century, which developed a keen interest in Irish history, antiquities, music, and poetry of ‘ancient Ireland’. The later revival, by contrast, aimed to restore Irish culture forms in literature and music, though naturally the literature produced was distinctly modern in theme and treatment. In this way, the ideals and practices of the Irish revival continues to influence contemporary artists. Although the term is most often used to refer to the literary movement, the exploration and affirmation of Irish identity was evident in other areas, such as architecture, the visual arts, and sports; the movement also paralleled a growth in nationalist politics.

Aspects of the Irish revival were wide and varied. Key elements included the publication of W B Yeats's Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry (1888); the foundation of the Gaelic League (1893) with the express purpose of maintaining Irish as a living, spoken language; the development of the Gaelic Athletic Association, established in 1884 to promote national sports; and the establishment of the Abbey Theatre (1897) by W B Yeats, Edward Martyn, George Moore, and Lady Gregory. The ethos of the revival, in the creation of an idea and an image of Ireland that was idealistically rural, mythically powerful, and decidedly not British, was in turn criticized and even mocked by writers such as James Joyce and Samuel Beckett. Nevertheless the movement influenced even its critics.