Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

novelist Liam Mac Cóil's second

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

, ''An Claíomh Solais'', is set in the Co. Meath

Gaeltacht A ( , , ) is a district of Ireland, either individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The districts were first officially recognised ...

Ráth Cairn Ringforts or ring forts are small circular fortified settlements built during the Bronze Age, Iron Age and early Middle Ages up to about the year 1000 AD. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are also many in ...

. ''An Claíomh Solais'' (''The Sword of Light'') is set in the Co. Meath Gaeltacht of Ráth Cairn in the months preceding the setting up of the first Irish-language television channel,

TG4 TG4 (; , ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television channel. It launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on-demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was initially known as (TnaG), before bein ...

, as a young independent television producer returns to Ireland and installs himself in the Gaeltacht to take part in what he hopes will be a cultural revolution. A parallel subplot deals with Irish nationalist

George Augustus Moore George Augustus Moore (24 February 1852 – 21 January 1933) was an Ireland, Irish novelist, Short story, short-story writer, poet, Art, art critic, memoirist and dramatist. Moore came from a landed family of Catholics who lived at Moore Hall, C ...

's return to Ireland to take part in the

Irish Literary Revival The Irish Literary Revival (also called the Irish Literary Renaissance, sometimes nicknamed the Celtic Twilight though this has a broader meaning) was a flowering of Irish literary talent in the late 19th and early 20th century. It includes wor ...

, and

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

's opera ''

Siegfried Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...

''.

References

''An Claíomh Solais'', Liam Mac Cóil, Leabhar Breac 1998, {{DEFAULTSORT:Claiomh Solais, An 1998 Irish novels Novels by Liam Mac Cóil Novels set in Ireland County Meath