Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Preface ix
4. 1. Introduction: After Ireland? 1
5. 2. Beckett’s Inner Exile 13
6. Interchapter – A Neutral Ireland? 25
7. 3. ‘Gaeldom is Over’: The Bell 29
8. 4. A Talking Corpse? Sáirséal agus Dill 39
9. 5. A Parrot in Ringsend: Máire Mhac an tSaoi 49
10. 6. Growing Up Absurd: Edna O’Brien and The Country Girls 61
11. 7. Frank O’Connor: A Mammy’s Boy 83
12. Interchapter – Secularization 91
13. 8. Richard Power and The Hungry Grass 95
14. Interchapter – Emigration 103
15. 9. Emigration Once Again: Friel’s Philadelphia 107
16. Interchapter – Northern Troubles 125
17. 10. Seamus Heaney: The Death of Ritual and the Ritual of Death 129
18. Interchapter – Europeanization 157
19. 11. The Art of Science: Banville’s Doctor Copernicus 161
20. 12. The Double Vision of Michael Hartnett 187
21. 13. Brian Friel’s Faith Healer 211
22. 14. Theatre as Opera: The Gigli Concert 231
23. 15. Frank McGuinness and Observe the Sons 249
24. 16. Derek Mahon’s Lost Worlds 275
25. Interchapter – Irish Language 287
26. 17. Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill: Pharaoh’s Daughter 291
27. Interchapter – Women’s Movement 315
28. 18. Eavan Boland: Outside History 319
29. 19. John McGahern’s Amongst Women 331
30. 20. Between First and Third World: Friel’s Lughnasa 353
31. 21. Roddy Doyle: Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha 383
32. Interchapter – Peace Comes Dropping Slow 395
33. 22. Seamus Deane: Reading in the Dark 399
34. 23. Reading Éilís Ní Dhuibhne 415
35. 24. Making History: Joseph O’Connor 419
36. 25. Fallen Nobility: McGahern’s Rising Sun 429
37. 26. Conor McPherson: The Seafarer 443
38. 27. Claire Keegan: Foster 455
39. 28. Kate Thompson and The New Policeman 469
40. 29. Conclusion: Going Global? 481
41. Notes 499
42. Index 529