J.M. Synge, Travelling Ireland

Essays 1898-1908

JM Synge, Nicolas Grene

• Publisher: The Lilliput Press
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN:
  9781843511571
• eBook ISBN:
  9781843512400
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literary Essays
• Index: Literature

Synge's topographical essays appear here in their original newspaper and periodical publication form, taken from the Manchester Guardian, The Gael and The Shanachie, complete with illustrations, mostly by Jack B. Yeats. A substantial essay-introduction by Nicholas Grene places his work in its historical context (1898-1908) and evokes the man and his milieu. Synge's writings explore social, political and aesthetic perspectives gained from his travels on the Atlantic seaboard and among the Wicklow Hills. Eighteen of them concern the Aran Islands and the west of Ireland of the Congested Districts, from County Donegal down to Galway, describing famine relief projects, ferrymen, kelp gatherers, boat-builders, peasant proprietors, small shopkeepers, races and fairs. Nine deal with County Wicklow and West Kerry, their vagrants, landlords and pastimes. Maps, photographs by Synge, facsimile title-pages, and above all Jack Yeats' inimitable drawings, embellish the text.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Illustrations
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Note on the Text
• ‘A Story from Inishmaan’1
• ‘The Last Fortress of the Celt’11
• ‘An Autumn Night in the Hills’25
• ‘A Dream of Inishmaan’31
• ‘An Impression of Aran’33
• ‘The Oppression of the Hills’42
• ‘In the “Congested Districts”: From Galway to Gorumna’
• ‘In the “Congested Districts”: Between the Bays of Carraroe’
• ‘In the “Congested Districts”: Among the Relief Works’
• ‘In the “Congested Districts”: The Ferryman of Dinish Island’
• ‘In the “Congested Districts”: The Kelp Makers’
• ‘In the “Congested Districts”: The Boat-Builders’
• ‘In the “Congested Districts”: The Homes of the Harvestmen’
• ‘In the “Congested Districts”: The Smaller Peasant Proprietors’
• ‘In the “Congested Districts”: Erris’
• ‘In the “Congested Districts”: The Inner Lands of Mayo – The Village Shop’
• ‘In the “Congested Districts”: The Small Town’
• ‘In the “Congested Districts”: Possible Remedies – Concluding Article’
• ‘The Vagrants of Wicklow’
• ‘The People of the Glens’
• ‘At a Wicklow Fair: The Place and the People’112
• ‘A Landlord’s Garden In County Wicklow’
• ‘In West Kerry’123
• ‘In West Kerry: the Blasket Islands’
• ‘In West Kerry: To Puck Fair’
• [‘In West Kerry’: At the Races’]183
• ‘In Wicklow: On the Road’
• Bibliography
• Copyright