This Companion provides an authoritative introduction to the historical, social and stylistic complexities of modern Irish culture. Readers will be introduced to Irish culture in its widest sense and helped to find their way through the cultural and theoretical debates that inform our understanding of modern Ireland. The volume combines cultural breadth and historical depth, supported by a chronology of Irish history and arts. A wide selection of essays on a rich variety of Irish cultural forms and practices are complemented by a series of in-depth analyses of key themes in Irish cultural politics. The range of topics covered will enable a comprehensive understanding of Irish culture, while the authors gathered here - all acknowledged experts in their fields - provide stimulating essays that together amount to an invaluable guide to the shaping of modern Ireland.

‘… stimulating introduction … well written and lucid …’

Source: Irish Times

‘… useful and authoritative … rish in broad brushstrokes …’

Source: The Times Literary Supplement

'… this companion provides a coherent, engaging resource.'

Source: Irish Times

'The essays collected in this timely and satisfying volume help the adventurous reader to access the extent to which the producers and practitioners of Irish culture have achieved such a balance in the course of the last two hundred years. Consistently challenging and intermittently captivating in its insights, this Companion stands as one of the most noteworthy contributions to Irish Studies in recent years.'

Source: The Irish Book Review

'… a stimulating introduction to the richness of Irish culture over the last 200 years.'

Source: Reference Reviews

'… Joe Cleary and Claire Connolly show their editorial gifts. … [Their] companion is an intelligent guide to the cultural complexities of modern Ireland. … an engaging contribution to Ireland's contemporary refiguration, composing a set of consistently provocative interventions that question the assumptions we hold as to what Ireland is, has been and may be.'

Source: Field Day Review

'This addition to the Cambridge Companion series aspires to do more than simply provide a solid source of reference for the student of modern Irish culture … This rethinking of historical narratives provides an illuminating frame for understanding Ireland's experience over the last two centuries. … stimulating collection.'

Source: Irish University Review