The Irish Literary Revival, also known as the Irish Literary Renaissance, was a time in the late 1800s and early 1900s when many Irish writers, artists, and musicians created great works. This period included poetry, music, art, and literature.

One of the most important people during this time was W. B. Yeats, who played a major role in the Revival.

Because of English control over Ireland, some people saw Gaelic traditions as connected to politics.

Forerunners

The literary movement was connected to a renewed interest in Ireland's Gaelic heritage and the rise of Irish nationalism starting in the middle of the 19th century. The poetry of James Clarence Mangan and Samuel Ferguson, as well as Standish James O'Grady's book History of Ireland: Heroic Period, helped shape the ideas of future generations. Other individuals who supported the growth of national pride during the 19th century included poet George Sigerson; people who studied old traditions and collected music, such as George Petrie, Robert Dwyer Joyce, and Patrick Weston Joyce; editors like Matthew Russell of the Irish Monthly; scholars such as John O'Donovan and Eugene O'Curry; and nationalists like Charles Kickham and John O'Leary. In 1882, the Gaelic Union created the Gaelic Journal (Irisleabhar na Gaedhilge), the first major bilingual Irish publication, with the help of Douglas Hyde and David Comyn as editor.

Developments

The early literary revival had two main locations, Dublin and London. William Butler Yeats traveled between these cities, writing and organizing. In 1888, he published Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, a book that collected stories from many writers of the 18th and 19th centuries. Douglas Hyde helped Yeats with this work. Hyde also published Beside the Fire, a collection of Irish folklore, in 1890. In 1892, Yeats joined T. W. Rolleston, Charles Gavan Duffy, and John Todhunter in London to form the Irish Literary Society. Later that year, he returned to Dublin and created the National Literary Society, with Douglas Hyde as its first president. At the same time, Arthur Griffith and William Rooney were active in the Irish Fireside Club and later founded the Leinster Literary Society.

In 1893, Yeats published The Celtic Twilight, a book of stories and memories from western Ireland. The book ended with the poem "Into the Twilight," which became the nickname for the literary revival. That same year, Hyde, Eugene O'Growney, and Eoin MacNeill founded the Gaelic League, an organization aimed at preserving Irish culture, music, dances, and language. Hyde also published The Love Songs of Connacht in 1893, which inspired Yeats, John Millington Synge, and Lady Gregory.

In 1894, Thomas A. Finlay started the New Ireland Review, a literary magazine he edited until 1911, when it was replaced by Studies. Many important writers of the time contributed to this magazine.

In 1897, Hyde became the editor of the New Irish Library, a series of books on Irish history and literature published by Fisher Unwin in London. Two years later, Hyde wrote Literary History of Ireland.

In 1897, Yeats, Lady Gregory, and Edward Martyn published a Manifesto for Irish Literary Theatre, stating their goal to create a national theater for Ireland. The Irish Literary Theatre (ILT) was formed in 1899 by Yeats, Lady Gregory, and Martyn, with help from George Moore. The group planned to perform Irish plays written by Irish authors in Dublin.

In February 1901, the ILT performed The Last Feast of the Fianna at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin. This one-act play was based on a story about Oisin and was written by Alice Milligan, a member of the Gaelic League. Lady Gregory criticized the play for its lack of action and long speeches, but she called it a first step toward bringing Celtic legends to Irish audiences.

The Fay brothers started W. G. Fay's Irish National Dramatic Company, which focused on training Irish actors. The company performed plays by Seumas O'Cuisin, Fred Ryan, and Yeats.

Around the year 1900, Patrick S. Dinneen published editions of Geoffrey Keating’s Foras Feasa ar Éirinn, poems by Aogán Ó Rathaille and Piaras Feiritéar, and other works for the Irish Texts Society and the Gaelic League. Dinneen later wrote the first novel in Irish and worked on an Irish-English dictionary. In 1900, Maud Gonne, a close friend and muse of Yeats, founded Inghinidhe na hÉireann, a women’s group that included writers and actors. The Irish-language newspaper Banba was started in 1901 by Tadhg Ó Donnchadha, who later became editor of the Gaelic Journal.

In 1903, Yeats, Lady Gregory, George Russell ("AE"), Edward Martyn, and Synge formed the Irish National Theatre Society with funding from Annie Horniman. Fred Ryan was the society’s secretary. The Abbey Theatre, opened in Abbey Street on December 27, 1904, was created by this group. Máire Nic Shiubhlaigh performed the lead role in Cathleen Ni Houlihan. Yeats’ brother, Jack, painted portraits of the society’s members for the theater’s entrance, and Sarah Purser designed stained glass for the same space. The Abbey Theatre became very popular and staged plays by well-known authors like Yeats, Lady Gregory, George Moore, and others.

In 1904, John Eglinton started the journal Dana, which included contributions from Fred Ryan and Oliver St John Gogarty.

In 1906, Maunsel and Company, a publishing house, was founded by Stephen Gwynn, Joseph Maunsel Hone, and George Roberts to support Irish writers. Its first book was Rush-light by Joseph Campbell. Lady Gregory began publishing her Kiltartan stories, including A Book of Saints and Wonders (1906) and The Kiltartan History Book (1909).

The Irish Review was started in 1910 by Professor David Houston of the Royal College of Science for Ireland. His friends, including poet Thomas MacDonagh, writer James Stephens, and others, helped create the magazine. Thomas MacDonagh initially edited the journal, followed by Padraic Colum, and later Joseph Plunkett, who changed the magazine’s focus as Ireland became involved in political movements like the Easter Rising. Plunkett also published a collection of poems, The Circle and The Sword, in 1910.

Fellow travellers

The movement happened at the same time as the growing interest in the Irish language (Gaelic League), the Home Rule movement, the Gaelic Athletic Association, and other cultural groups. It led to the creation of many books, magazines, and poetry by artists who were not widely known, such as Alice Furlong, Ethna Carbery, Dora Sigerson Shorter, and Alice Milligan around the turn of the century. Later, other artists like George Roberts, Katharine Tynan, Thomas MacDonagh, Seán O'Casey, Seamus O'Sullivan, and others contributed up to the 1930s. This was supported by developments in the arts, including painters like Sarah Purser, Grace Gifford, Estella Solomons, and Beatrice Elvery, and in music through works by composers such as Arnold Bax, Rutland Boughton, Edward Elgar, Cecil Gray, and Peter Warlock. These composers set poetry and verse drama by writers like Yeats, AE, and Fiona Macleod. According to Matthew Buchan, Boughton's successful opera The Immortal Hour (1914), based on a verse drama by Macleod, "combines all the main features of Celtic Twilight."