This book is an overlooked masterpiece by one of Ireland's best-loved writers. In it Synge captured the idiosyncracies of everyday speech better, perhaps, than any other Irish writer, while his eye caught the details of a way of life that has long since disappeared. First published in 1910, it is now available as a paperback for the first time, complete with the evocative illustrations by Jack B. Yeats - universally regarded as twentieth-century Ireland's greatest painter.

Jack B. Yeats was the son of portrait painter John Butler Yeats and younger brother of the poet William Butler Yeats. He spent his childhood in Sligo, which remained a permanent source of inspiration for his painting. He studied art in London and soon earned a high reputation for pen and ink drawings in magazines. In 1910, after a period in Devon, he settled in Dublin where he devoted himself to painting in oils. Yeats was closely connected to the literary personalities of his day; John Masefield and J. M. Synge became his close friends. In the 1930s and '40s he published novels and plays which won the admiration of James Joyce and Samuel Beckett. His paintings have been exhibited in many major galleries, and continue to be exhibited thirty years after his death.

Lojek provides extensive analysis of space in plays by living Irish playwrights, applying practical understandings of staging and the insights of geographers and spatial theorists to drama in an era increasingly aware of space.

In this groundbreaking work, Timothy McMahon reexamines the significance of the Gaelic revival in forming Ireland’s national identity. In their determination to preserve and extend the use of Irish as a spoken language and artistic medium, members of the Gaelic League profoundly influenced Irish culture and literature in the twentieth century. McMahon explores that influence by scrutinizing the ways in which society absorbed their messages, tracing the interaction between the ideas propagated by the League and the variety of meanings ordinary people attached to Ireland and to being Irish. Comparing press and police reports with census data and local directories, the author establishes the first comprehensive profile of League membership. McMahon’s ability to access both English- and Irish-language sources offers readers a rare and richly detailed analysis of primary materials. Grand Opportunity addresses questions that are central to understanding modern Irish identity and makes an indispensable contribution to the wider study of national identity formation.

This study examines five modernists in different disciplines--biology, painting, drama, fiction, and anthropology--whose work on islands made them famous. Charles Darwin challenged every presumption of popular science with his theory of evolution by natural selection, derived from his study of the Galapagos Islands. Paul Gauguin found on Tahiti inspiration enough to break through the inhibiting traditions of the Parisian art world. John Millington Synge's experience on the Aran Islands off the coast of Ireland gave birth to a new style of drama that defied classic divisions between tragedy and comedy. D.H. Lawrence's life-long search for a utopian community culminated in his famous short story, "The Man Who Loved Islands," that poignantly portrays the tension between idealism and realism, solitude and human intimacy. Finally, Margaret Mead began her career in anthropology by studying the remote South Sea Islands and through her work acquired the sobriquet "Mother of the World." The text explores the extent to which islands inspired these radical thinkers to perform innovative work. Each used islands differently, but similar phenomena affected their choice of place and the outcome of their projects. Their examples illuminate the relationship of modernism to alienation and insularity.

In this pioneering study, David Emmons tells the story of Butte's large and assertive population of Irish immigrants. He traces their backgrounds in Ireland, the building of an ethnic community in Butte, the nature and hazards of their work in the copper mines, and the complex interplay between Irish nationalism and worker consciousness. From a treasure trove of "Irish stuff," the reports, minutes, and correspondence of the major Irish-American organizations in Butte, Emmons shows how the stalwart supporters of the RELA and the Ancient Order of Hiberians marched and drilled for Irish freedom---and how, as they ran the town, the miners' union, and the largest mining companies, they used this tradition of ethnic cooperation to ensure safe and steady work, Irish mines taking care of Irish miners. Butte was new, overwhelmingly Irish, and extraordinarily dangerous---the ideal place to test the seam between class and ethnicity.

A beautiful collection of travel stories from some of his favourite places, ‘In Wicklow and West Kerry’ (1912) is a personal and memorable account of J.M. Synge’s journeys around Ireland. Throughout this wonderful book, Synge’s love for the Irish people and geography shines through as he regales the reader with delightful vignettes. Fans of modern travel writers like Robert Macfarlane and Bill Bryson will absolutely adore Synge's ‘In Wicklow and West Kerry’. Edmund John Millington Synge (1871 – 1909) was an Irish poet, playwright, and defining figure of the Irish Literary Revival. Born in County Dublin to upper-middle-class Protestants, Synge suffered from Hodgkin’s disease which led to his home-schooling. Soon after graduating from Trinity College Dublin, Synge became a renowned poet and playwright, but his success was short-lived as he passed away from cancer at 37. He is best remembered for his play ‘The Playboy of the Western World’, an incredibly controversial work at the time of its publication and performance. Regarded by Yeats as ‘the greatest dramatic genius of Ireland’, Synge has held a lasting legacy, being a key influence for acclaimed Irish playwright Samuel Beckett and the subject of Joseph O’Connor’s novel ‘Ghost Light’ (2010).

Originally published in 1994, this dictionary provides a unique 'who’s who' of the major figures in the world of British cartoons and caricatures. It was the first book to encompass the entire field from c.1730 when Hogarth published the first of his 'modern moral pictures' to 1980. In addition to describing the careers and achievements of the artists and the characteristics of their styles, more than 500 entries give details of their publications, their illustrations to books and periodicals, exhibitions of their work, public collections in which their work is represented and literature on or referring to them. More than 150 illustrations are included. This is a comprehensive reference work and will be of interest to social and political historians as well as cartoon and caricature enthusiasts.