The Irish short story has a distinctive place in the modern Irish literary tradition. Many of Ireland's best writers, both in English and Irish, have been practitioners of the genre.

Origins

It is possible that the Irish short story evolved naturally from the ancient tradition of

oral storytelling Oral storytelling is an ancient and intimate tradition between the storyteller and their audience. The storyteller and the listeners are physically close, often seated together in a circular fashion. The intimacy and connection is deepened by t ...

in Ireland. The written word has been cultivated in Ireland since the introduction of the Roman alphabet by the Christian missionaries in the fifth century. But oral storytelling continued independently up to the twentieth century and survived the general switch from the Irish to the English language. By the mid-nineteenth century Irish writers had begun to use the English language to record the lives, and to convey the thoughts of the ordinary people – mostly impoverished peasants – and to address themselves to an Irish readership. The most popular literary form to emerge from this development was the tale, and the most notable practitioner was

William Carleton William Carleton (4 March 1794, Prolusk (often spelt as Prillisk as on his gravestone), Clogher, County Tyrone – 30 January 1869, Sandford Road, Ranelagh, Dublin) was an Irish writer and novelist. He is best known for his ''Traits and Sto ...

(1794–1869), author of '' Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry'' (1830).

The modern Irish short story

Stories in English

An early example in Ireland is George Moore’s collection of stories ''The Untilled Field'' (1903), which deal with themes of clerical interference in the daily lives of the Irish peasantry, and of the issue of emigration. The stories were originally written for translation into Irish, in order to serve as models for other writers working in the language. Three of the translations were published in the ''New Ireland Review'', but publication was then paused due to a perceived

anti-clerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...

sentiment. In 1902 the entire collection was translated by

Tadhg Ó Donnchadha Tadhg Ó Donnchadha (1874 – 1949) was an Irish writer, poet, editor, translator and a prominent member of the Gaelic League (''Conradh na Gaeilge'') and the Gaelic Athletic Association. He was editor of ''Irisleabhar na Gaedhilge'' (The ...

and Pádraig Ó Súilleabháin, and published in a parallel-text edition by the

Gaelic League (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it emer ...

as ''An-tÚr-Ghort''. Moore later revised the texts for the English edition. These stories were influenced by

Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (; rus, links=no, Ива́н Серге́евич Турге́невIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; 9 November 1818 – 3 September 1883 ( Old Style da ...

's ''A Sportsman's Sketches'', a book recommended to Moore by W. K. Magee, a sub-librarian of the

National Library of Ireland The National Library of Ireland (NLI; ga, Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is the Republic of Ireland's national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The mission of the National Library of Ireland is ...

, and had earlier suggested that Moore "was best suited to become Ireland's Turgenev". The tales are recognised by some as representing the birth of the Irish short story as a literary genre.Gilcher, Edwin (September 2004; online edn, May 2006
"Moore, George Augustus (1852–1933)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, , retrieved 2008-01-07 (Subscription required) On 7 January 1904 Joyce attempted to publish an essay-story, "A Portrait of the Artist", dealing with

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...

, only to have it rejected by the free-thinking magazine ''Dana''. He decided, on his twenty-second birthday, to revise the story into a novel he called ''

Stephen Hero ''Stephen Hero'' is a posthumously published autobiographical novel by Irish author James Joyce. Its published form reflects only a portion of an original manuscript, part of which was lost. Many of its ideas were used in composing ''A Portrait ...

'', which was later re-written as ''

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man ''A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'' is the first novel of Irish writer James Joyce. A ''Künstlerroman'' written in a modernist style, it traces the religious and intellectual awakening of young Stephen Dedalus, Joyce's fictional alter ...

''. It was in 1905 that Joyce first attempted to get his famous collection of stories ''

Dubliners ''Dubliners'' is a collection of fifteen short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. It presents a naturalistic depiction of Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century. The stories were writt ...

'' published, and only after many attempts was it published in 1914. One tradition of Irish storytelling is that it's passed down from ear to ear without being written down. Storytellers who recite these tales are known as Seanchaí. Examples of Seanchaí are

Edmund Lenihan Edmund Lenihan (born 1950), also known as Eddie Lenihan, is an Irish author, storyteller, lecturer and broadcaster. He is one of the few practising '' seanchaithe'' (traditional Irish lore-keepers and tale-spinners) remaining in Ireland. He has ...

and

Eamon Kelly (actor) Eamon Kelly (30 March 1914 – 24 October 2001) was an Irish actor and playwright. In 1966, he received a Tony Award nomination for his performance in the 1964 play ''Philadelphia, Here I Come!''. Childhood Kelly was born in Gneeveguilla, ...

Liam O'Flaherty Liam O'Flaherty ( ; 28 August 1896 – 7 September 1984) was an Irish novelist and short-story writer, and one of the foremost socialist writers in the first part of the 20th century, writing about the common people's experience and from their ...

published his first collection, ''Spring Sowing'', in 1924, depicting the harsh life of his native

Aran Islands The Aran Islands ( ; gle, Oileáin Árann, ) or The Arans (''na hÁrainneacha'' ) are a group of three islands at the mouth of Galway Bay, off the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a total area around . They constitute the histo ...

. Daniel Corkery, ''A Munster Twilight'' (1916), was the first of a group of writers from

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

Seán Ó Faoláin Seán Proinsias Ó Faoláin (27 February 1900 – 20 April 1991) was one of the most influential figures in 20th-century Irish culture. A short-story writer of international repute, he was also a leading commentator and critic. Biography Ó ...

, whose first collection ''Midsummer Night Madness'', 1932, was another member of this group, as was

Frank O'Connor Frank O'Connor (born Michael Francis O'Donovan; 17 September 1903 – 10 March 1966) was an Irish author and translator. He wrote poetry (original and translations from Irish), dramatic works, memoirs, journalistic columns and features on a ...

. His first collection was ''Guests of the Nation'', 1931. The work of this "Cork school" continued with

Elizabeth Bowen Elizabeth Bowen CBE (; 7 June 1899 – 22 February 1973) was an Irish-British novelist and short story writer notable for her books about the "big house" of Irish landed Protestants as well her fiction about life in wartime London. Life E ...

(1899 – 1973), first collection ''Encounters'', 1923, in the 1930s, '40s and '50s. Important writers have continued writing stories, from the 1960s on, including

Cónal Creedon Cónal Creedon is an Irish novelist, dramatist, playwright and documentary filmmaker. Published books Creedon has written a number of novel-length works. * ''Pancho and Lefty Ride Out ''(Collins Press 1995) * ''Passion Play ''(Poolbeg Press 1 ...

Benedict Kiely Benedict "Ben" Kiely (15 August 1919 – 9 February 2007) was an Irish writer and broadcaster from Omagh, County Tyrone. Early life Kiely was born near Dromore, County Tyrone and was a student at the Christian Brothers School in Omagh. In 193 ...

Mary Lavin Mary Josephine Lavin (10 June 1912 – 25 March 1996) wrote short stories and novels. An Irishwoman, she is now regarded as a pioneer in the field of women's writing. The well-known Irish writer Lord Dunsany mentored Lavin after her father appr ...

John McGahern John McGahern (12 November 1934 – 30 March 2006) was an Irish writer and novelist. He is regarded as one of the most important writers of the latter half of the twentieth century. Known for the detailed dissection of Irish life found in wo ...

, and

Michael McLaverty Michael McLaverty (5 July 1904 – 22 March 1992) was an Irish writer of novels and short stories.David Marcus through his ''New Irish Writing'' column in the now defunct ''Irish Press'' newspaper and of numerous

anthologies In book publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed work ...

of Irish fiction and poetry, including the Phoenix Irish Short Stories collections. Critical attention has been paid recently to the Irish short story with the publishing of three major books: ''A'' ''Companion to the British and Irish Short Story'' (2008), ''A History of the Irish Short Story'' (2011), and the collection of essays ''The Irish Short Story: Traditions and Trends'' (2015). In addition, the critical journal ''Journal of the Short Story in English'' has published special issues on Irish-American short stories, John McGahern, as well as the twenty-first-century Irish short story. Elke D'hoker has commented on the quality of the Irish short story in the twenty-first century, with

Éilís Ní Dhuibhne Éilís Ní Dhuibhne (; born 22 February 1954), also known as Eilis Almquist and Elizabeth O'Hara, is an Irish novelist and short story writer who writes both in Irish and English. She has been shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction, and ...

Anne Enright Anne Teresa Enright (born 11 October 1962) is an Irish writer. She has published seven novels, many short stories and a non-fiction work called ''Making Babies: Stumbling into Motherhood'', about the birth of her two children. Her writing explo ...

Bernard MacLaverty Bernard MacLaverty (born 14 September 1942) is an Irish fiction writer and novelist. His novels include ''Cal'' and ''Grace Notes''. He has written five books of short stories. Biography ''MacLaverty'' was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, a ...

Edna O'Brien Josephine Edna O'Brien (born 15 December 1930) is an Irish novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet and short-story writer. Elected to Aosdána by her fellow artists, she was honoured with the title Saoi in 2015 and the "UK and Ireland Nobel" D ...

Colm Tóibín Colm Tóibín (, approximately ; born 30 May 1955) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, critic, playwright and poet. His first novel, '' The South'', was published in 1990. '' The Blackwater Lightship'' was shortlis ...

and

William Trevor William Trevor Cox (24 May 1928 – 20 November 2016), known by his pen name William Trevor, was an Irish novelist, playwright, and short story writer. One of the elder statesmen of the Irish literary world, he is widely regarded as one of the ...

publishing collections – or collected stories – to great acclaim. Several Irish short-story anthologies have been published since 2000 to meet the demands of the reading public, for example: th
''Faber Book of Best New Irish Short Stories'' 2005
and 2007; ''Irish Short Stories'' (2011), edited by

Joseph O'Connor Joseph Victor O'Connor (born 20 September 1963) is an Irish novelist. His 2002 historical novel '' Star of the Sea'' was an international number one bestseller. Before success as an author, he was a journalist with the ''Sunday Tribune'' newspa ...

; ''Town and Country: New Irish Short Stories'' (2013), edited and with an introduction by Kevin Barry; ''The Granta Book of the Irish Short Story'' was published in 2010, edited and with an introduction by

.; ''Silver Threads of Hope'', edited by Anne Enright and

Sinéad Gleeson Sinéad Gleeson is an Irish writer, editor and freelance broadcaster. She has won the Irish Book Award. Career Having edited the work of others, in 2016's ''The Long Gaze Back'' and 2017's ''The Glass Shore'', she released her first book ''Const ...

in 2012; and ''The Long Gaze Back: An Anthology of Irish Women Writers'' (2015), edited by Sinéad Gleeson. In addition, ''The Stinging Fly Magazine'' has been fostering new short story writing, along with other publishing houses such as

New Island Books New Island Books is an independent Irish publisher of literary fiction, poetry, drama, biography, and books on politics and social affairs. History It was founded as ''Raven Arts Press'' in 1977 by Dermot Bolger. In 1982, Raven Arts closed and w ...

Stories in Irish

The

Gaelic Revival The Gaelic revival ( ga, Athbheochan na Gaeilge) was the late-nineteenth-century Romantic nationalism, national revival of interest in the Irish language (also known as Gaelic) and Irish Gaelic culture (including Irish folklore, folklore, Iri ...

at the beginning of the 20th century saw the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

re-emerging as a literary medium after a century of almost complete neglect. This had an effect on all genres, short stories among them. The tradition that developed was characterised by great variety, reflecting the background of the writers. It is likely that over a thousand stories have been written in Irish. A

modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

pioneer was

Patrick Pearse Patrick Henry Pearse (also known as Pádraig or Pádraic Pearse; ga, Pádraig Anraí Mac Piarais; 10 November 1879 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist, republican political activist and revolutionary who ...

, language activist and revolutionary, and writer of stories of idealistic content in a contemporary European form. Pearse was executed in 1916 but left a legacy which opened new possibilities for the language. Modernist possibilities were further developed by

Pádraic Ó Conaire Pádraic Ó Conaire (28 February 1882 – 6 October 1928) was an Irish writer and journalist whose production was primarily in the Irish language. In his lifetime he wrote 26 books, 473 stories, 237 essays and 6 plays. His acclaimed novel '' ...

, a writer of the 1920s on whom the European influence was evident but whose own legacy was mixed. He wrote, like Pearse, in the Irish of

Conamara Connemara (; )( ga, Conamara ) is a region on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speak ...

, sometimes setting his stories in that remote landscape and at other times in the towns. Ó Conaire has been described as the true pioneer of short story writing in Irish because of his rejection of older conventions and his determination to deal fearlessly with the truths of human nature. A different approach was taken by

Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha (; 10 March 1883 – 19 November 1964) and his brother Mícheál Ó Siochfhradha were Irish language writers, teachers and storytellers, from County Kerry, Ireland. Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha wrote under the Gaelic pen-nam ...

(known as "An Seabhac" – the hawk), who set his comic stories and sketches in the Munster

Gaeltacht ( , , ) are the districts of Ireland, individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The ''Gaeltacht'' districts were first officially recog ...

. ''An Baile S'Againne'' (1913) ("Our Place"). The

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

Gaeltacht brought forth Séamas Ó Grianna, who wrote prolifically and idiomatically about the people of his region, though much of his work has been criticised for its predictability. His brother

Seosamh Mac Grianna Seosamh Mac Grianna (20 August 1900 – 11 June 1990) was a writer from County Donegal. He was born into a family of poets and storytellers, which included his brothers Séamus Ó Grianna and Seán Bán Mac Grianna, in Rann na Feirste, County ...

, less prolific, left a handful of stories.

Máirtín Ó Cadhain Máirtín Ó Cadhain (; 1906 – 18 October 1970) was one of the most prominent Irish language writers of the twentieth century. Perhaps best known for his 1949 novel ''Cré na Cille'', Ó Cadhain played a key role in reintroducing literary mod ...

, an idiosyncratic writer, was born in the Conamara

, a region rich in folklore but with no strong literary tradition. His early stories, written in a thorny and difficult style, though with psychological penetration, were set in his native region. He settled eventually in Dublin and his style became more direct, though still marked by imaginative intensity. He remains generally regarded as the doyen of the craft in Irish and one of the best writers to emerge from Ireland in the 20th century, despite the fact that the difficulty of his earlier style was criticised – a difficulty which may have robbed him of a wider readership. The emigrant tradition in Ireland continued in the forties and fifties, and many of those who went were Irish speakers. One was Dónal Mac Amhlaidh, who took to writing about his experiences as a navvy in England and about other aspects of lives touched by exile.

, though a native speaker of Irish, made his name as a writer in English. He returned to Irish in a collection called ''Dúil'' ("Desire"), containing stories in the west of Ireland. The reviews were disappointing and may have discouraged him from writing in Irish again, but ''Dúil'' continues to be printed. In the middle of the 20th century most habitual speakers of Irish still lived in the Gaeltacht, but the number of urban readers was growing. The genre was still dominated by a masculine sensibility, but in 1955 brother and sister Donncha Ó Céileachair and Síle Ní Chéileachair published ''Bullaí Mhártain'', stories dealing with both the Munster Gaeltacht and city life. These stories were praised for their scope and their skilful adaptation of the language to an urban environment. A collection of sketches and stories called ''Feamainn Bealtaine'' ("Seaweed in May") was published by the poet

Máirtín Ó Direáin Máirtín Ó Direáin (; 29 November 1910 – 19 March 1988) was an Irish poet from the Aran Islands Gaeltacht. Along with Seán Ó Ríordáin and Máire Mhac an tSaoi, Ó Direáin was, in the words of Louis de Paor, "one of a trinity of poet ...

in 1961. These deal largely with his youth in the Irish-speaking

. An important contemporary practitioners of the genre, the poetic realist Seán Mac Mathúna (born 1935), has published versions of his stories in both Irish and English. His reputation was confirmed by his collection ''Ding'' ("Wedge"), with its disturbing title story. He was never a prolific writer, and has published little for some years. The short story continues to be a favoured form for writers in Irish, possibly because it lends itself to publication in the two main literary magazines, '' Feasta'' and ''

Comhar ''Comhar'' (; "partnership") is a prominent literary journal in the Irish language, published by the company Comhar Teoranta. It was founded in 1942, and has published work by some of the most notable writers in Irish, including Máirtín Ó Cadha ...

''. Collections in Irish continue to be published, with over 125 presently available. Women writers are now more prominent –

Orna Ní Choileáin Orna Ní Choileáin is an Irish writer from West Cork. She writes Irish language fiction books for both adults and children, as well as poetry and drama. She has won prizes for her creative prose, poetry, drama and theatre, and short-story writ ...

, Méadhbh Ní Ghallchobhair, Deirdre Ní Ghrianna and others. Younger readers are addressed by writers like Ré Ó Laighléis, whose stories deal with social problems such as drug abuse. Most readers now come from the urban Irish-speaking community, together with all the younger writers. This represents a distinctive change in the situation of the language and the future of its literature, though the Gaeltacht still has writers from the older generation, such as Colm Ó Ceallaigh and Joe Steve Ó Neachtain. The prevailing tone of short stories in Irish continues to be quotidian and realistic. An exception is the work of

Daithí Ó Muirí Daithí Ó Muirí is a writer of fiction in the Irish language. He was born in County Monaghan but now lives in the Cois Fharraige district of Connemara. Ó Muirí has published four collections of short stories and a longer work called ''Ré'' ( ...

, whose stories have been praised for their assured and engaging style and their surrealistic atmosphere. His collection ''Cogaí'' (Wars) won an important literary prize in 2001 in the

Cló Iar-Chonnacht Cló Iar-Chonnacht (CIC; ; "West Connacht Press") is an Irish language publishing company founded in 1985 by writer Micheál Ó Conghaile, a native speaker of Irish from Inis Treabhair in Connemara. He set the company up while still a student. ...

Literary Award Competition. The adjudicators referred to the savagery and vitality of the writing.

Critical theory

Influential books on the theory and practice of the short story were written by Sean O Faolain ''The Short Story'' (1948) and Frank O'Connor ''The Lonely Voice'' (1962). They advocated a realist approach in which the story focuses on a moment of crisis or change in a character's life. This approach has been an important influence on the short story in Ireland. Recently Jack Hart declared in the preface to his collection ''From Under Gogol's Nose'' (2004) that the parameters of the short story had been set too narrowly. He advocates a broader range of possibilities, from stories that are almost essays to those that are almost poems. He argues that the short story should be seen as closer by nature to the poem, requiring a similar engagement from the reader and communicating in a similar way through a fundamentally oral/aural process.

Awards

In English

Several awards for the short story have highlighted its development in Ireland. Cork hosted the first Frank O'Connor Short Story festival in 2000, as part of which the

Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award __NOTOC__ The Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award—named in honour of Frank O'Connor, who devoted much of his work to the form—was an international literary award presented for the best short story collection. It was presented bet ...

was established in 2005, and aimed to increase the profile of the short story as a literary form. As of 2016, this award has been discontinued, but past winners include: The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature has been awarded to short story collections by

Claire Keegan Claire Keegan (born 1968) is an Irish writer known for her short stories, which have been published in ''The New Yorker'', ''Best American Short Stories'', ''Granta'', and ''The Paris Review''. Biography Born in County Wicklow in 1968, Keegan is ...

, Keith Ridway,

Philip Ó Ceallaigh Philip Ó Ceallaigh (born 23 March 1968) is an Irish short story writer and translator who lives in Bucharest. Ó Ceallaigh won the 2006 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and was shortlisted for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Awar ...

and

Kevin Barry Kevin Gerard Barry (20 January 1902 – 1 November 1920) was an Irish Republican Army (IRA) soldier who was executed by the British Government during the Irish War of Independence. He was sentenced to death for his part in an attack upon a Brit ...

. Other award-winning authors include Mary Costello (shortlisted for the Guardian First Fiction Award), Sara Baume (winner of the Davy Byrnes Short Story Award), and

Billy O'Callaghan Billy O'Callaghan (born 9 December 1974) is an Irish short fiction writer and novelist. He is best known for his short-story collection ''The Things We Lose, The Things We Leave Behind'', which was awarded the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Award ...

(awarded the inaugural Writing.ie Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Award for the short story ).

References

{{Reflist Irish literature Short story types