Folklore & Modern Irish Writing

Description

Foreword by Angela Bourke

Exploring the fascination of Irish folklore and storytelling for collectors, scholars, writers and readers, Folklore & Modern Irish Writing offers a comprehensive overview of the complex relationship between oral traditions and literary practices in Ireland. The rich contributions by leading Irish literary academics develop existing studies and further our understanding of the nature and importance of Irish folklore, acknowledging the symbiotic relationship that exists between storytellers of oral narrative, on the one hand, and literary storytellers on the other.

Fresh perspectives are offered on the continuing evolution of folklore collection and scholarship in Ireland, while new contexts are provided for evaluating the diverse ways in which Irish writers have drawn on traditional narratives, beliefs and practices, exemplified by the blending of folklore and individual creativity. This collection is a timely treasury for those interested in Irish writing, identity, life and ideas.

Table of Contents                                    

Foreword         Not the Same Old Story ~ Angela Bourke

Collectors and collections

1. From product to process: The emergence of the National Folklore Collection ~ Kelly Fitzgerald
2. Beyond full time collecting: The contribution of one part time collector to the National folklore collection ~ Ríonach uí Ógáin
3. ‘An almost untilled field: Pádraig Mac Gréine, Annie Power and Béaloideas ~ Paul Delaney

Writing folklore

1. Adding sparkle to the dry details: Folkloric themes, tales and tangents in the work of Anna Maria Fielding ~ Marian Thérèse Keyes
2. Mary Battle and W. B. Yeats – from folklore to Gesamtlebenswerk ~ John Dillon
3. Folk practice and belief in the short stories of Patrick Pearse ~ Anne Markey

Literary innovation and cultural adaptation

1. Folklore and writing for children in twentieth-century Ireland: Padraic Colum,  Patricia Lynch and Eilís Dillon ~ Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin
2. Spent in the telling: Peig Sayers and her life ~ Irene Lucchitti
3. ‘With a faery hand in hand’: W. B. Yeats, Marina Tsvetayeva, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and the Uses of Folklore ~ Bríona Nic Dhiarmada
4. Athbheatha na nAmhrán [The second life of song]: Traditional song in modern Gaeltacht prose writing ~ Máirín Nic Eoin

Continuity, variation and influence

1. The ‘Anxiety of Influence’? ‘Petticoat Loose’ and questions of adaptation, attribution, contextualisation and interpretation ~ Anne O’Connor
2. The Caoineadh, psychoanalytic theory, and contemporary Irish writing: Anne Enright’s The Gathering ~ Margaret O’Neill
3. ‘Some hardcore storytelling’: Uses of folklore by contemporary Irish writers ~ Éilís Ní  Dhuibhne

Afterword        A world of thirteen acres: Folklore as source and inspiration ~ Vincent Woods

About the Editors

Anne Markey is an Adjunct Lecturer in the School of English Trinity College Dublin, and a Teaching Fellow in Irish Studies in an Foras Feasa, NUI Maynooth.
Anne O’Connor is a folklorist who is especially interested in Irish religious folklore and spirituality. In addition, Anne was a pioneer in focusing on representations of women in Irish folklore.