The Blackwell Companion to Modern Irish Culture

Covering the period from 1450 to the present, this Companion spans well beyond the familiar boundaries of Irish culture. In addition it treats traditionally prominent subjects such as literature and political history with fresh critical insight. The Blackwell Companion to Modern Irish Culture gives extensive and original coverage to architecture, music, painting, and other arts, stressing their broader European contexts. It also explores Catholics and Catholicism and the status of women. The companion is packed with names, dates, and facts, but rather than presenting traditional encyclopedic coverage of the period, it provides innovative approaches under collective headings, with emphasis upon history and context. It is supplemented with a comprehensive index.

W. J. McCormack is Professor of English at Goldsmith's University. His numerous pubications in Irish Literature, history and culture include the classic Ascendancy and Tradition (1985), reprinted in a revised and enlarged edition as From Burke to Beckett: Ascendancy, Tradition and Betrayal in Literary History (1994).