Chapter 12 - Landscape in Irish-Language Literature: Poetry and Prose, 1900–2000

Summary

This chapter demonstrates forms of belonging to place in Irish-language poetry and prose.Louis De Paor utilizes Mike Cronin’s term “denizen” to understand alternative forms of belonging in place and notes the military advantages for Irish nationalist fighters traversing the Irish landscape that arose from being able to access local folklore. The essay suggests that “The extent to which intimate knowledge of the local terrain facilitated the kind of guerrilla warfare prosecuted so successfully by Ó hAnnracháin and his comrades (of the Gaelic League) is evident in a significant body of writing in Irish by veterans of the Irish revolution.” This essay spans a wealth of Irish-language writers – from Máirtín Ó Cadhain and Máirtín Ó Direáin (1910–88), to Cathal Ó Searcaigh (1955–), Colm Breathnach (1961–), and many others. De Paor suggests that the aim of reclaiming “a more secure sense of belonging, of being at home in a place where landscape, language, history and community are fully integrated” is the defining characteristic of Irish-language revival.