Category: Volume 02

Vol. 2: McCormack, W. J.

Type: Article

McCormack, W. J. ‘Vision and Revision in the Study of Eighteenth-Century Irish Parliamentary Rhetoric’, Eighteenth-century Ireland/Iris an dá chultúr, Vol. 2 (1987) .

This essay is a critical assessment of two articles published in volume one of Eighteenth-Century Ireland: ‘Swift and the Anglo-Irish Intellect’ (pp. 9-22) by Seamus Deane and ‘The Grattan Mystique’ (pp. 177-194) by Gerard O’Brien. Both authors have ‘an insufficiently critical approach to the mechanisms of eighteenth-century parliamentary rhetoric and its production in print.’ McCormack indicts O’Brien for failing to recognize that newspaper parliamentary reporting in eighteenth-century Ireland often went beyond informing its readers and was designed to propound ‘a particular ideological view of parliamentary function’; thus parliamentary reports ‘constituted a species of fiction’ and historians should not accept them uncritically or underestimate the value of other sources. Deane is criticised for ‘too generously dispersing across the whole eighteenth century a coinage – ‘protestant ascendancy’ – which can be observed in the process of its first minting many years after Swift’s death’. McCormack hopes his article will begin the systematic reappraisal of Irish cultural historiography which he believes is needed.

Vol. 2:

Type: Notes

‘Dictionary of Irish Biography: preliminary listing of letters A, B and C.’, Eighteenth-century Ireland/Iris an dá chultúr, Vol. 2 (1987), .

A list of those born between 1650 and 1780 whose names begin with the letters A, B or C whom the editors of the new Dictionary of Irish Biography Continue reading Vol. 2:

Vol. 2: Passman, Dirk F.

Type: Notes

Passman, Dirk F. ‘‘Many Diverting Books of History and Travels’ and A Modest Proposal.’, Eighteenth-century Ireland/Iris an dá chultúr, Vol. 2 (1987), pp 167-176.

Considers eighteenth-century travel and historical literature containing reports of infanticide and cannibalism as possible sources for Swift’s A Modest Proposal. Discusses those works either read by or Continue reading Vol. 2: Passman, Dirk F.

Vol. 2: Mahony, Robert.

Type: Article

Mahony, Robert. ‘The Pamphlet Campaign against Henry Grattan in 1797-99’, Eighteenth-century Ireland/Iris an dá chultúr, Vol. 2 (1987), pp 149-166.

This article discusses the anti-Grattan pamphlet campaign following Grattan’s withdrawal from the Irish House of Commons in May 1797, and his subsequent Address to the Citizens of Dublin. Grattan’s apparent ‘desertion’ Continue reading Vol. 2: Mahony, Robert.

Vol. 2: Breatnach, Pádraig A.

Type: Article

Breatnach, Pádraig A. ‘Oral and Written Transmission of Poetry in the Eighteenth Century’, Eighteenth-century Ireland/Iris an dá chultúr, Vol. 2 (1987), pp 57-65.

This article discusses Seanachas Phádraig Í Chrualaoi (1982), a collection of oral and written poetry in Irish tradition dating back to the close of the seventeenth century. Continue reading Vol. 2: Breatnach, Pádraig A.

Vol. 2: Ó Catháin, Diarmaid.

Type: Article

Ó Catháin, Diarmaid. ‘Dermot O’Connor, Translator of Keating’, Eighteenth-century Ireland/Iris an dá chultúr, Vol. 2 (1987), pp 67-87.

Geoffrey Keating’s Foras Feasa Ar Éirinn (1633), a compilation of Irish seanchas (lore) and Gaelic history, was, until the twentieth-century, a literary model and ‘virtual bible of the Irish tradition’. This article examines the life and career of Dermot O’Connor whose 1723 English translation of Foras Feasa was the first version of the text available to English speakers and had a ‘profound effect on the Anglo-Irish tradition’. O’Connor’s bilingualism allowed him to move freely between Dublin and London circles, where sufficient interest in the Gaelic language and tradition earned him a successful living as a Gaelic scribe. The article traces his movements in London and Dublin, and the controversies surrounding his work and reputation. Ó Catháin concludes that ‘it is obvious from Dermot O’Connor’s life alone that there was much more interaction between Irish-language and English-language cultures and between catholics and protestants in Ireland than has been widely assumed’. Included is a sample of a plate of bilingual pedigrees from the London edition of O’Connor’s translation of Foras Feasa.

Vol. 2: McMinn, Joseph.

Type: Article

McMinn, Joseph. ‘A Weary Patriot: Swift and the Formation of an Anglo-Irish Identity’, Eighteenth-century Ireland/Iris an dá chultúr, Vol. 2 (1987), pp 103-113.

This article discusses the literary career of Jonathan Swift from 1720-1730 and his role as an Irish pamphleteer, which would “define and dramatize the constitutional identity of ‘the Continue reading Vol. 2: McMinn, Joseph.

Vol. 2: Fitzgerald, Desmond.

Type: Article

Fitzgerald, Desmond. ‘Early Irish Trade-Cards and Other Eighteenth-Century Ephemera’, Eighteenth-century Ireland/Iris an dá chultúr, Vol. 2 (1987), pp 115-132.

This essay by Desmond Fitzgerald, Knight of Glin, explores the importance of Irish trade-cards, labels, bill-heads and other trade ephemera and shows their ability to “evoke vividly the daily lives of the Continue reading Vol. 2: Fitzgerald, Desmond.

Vol. 2: Greene, John.

Type: Article

Greene, John. ‘The Repertory of The Dublin Theatres, 1720-1745’, Eighteenth-century Ireland/Iris an dá chultúr, Vol. 2 (1987), pp 133-148.

In 1938, theatre historian La Tourette Stockwell wrote of eighteenth-century Dublin that the policy of Dublin theatre managers was to ‘copy’ London stage productions and that the taste of Dublin audiences was Continue reading Vol. 2: Greene, John.

Vol. 2: Ward, Robert E.

Type: Notes

Ward, Robert E. ‘A Letter from Ireland: A Little-Known Attack on David Hume’s History of England’, Eighteenth-century Ireland/Iris an dá chultúr, Vol. 2 (1987), pp 196-197.

This article discusses a letter written in 1762 by Charles O’Conor of Belanagare, historian and catholic activist, complaining about David Hume’s History of England. Continue reading Vol. 2: Ward, Robert E.