Reimagining Irish Studies for the Twenty-First Century

Eamon Maher is Director of the National Centre for Franco-Irish Studies in TU Dublin and General Editor of the Reimagining Ireland series with Peter Lang.

Eugene O'Brien is Head of the Department of English Language and Literature in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, and Director of the MIC Institute for Irish Studies.

This engrossing, sharply argued, and diverse collection of essays captures the dynamic nature of Irish Studies as it changes and reformulates itself in response to current but also abiding concerns. The multi-disciplinary interventions in this volume brilliantly succeed in revisiting and interrogating the field of Irish Studies, broadening its ambit, and mapping trajectories for future engagement. This is an insightful and explorative collection that expertly takes stock of Irish Studies whilst driving it forward.

- Anne Fogarty, Professor of James Joyce Studies, University College Dublin

From Famine stories to food studies, nineteenth-century travel narratives to contemporary film studies, Fenian invasions to TV stations, the Reimagining Ireland series has pioneered adventurous and enterprising versions and visions of Irish literature, society and culture, This milestone hundredth volume in the series contains essays that reimagine the potential future of Irish Studies in a new century and is remarkable for its diversity, disciplinary range, and dash.

- Joe Cleary, Professor of English, Yale University.

This landmark collection marks the publication of the 100th book in the Reimagining Ireland series. It attempts to provide a 'forward look' (as opposed to what Frank O'Connor once referred to as the 'backward look') at what Irish Studies might look like in the third millennium. With a Foreword by Declan Kiberd, it also contains essays by several other leading Irish Studies experts on (among other areas) literature and critical theory, sport, the Irish language, food and beverage studies, cinema, women's writing, Brexit, religion, Northern Ireland, the legacy of the Great Famine, Ireland in the French imagination, archival research, musicology, and Irish Studies in North America. The book is a tribute to Irish Studies' foundational commitment to revealing and renewing Irishness within and beyond the national space.

This edition of the eBook can be cited. To enable this we have marked the start and end of a page. In cases where a word straddles a page break, the marker is placed inside the word at exactly the same position as in the physical book. This means that occasionally a word might be bifurcated by this marker.

To the highly talented and supportive Irish Studies community who make it such a vibrant space in which to work.

Eugene would also like to dedicate this book to Áine, Eoin, Sinéad and Dara who keep me grounded and supported through everything.

Message from the Series Editor

As we reach the landmark 100th volume in the Reimagining Ireland series, it would be remiss of me not to make reference to a number of people who have contributed majorly to the success of the project.

There have been three Commissioning Editors to date, each of whom has left a positive imprint. When Joe Armstrong first approached me with the idea of setting up a series in Irish Studies, I was immediately inspired by his infectious enthusiasm for, and belief in, what he envisioned. It did not take long to convince me to take on the role of General Editor. When Joe left, Christabel Scaife joined the team and her formidable editing skills, empathetic personality and encouragement of authors brought the series to a level that exceeded even Joe’s and my own expectations. After Christabel’s departure, Tony Mason took over at the helm. Tony was known to me from his work with Manchester University Press and he brought an extensive knowledge of academic publishing, and of Irish Studies in particular, which, combined with a larger than life and enabling personality, have made him an invaluable asset. These three people are owed a great debt of gratitude for their energy, vision and hard work which have made Reimagining Ireland the significant series that it has become and will hopefully remain.

The technical staff at Peter Lang, Oxford, have been a pleasure to work with. They are too numerous to be named individually, but they have shown great efficiency and courtesy in their dealings with me and with authors. The books are always attractively produced and the quick turnaround from manuscript stage to publication is something that marks us out from our competitors. I would also like to thank the various peer reviewers for giving so freely of their time to assess book projects and supply invaluable feedback so that we can stand over the academic quality of our books.

Although it is invidious to single out people, I do have to make special mention of Eugene O’Brien, whose ‘Kicking Bishop Brennan up the Arse’: Negotiating Texts and Contexts in Contemporary Irish Studies is the first book in the series, and who has worked with me on a number of subsequent collections, including this special 100th volume. Eugene is an unbelievable source of support and inspiration, and his massive contribution to Reimagining Ireland is just one of the many ways in which he has shown himself to be an invaluable collaborator and friend.

As we look to the future of Irish Studies in this collection, I can but hope that I am blessed with the same talented authors, collaborators and friends for the next 100 volumes of Reimagining Ireland as I have been for the first 100. Success in a project like this is built on people coming together and working towards a common goal. The ever-growing Reimagining Ireland community is an excellent example of what can be achieved when you get that mix right. Long may it continue.

EAMON MAHER

DECLAN KIBERD

I can still recall John McGahern urging a class of solemn 8-year-old boys to ‘put a bit more jizz’ into a recital of ‘Up the Airy Mountain’ – and following it with a discourse on the Halloween rituals of rural Ireland. That was in 1959. Nowadays, university students in South Bend and Kyoto study these matters. So, my mother wasn’t wholly wrong when, on being asked what she thought of my book Inventing Ireland, she giggled and said: ‘Ireland always existed, Declan – you know that’.