About the Book
11 years in the making, featuring the work of over 700 individual writers and harnessing the skills and expertise of dozens of scholars, The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing Volumes IV and V is without doubt one the most important publishing events in Ireland for many years. The most comprehensive corpus of Irish women's writing ever published. A lifelong resource, each encounter prompting fresh insights and new discoveries Features the work of over nine hundred familiar and undiscovered or unappreciated writers. Many of the sources are previously unpublished. Harnesses the skills and expertise of dozens of scholars and specialists. Interdisciplinary approach allows insight into areas of the Irish experience beyond the reader's area of interest. Biographies and bibliographies of writers facilitate further reading and research. Fully indexed and cross-referenced with earlier volumes, including index to first lines of poetry. Spans a period from 600 to the end of the end of the Twentieth Century. Many Irish texts appear in translation for the first time allowing unprecedented access to rare texts.
Table of Contents:
Section One Medieval to Modern: Presences and Representations, 600-1900 Mair?n N? Dhonnchha, Professor of Old and Middle Irish, National University of Ireland, Galway General Introduction by Mair?n N? Dhonnchha Early Medieval Law (c.700-c.1200) edited by Donnchh O Corrain Mary, Eve and the Church (c.700-c.1800) edited by Mair?n N? Dhonnchha Gormlaith and her Sisters (c.750-c.1800) edited by Mair?n N? Dhonnchha Society and Myth (c.700-c.1300) edited by Maire Herbert Sovereignty and Politics (c.1300-c.1900) edited by Mair?n Nic Eoin Courts and Coteries I (c.900-c.1600) edited by Mair?n N? Dhonnchha Medical Manuscripts (c.1400-c.1600) edited by Aoibheann Nic Dhonnchha Courts and Coteries II (c.1500- c.1800) edited by Mair?n N? Dhonnchha Section Two Religion, Theology, Ethics and Science, 1500-2000 Margaret Mac Curtain, retired Lecturer in the Department of Irish History, University College, Dublin General Introduction by Margaret Mac Curtain Women and the Religious Reformation in Early Modern Ireland edited by Margaret Mac Curtain Memoirs and Testimonies: Non-Conformist Women in Seventeenth-Century Ireland edited by Phil Kilroy Eighteenth-Century Catholic and Protestant Women edited by Rosemary Raughter The Re-Emergence of Nuns and Convents, 1800-1962 edited by Caitriona Clear The Century of Religious Zeal, 1800-1860 edited by Janice Holmes Hymns and Hymn-Writers, 1850-1930 edited by Sarah MacDonald Recollections of Catholicism, 1906-1960 edited by Margaret Mac Curtain Religious Conviction: Women's Voices, 1900-2000 edited by Margaret Mac Curtain Expanding Boundaries: Science and Faith, 1850-1990 edited by Maire Rodgers Women's Spiritual Poetry, 1900-1995 edited by Margaret Mac Curtain Theology and Ethics edited by Mary Condren Section Three Sexuality, 1600-2000 Siobhan Kilfeather, Lecturer in English, University of Sussex, England General Introduction by Siobhan Kilfeather Sexual Discourse in English before the Act of Union: Prescriptions and Dissent, 1685-1801 edited by Siobhan Kilfeather Sexual Expression and Genre, 1801-1917 edited by Siobhan Kilfeather Childbirth, 1742-1955 edited by Jo Murphy Lawless Infanticide in Nineteenth-Century Ireland edited by Dympna McLoughlin Public Discourse, Private Reflection, 1916-1989 edited by Marjorie Howes Contesting Ireland: The Breakdown of Heterosexuality, 1940-2000 edited by Siobhan Kilfeather and Eibhear Walshe Lesbian Encounters, 1746-1997 edited by Emma Donoghue Explorations of Love and Desire in Writing for Children, 1796-1979 edited by Siobhan Kilfeather Section Four Oral Traditions Angela Bourke, Senior Lecturer in Irish, University College, Dublin General Introduction by Angela Bourke Life Stories edited by Angela Bourke and Patricia Lysaght International Folktales edited by Eil?s N? Dhuibhne Storytelling Traditions of the Irish Travellers edited by Bairbre N? Fhloinn Legends of the Supernatural edited by Angela Bourke and Patricia Lysaght The Song Tradition edited by R?onach u? Ogain and Tom Munnelly Lamenting the De edited by Angela Bourke Spirituality and Religion in Oral Tradition edited by Angela Bourke and Patricia Lysaght Work and Play edited by Angela Bourke Writing Oral Traditions edited by Patricia Lysaght Section Five Women in Irish Society, 1200-2000 Maria Luddy, Reader in History, University of Warwick General Introduction by Maria Luddy Property, Work and Home: Women and the Economy, c 1170-1850 edited by Mary O'Dowd The Economy From 1850 edited by Mary Daly The Labour Movement in Ireland, 1800-2000 edited by Maria Luddy Women and Emigration from Ireland in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries edited by Mary Luddy and Dympna McLoughlin Women of the House in Ireland, 1800-1950 edited by Caitriona Clear Widows in Ireland, 1830-1970 edited by Mary Cullen Education in Ireland Before 1800 edited by Margaret Mac Curtain Education in Nineteenth-Century Ireland edited by Anne V. O'Connor Education in Twentieth-Century Ireland edited by Susan Parkes Philanthropic Institutions of Eighteenth-Century Ireland edited by Rosemary Raughter Philanthropy in Nineteenth-Century Ireland edited by Maria Luddy Hospitals edited by Elizabeth Malcolm Workhouses edited by Dympna McLoughlin Magdalen Asylums, 1765-1970 edited by Maria Luddy Mountjoy Female Prison and the Treatment of Irish Female Convicts in the Nineteenth-Century edited by Rena Lohan Section Six Politics 1500-2000 Mary O'Dowd, Senior Lecturer in Modern History, Queen's University, Belfast General Introduction by Mary O'Dowd The Political Writings and Public Voices of Women c.1500-1850 edited by Mary O'Dowd Women and Politics in Ireland, 1860-1921 edited by Maria Luddy Women and Politics in Independent Ireland, 1921-1970 edited by Margaret O'Callaghan The Women's Movement in the Republic of Ireland, 1968-1980 edited by June Levine The Women's Movement and Women Politicians in the Republic of Ireland, 1980-2000 edited by Frances Gardiner and Mary O'Dowd The Law and Private Life in the Republic of Ireland edited by Alpha Connelly Women, Politics and the State in Northern Ireland, 1918-1966 edited by Ruth Taillon and Diane Urquhart Women and Political Activism in Northern Ireland, 1960-1993 edited by Monica McWilliams Women and Politics in Northern Ireland, 1993-2000 edited by Mary O'Dowd Section Seven Women's Writing, 1700-1960 Gerardine Meaney, Lecturer in Film Studies and English, University College Dublin General Introduction by Gerardine Meaney The Profession of Letters edited by Siobhan Kilfeather Women's Narratives, 1800-1840 edited by Riana O'Dwyer Ireland/Herland: Women and Literary Nationalism, 1845-1916 edited by Antoinette Quinn Women's Fiction, 1845-1900 edited by Margaret Kelleher Identity and Opposition: Women's Writing, 1890-1960 Gerardine Meaney Construction of Subjectivity edited by Briona Nic Dhiarma Aesthetics and Politics, 1890-1960 edited by Gerardine Meaney Interpreting the Past: Women's History and Women Historians, 1840-1945 edited by Mary O'Dowd Section Eight Contemporary Writing 1960-2000 Clair Wills, Reader in Modern Poetry, Queen Mary, University of London General Introduction by Clair Wills Contemporary Fiction edited by Ruth Carr Contemporary Women Playwrights edited by Anna McMullan and Caroline Williams Contemporary Poetry edited by Nuala N? Dhomhnaill The Republic of Ireland: The Politics of Sexuality, 1965-2000 edited by Ursula Barry and Clair Wills Women in the North of Ireland, 1969-2000 edited by Anne Crilly, Hazel Gordon and Eilish Rooney Feminism Culture and Critique in Irish edited by Maire N? Annrachain Feminism Culture and Critique in English edited by Clair Wills A full list of contents and writers is available at www.corkuniversitypress.com
Review :
'From medieval spells to contemporary spellings, from eighteenth-century debates over women's education to current controversies about female sexuality, these rich and brilliant volumes are ambitiously abundant in their representation of Irish women's lives, works, and ways. It's impossible to imagine a more scrupulous, wide-ranging set of sources for students, scholars, and general readers who want to investigate the energetically flourishing literary and political traditions that have been shaped by (and shape) Ireland's women.' Sandra M. Gilbert, Professor of English, University of California, Davis 'These new volumes are a mighty achievement: the texts and contexts of more than a thousand years of Irish women's writing brilliantly, abundantly presented and comprehended. The editors have redefined the curriculum of studies.' Seamus Heaney, Nobel Laureate 'I have never seen an anthology which has so drastically extended one's frame of reference on its theme. It goes far beyond the root meaning of an 'anthology' - a literary garland - and instead gives us nothing less than the materials for a cultural history of women in Ireland. It is a unique piece of work and cannot fail to become a landmark of learning worldwide. Worth the wait; every bit of it.' Joep Leerssen, Professor of Modern European Literature, University of Amsterdam 'A monumental and heroic work of collective scholarship that will transform our understanding of the Irish literary tradition. Yes she said yes yes.' Elaine Showalter, Professor of English, Princeton University 'The literary event of the year . . .' Caroline Walshe, Literary Editor, Irish Times
