Irish and English

Essays on the Irish linguistic and cultural frontier, 1600–1900

James Kelly & Ciarán Mac Murchaidh, editors

The transformation of Ireland from a predominantly Irish-speaking country to a primarily English-speaking country was the most profound social change to take place on the island between the seventeenth and the twentieth century. Yet the nature, manner and course of that transformation are less than clear. The object of this collection, is to provide a variety of perspectives on the moving linguistic frontier that obtained in Ireland in order better to understand the multiplicity of reasons for this linguistic shift, and to expand and deepen our appreciation of the manner in which it took place. The collection brings together scholars from a variety of disciplines, in order both to examine established aspects of this important question anew, and to offer new insights and vistas based on the most recent scholarship with the purpose of enhancing our understanding and awareness of the crucial language shift that prompted the displacement of Irish by English.

Contributors: Marc Caball (UCD), Bernadette Cunningham (RIA), Charles Dillon (QUB), Raymond Gillespie (NUIM), James Kelly (St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra), Liam Mac Mathúna (UCD), Ciarán Mac Murchaidh (St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra), Deirdre Nic Mhathúna (St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra), Lesa Ní Mhunghaile (U Limerick), Vincent Morley (ind.), Niall Ó Ciosáin (NUIG).

James Kelly is Cregan Professor of History and Ciarán Mac Murchaidh is Dean of Research, both at St Patrick’s College Drumcondra, Dublin City University.