This is an authoritative account of the a major, but neglected aspect of the Irish cultural renaissance- prose literature of the Gaelic Revival. The period following the War of Independence and Civil War saw an outpouring of book-length works in Irish from the state publishing agency An Gum. The frequency and production of new plays, both original and translated, have never been approached since. This book investigates all of these works as well as journalism and manuscript material and discusses them in a lively and often humorous manner. -- Publisher description

This book fulfils a keenly-felt need for a modern, comprehensive dictionary of Scottish Gaelic into English. The numerous examples of usage and idiom in this work have been modelled on examples culled from modern literature, and encompass many registers ranging from modern colloquial speech, to more elaborate literary constructions. The main contemporary terms and idiomatic phraseology, often not available in other dictionaries, provide excellent models for easier language learning. In addition to the main dictionary, the volume contains introductory material, providing guidance on using the dictionary, spelling and pronunciation. There are also twelve useful appendices which cover not only the various parts of speech, lenition and proper nouns, but also address the more difficult issues of expressing time, direction and numerals. The clarity of the design and layout of the volume will greatly ease the process of attaining mastery of the Gaelic language.

Includes section "Book reviews".

Recently, chapters on individual Irish-language authors have formed part of publications regarding modern Irish art and culture in general. Such chapters are welcome but they have excited the curiosity of readers to the degree that longer, more detailed works are now required to put writing in Irish into perspective. In this study of four modern poets (two each from two generations), Sewell attempts to illustrate not only the accumulative but the transformative nature of tradition. Chapters 1 and 2 turn from the mid-20th century master Seán Ó Riordáin to the contemporary poet Cathal Ó Searcaigh because the comparison and contrast highlights significant aspects of the amazing development of Irish poetry and, indeed, society in the period. Here, importantly, the word 'development' is meant in a neutral way - the image used is that of a zig-zag movement in the pattern of the continuing Irish tradition. Chapter 3 returns to the slightly earlier, major Irish-language poet Máirtín Ó Direáin. In doing so, it returns home (from the internationalism of the previous chapter on Searcaigh) to Ireland - a major focus and concern for the more solely traditionalist Ó Direáin. This switch back (in time, geography, social mores or outlook) fits and illustrates Sewell's concept of the zig-zag movement of a country's culture as it proceeds from generation to generation. The positioning, therefore, has a thematic purpose. The fourth and final chapter focuses on the contemporary poet Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill who has managed to synthesise tradition and modernity (central concerns of this book) and who, in doing so, has become the current trail-blazer of Irish poetry in either language.

In this extensive study of the changing role of Gaelic in modern Scotland, Wilson McLeod looks at the policies of government and the work of activists and campaigners who have sought to maintain and promote Gaelic.

The work of a highly significant figure in the renaissance of Gaelic poetry in the twentieth century is gathered together for the first time in one authoritative volume. George Campbell Hay's complete original poems, in Gaelic, Scots, English, French, Italian and Norwegian, are presented chronologically with accompanying English translations and annotations to each poem. This edition also includes a detailed biography, drawing on Hay's own correspondence, which sheds new light on the social, political and literary context of his work; an outline of Hay's main poetic concerns in theme and in form; and some of Hay's own musical settings.Hardback still available in deluxe 2-volume set