Chapter 16 - Gaelic Influences and Echoes in the Irish Novel, 1700–1780

Summary

This essay explores the nature, extent, and significance of Gaelic influences and echoes in a range of Irish novels published between 1700 and 1780. Most Irish novels published in that period were written by Protestants, whose first language was English and many of whom had limited, if any, access to primary sources in the Irish language. In addition, many early Irish novels were published, at least initially, in London and frequently addressed to English readers with little knowledge of, or interest in, Irish history or contemporary affairs. Nevertheless, there are notable exceptions, as some Irish novels - Irish Tales (1716); Gulliver’s Travels (1726); The Life of John Buncle, Esq. (1756); and The Fool of Quality; or, The History of Henry, Earl of Moreland (1765) draw on beliefs and traditions associated with Irish-language culture in ways that illuminate both the diversity and the particularity of early Irish fiction. Direct reference and oblique allusion to Irish history, traditions, and culture within these novels not only facilitated the correction of Anglophone misapprehensions about Ireland and the Irish but also illuminates interactions between the worlds of the Irish-speaking majority and the Protestant elite in eighteenth-century Ireland.