Irish Women's Letters - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 075091257X ISBN 13: 9780750912570

Publisher: Sutton Pub Ltd, 1997

Synopsis

A collection of letters written by famous and infamous Irish women, over a wide range of periods, and from a variety of backgrounds.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

The election of Mary Robinson as president of Ireland in 1990 marked the first time a woman had broken through the male hegemony that had dominated political Ireland since the beginning of modern republicanism in 1798. This collection by Flanagan (The Darling of My Heart) follows the words of the women who stood behind the revolutionaries, politicians and poets and who sometimes gave them a brisk shove forward. Starting with St. Brigid in the fifth century, Flanagan looks at Irish womanhood and how it helped shape the modern nation. We read Mary Ann McCracken's heartfelt letters to her love, Henry Joy McCracken, one of the founders of the United Irishmen in Belfast in 1791. We see how Oscar Wilde's mother, Lady Jane Francesca "Speranza" Wilde, and his wife, Constance Mary Wilde, handled his disgrace. Maud Gonne MacBride, wife of 1916 martyr Major John MacBride and the love of William Butler Yeats's life, writes to "dear Willie" about evictions of tenant farmers in 1899. And Nora Barnacle Joyce waxes poetic to her husband, James, in the Ulysses year of 1904, while Kitty Kiernan laments her "little fits" of the heart to her fiance, legendary revolutionary Michael Collins. A solid collection.

Copyright 1997 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This eclectic selection of letters, written from medieval days through the 20th century, contains pieces by women defined as Irish in the broad sense?native-born but also the wives and daughters of Irishmen, such as the Brontes. Flanagan (Humorous Irish Quotations, Irish Books & Media, 1994) represents historical and literary notables, such as Graine ni Mhaille, Maria Edgeworth, Maud Gonne, Nora Joyce, and Constance Markiewicz, as well as unknown women who poignantly discuss their everyday lives. His introductory material is somewhat sketchy and occasionally erroneous?for example, Charlotte Bronte was her father's third daughter, not the eldest. There are also conspicuous omissions, such as Lady Augusta Gregory. Nonetheless, these letters are worth reading for their insight into each writer's life and times. Recommended for larger public and academic libraries.?Denise J. Stankovics, Rockville P.L., Vernon, Ct.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Sutton Pub Ltd
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 075091257X
• ISBN 13: 9780750912570
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 239
• Editor: Flanagan Laurence