A History of Irish Autobiography

A History of Irish Autobiography is the first ever critical survey of autobiographical self-representation in Ireland from its recoverable beginnings to the twenty-first century. The book draws on a wealth of original scholarship by leading experts to provide an authoritative examination of autobiographical writing in the English and Irish languages. Beginning with a comprehensive overview of autobiography theory and criticism in Ireland, the History guides the reader through seventeen centuries of Irish achievement in autobiography, a category that incorporates diverse literary forms, from religious tracts and travelogues to letters, diaries, and online journals. This ambitious book is rich in insight. Chapters are structured around key subgenres, themes, texts, and practitioners, each featuring a guide to recommended further reading. The volume's extensive coverage is complemented by a detailed chronology of Irish autobiography from the fifth century to the contemporary era, the first of its kind to be published.

1. Introduction: autobiography theory and criticism in Ireland Liam Harte; 2. Writing in medieval Ireland in the first-person voice Máire Ní Mhaonaigh; 3. Early modern Irish autobiography Marie-Louise Coolahan; 4. Irish Protestant life-writing in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Elizabeth Grubgeld; 5. Irish women's spiritual and religious life-writing in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Maria Luddy; 6. Spiritual and religious life-writing in Ireland since 1900 Louise Fuller; 7. Irish political autobiography from Wolfe Tone to Ernie O'Malley Matthew Kelly; 8. The memoirs of male politicians in independent Ireland Eoin O'Malley and Kevin Rafter; 9. Women's political autobiography in independent Ireland Margaret O'Callaghan; 10. Autobiography and the Irish literary revival Nicholas Allen; 11. Irish literary autobiography since the Revival Christina Hunt Mahony; 12. The Irish autobiographical novel Jonathan Bolton; 13. Memoirs of Irish rural life George O'Brien; 14. The autobiography of the Irish working class Emmet O'Connor; 15. Irish-language autobiography Bríona Nic Dhiarmada; 16. Orality and life-writing in modern Ireland Kelly Fitzgerald and Mary Muldowney; 17. Southern Irish Protestant autobiography since partition Robert Tobin; 18. Northern Irish autobiography since 1960 Barry Sloan; 19. The Irish travel memoir I: journeys within Ireland Glenn Hooper; 20. The Irish travel memoir II: journeys beyond Ireland Michael Cronin; 21. Life-writing and diaspora I: the autobiographical writings of the Irish in the USA and Latin America Laura P. Z. Izarra and James Silas Rogers; 22. Life-writing and diaspora II: the autobiographical writings of the Irish in Britain and Australia Patrick Buckridge and Liam Harte; 23. The Irish abuse survival memoir Moira J. Maguire; 24. Irish celebrity autobiography Anthony P. McIntyre and Diane Negra; 25. Irish life-writing in the digital era Claire Lynch.

Liam Harte is the author or editor of ten books, among them Reading the Contemporary Irish Novel 1987–2007 (2014), The Literature of the Irish in Britain: Autobiography and Memoir, 1725–2001 (2009), and Modern Irish Autobiography: Self, Nation and Society (2007), the last two of which are widely recognized as pioneering publications in the field of modern Irish life-writing. He is Senior Lecturer in Irish and Modern Literature at the University of Manchester.