Catholic Emancipations: Irish Fiction from Thomas Moore to James Joyce

This groundbreaking book explores the role 19th century Irish Catholic authors played in forging the creation of modern Irish literature. As such it offers a unique tour of Ireland's literary landscape, from early origins during the Catholic political resurgence of the 1820s to the transformative zenith wrought by James Joyce's Ulysses in 1922.

Emer Nolan observes that contemporary Irish literature is steeped in the ambitions and internal conflicts of a previously captive Irish Catholic culture that came into its own with the narrative art form. He revisits, with keen insights, the prescient and influential songs, poems, and prose of Thomas Moore. He also points out that Moore's wildly successful work helped create an audience for authors to come, i.e. John and Michael Banim, William Carleton and the popular novelists Gerald Griffin and Charles Kickham.

An innovative aspect of this study is the author's exploration of the relationship between James Joyce and Irish culture and his nineteenth-century Irish Catholic predecessors and their political and national passions. It is, in effect, a telling look at the future history of Irish fiction.

Author: Emer Nolan
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Published: 11/01/2007
Pages: 240
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.81lbs
Size: 8.86h x 6.10w x 0.67d
ISBN: 9780815631750

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 12/15/2007 pg. 119
Reference and Research Bk News 02/01/2008 pg. 261

About the Author
Emer Nolan lectures in English at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. She is the author of Joyce and Nationalism and editor of Thomas Moore: Memoirs of Captain Rock.