History, Myth and Memory in Irish Literature and Culture

History, Myth and Memory in Irish
Literature and Culture
Instructors: Dr. Graham Price and Mr. Charlie Solan
This interdisciplinary course shall examine the varying, and often contradictory, narration of
Ireland’s ‘national tale’ and the various mediums that were to convey this tale through the
centuries. The course of Irish history is full of invasions, and eventual integration of the various
invaders in the fabric of the national identity. However, Ireland’s relationship with its nearest
neighbours has been so simple. Since the 1100’s Ireland has been invaded by forces from the
British mainland, but often these forces “became more Irish than the Irish themselves.”
However, this was to change particularly following the Battle of the Boyne (1609) and the Act of
Union (18901). The country’s history and culture has, inevitably, been written and interpreted
by various peoples down through the centuries—native-­‐Irish, Anglo-­‐Irish and English being the
main examples—Ireland’s sense of selfhood has been rendered unstable and fluid. This module
shall examine the various versions of Irishness that have emerged during the period of
colonialism and postcolonialism. The key questions to be asked are: Who created these various
versions of Irishness and what might they have had to gain from doing so? Specific emphasis
will be placed on historical and literary texts of the various periods and how they have helped
shape (however provisionally) a sense of a coherent Irish identity. Reference will also be made
to songs as the medium of music and the oral tradition have also played a significant role of the
moulding of Irish identity.
Some of the central issues that will be raised by this module will be: The role of storytelling in
the construction of a sense of Irishness, how certain historical moments in Irish history are
privileged with narration while others are neglected, and the part played by literature in Irish
cultural politics during the 19 th and 20 th century. In addition to offering lectures on these and
other aspects of Irish Studies, field trips will be organised to places of cultural interest such as
Kilmainham Gaol and the Irish Writers Centre in order that our students may gain firsthand
experience of places of historical and cultural significance in Ireland. This course will particularly
be of interest with the run-­‐up to the 100 year anniversary of Irish Independence, which will
take place in 2016 and the public discourse that will surround it.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module the students will:
1. Become familiar with a wide range of Irish texts from various genres (history, drama, prose,
poetry).
2. Become capable of applying critical theories to these texts.

3. Have learned how to critically consider and (in some cases) challenge arguments concerning
Ireland and Irishness.
4. Have gained an appreciation of the richness and complexity of the Irish cultural tradition.
5. Become familiar with the notion of Ireland’s national tale as being a series of unstable micro-­narratives
as opposed to a single grand-­‐narrative.
Course Outline
Lecture 1 Celtic Ireland (6 hours)
The first lecture of this course would examine the reality of Ireland’s ‘Celtic’ history and debunk
many of the myths surrounding Celtic life that exist in the modern conceptualisation of this
period. It will interrogate our understanding of this period and in doing do highlight the
influence of Christianity and how it subsumed, rather than ‘defeated’, paganism. By highlighting
the reality of Celtic life in Ireland questions around the notion of nationhood and cohesive,
singular Irish culture, which has been the bedrock of so much of Irish literature. These
questions will be answered in more depth during the subsequent lectures, which will be dealing
with the Revival Period of Irish literature and the subsequent expression of Irish Modernity.
Text – Celtic Mythology by Proinsias MacCana –
Lecture 2 (1100’s-­‐1700’s) (6 hours)
This lecture will provide a brief over view of the various entities that invaded the country and
how the culture of these invaders was adapted in the narrative of Irish history. In particular it
will trace the relationship with its nearest neighbours, the England, and how history of these
two countries is inextricably intertwined. It will touch on some key events such as the Battle of
the Boyne and the 1798 Rebellion.
Lecture 3 (1800’s-­‐1900’s) (6 hours)
The 19 th Century was a pivotal century in the events of Irish history and development of Irish
Culture. In reaction to the 1798 Rebellion the Act of Union was introduced, which brought to an
end the life of the Parliament and brought the island of Ireland under the direct rule of London.
By the middle of the 19 th century events such as the Great Irish Potato famine, combined with
the subsequent mass emigration, had decimated the Irish population and would irrevocably
alter the course of Irish history and the Irish psyche.
Selected readings including extracts from speeches by Wolfe Tone and Robert Emmet. There is
also a large amount of music and songs surviving from this period.
Lecture 4 Staging the Nation: Irish Revival Drama (6 hours)
Looking specifically at William Butler Yeats’s Cathleen ni Houlihan (1902) and John Millington
Synge’s Riders to the Sea (1904), we shall examine how two of Ireland’s most influential writers
mined the Irish past for the purposes of creating a sense of a modern, authentic Ireland in their

plays. Attention will be paid to the following: The depiction of Irish reality, the portrayal of male
heroics and the role of women in these two provocative plays.
Texts: William Butler Yeats: Cathleen Ni Houlihan and John Millington Synge’s Riders to the Sea
(any edition)
Lecture 5 William Butler Yeats: National Poet, National Tale
(6 hours)
Taking the poems ‘Easter 1916’ and ‘Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen’ as representative
examples, this lecture will examine the treatment of history and violence in Yeats’s poems.
Yeats was a poet who felt very keenly the responsibility literature had to depict momentous
events in responsible and ethical ways and these two pieces demonstrate how he grappled with
the need to balance public commemoration and personal trauma in his historic
representations.
Texts: William Butler Yeats: ‘Easter 1916’ and ‘Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen’
Lecture 6 Revival vs. Counter Revival: James Joyce’s Dubliners
(6 hours)
Looking at three stories from James Joyce’s short story collection, Dubliners, we shall consider
James Joyce’s enigmatic attitude towards the Irish Revival. Joyce’s representation of Ireland
combines cold realism with clear affection and this lecture shall consider the ways that Joyce,
far from being antagonistic towards the Revival, actually uses many of their icons and tropes
but in subtly different ways.
Texts: James Joyce: Dubliners (‘A Little Cloud’, ‘A Mother’, ‘The Dead’)
Lecture 7 The Irish Counter-­‐Tradition?: Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot
( 6 hours)
Samuel Beckett’s groundbreaking play, Waiting for Godot shall be discussed as a work that
opens Irishness out to more overtly European influences while still maintaining links with
Beckett’s country of birth. How Waiting for Godot deconstructs stable notions of an ‘Irish
dramatic tradition’ shall also be a major concern.
Text: Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot
Lecture 8 Irish Masculinity in Crisis: John McGahern’s Amongst Women
(6 hours)
Amongst Women is one of the most important novels by possibly the most significant Irish
prose writer since Beckett. This lecture shall consider the ways that John McGahern remembers

Irish history from the 1920s-­‐60s from the perspective of the 1990s: An era that saw the election
of Ireland’s first female president and an increasing liberalisation of attitudes concerning
gender and sexuality. The themes of female empowerment, undermining of patriarchy, and the
disillusionment with nationalism in the wake of the Irish War if Independence and Civil War
shall be important topics for discussion during the analysis of this rich and nuanced text.
Text: John McGahern: Amongst Women
Field Trips:
Dublin Bus Tour Theatre Trip (play tbc) Viking Tour of Dublin
Kilmainham Jail Irish Writers Museum Dublinia
Guinness Brewery
Total Hours: 48
Grading
A. 4000 word essay at the end of course: 75%
B. Cumulative mark for 4 (300-­‐400) word written responses: 25% (A question will be put
forward every two weeks, which students can reply to via email.)