The contribution that Emyr Estyn Evans (E.E Evans) has made to Irish studies is not just realised in his works and academic achievements, it is also realised in the present and it will continue to be recognised in the future. As we all share in one way or another, the same proud feeling for our Irish heritage in all its forms from historical, geographically, orally and traditionally. The author will seek to discuss this in this essay; it is in large, partly attributed to the foundations laid and explorations undertaken by E. E Evans. Although a lot of Evans life and achievements were lived and realised in Ulster and Belfast his lasting legacy is felt as a whole on the island of Ireland. He believed in the nine counties of Ulster being just that rather than making aware or highlighting the divide that is North and South of the border. He once recalled how he saw the Irish heritage as a single theme with many variations (Hamlin, A, 1989).
In 1928 at the unbelievably young age of 23 years old Evans after having studied geography in Aberystwyth under the tutorship of H. J Fleure he was appointed the first lecturer in geography at the Queens University Belfast (QUB). It is from here that Evans laid the foundations for his studies in the Irish landscape and its people. Evans started his research of the Irish landscape with a hands on approach as he set out immediately at fieldwork and excavation. In order for Evans to gain a better understanding and clearer picture of the prehistoric Ireland a topic which interested him greatly because he believed we needed to understand this before we could evaluate the Ireland of that time. Fieldwork was to become one of Evans primary sources (Hamlin, A, 1989).
By carrying out fieldwork Evans...
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...he Association of American Geographers (1979), and honorary doctorates from UCD, TCD, NUI, QUB, Wales and Bowdoin College in Maine, New England. For his public work on many advisory and statutory bodies he was awarded the CBE in 1970. He was one of the leading scholars of his generation, an academic who gave diligently of his time and knowledge for public benefit, but who above all was a bright lecturer and considerate teacher, much loved by his students. Evans died in Belfast on August 12th, 1989 (Queen's University Belfast, 2008).
Qwyneth, Estyns wife said that “within her handsome husband there was a poet struggling to break free”. She said that he had “a poets way with words, a pulling of feeling into their arrangement and Irish poets love for the land, its shifting light and windy prospects and the history that was sunken into small hills” (Glassie, H, 2008).
Irish American Magazine, Aug.-Sept. 2009. Web. The Web. The Web. 06 May 2014.
Also Clonycavan man who laid directly along the county border of Meath and Westmeath, dividing the ancient territories of Brega and Mide. Recent research of Iron age bog Bodies in Ireland clearly isolates forty different locations in which bog Bodies were found in close propinquity to important primarily barony boundaries (Kelly, 2006). Nevertheless the Boundary theory is restricted and bias...
In 476 AD, centuries of amassed knowledge in science and philosophy, literature and the arts lay in peril of destruction alongside the physical Roman Empire. Thomas Cahill's book How the Irish Saved Civilization sheds light upon the role of the Irish people in the conservation and rebirth of civilization and the Western tradition after the fall of the Roman Empire. It is here that Cahill opens his book and after a brief description of classical civilization, that we are given a look at another people, far different from the Romans and Greeks- the vibrant and intriguing Celts. How these people came in contact with the civilized world and how they assisted in pulling the West out of the Dark ages is, then, the paramount of Cahill's argument.
Included within the anthology The Penguin Book of Irish Fiction,1[1] are the works of great Irish authors written from around three hundred years ago, until as recently as the last decade. Since one might expect to find in an anthology such as this only expressions and interpretations of Irish or European places, events or peoples, some included material could be quite surprising in its contrasting content. One such inclusion comes from the novel Black Robe,2[2] by Irish-born author Brian Moore. Leaving Ireland as a young man afforded Moore a chance to see a great deal of the world and in reflection afforded him a great diversity of setting and theme in his writings. And while his Black Robe may express little of Ireland itself, it expresses much of Moore in his exploration into evolving concepts of morality, faith, righteousness and the ever-changing human heart.
Meagher, Timothy. “The Columbia Guide to Irish American History.” Columbia University Press- New York, 2005
Johansen, Ib. ‘Shadows in a Black Mirror: Reflections on the Irish Fantastic from Sheridan Le Fanu to John Banville’. Nordic Irish Studies , Vol. 1, (2002).
However the poet is now attempting to build up such a perfect image of their possible life together, that it becomes ever more unrealistic. The answer from the lady whose heart he is trying to win over however, takes a far more realistic approach, and seems to try and bring him back down to earth. She makes him aware of the fact that time brings change, an...
The ancient mythology of Ireland is one of its’ greatest assets. The glorious, poetic tales of battles, super humans, demigods and heroes ranks among the best of ancient literature. The book of the Dun Cow, (Lebor na huidre), was written around 1100 and contains stories from the eighth and ninth centuries. The Book of Invasions, (Lebor Gabala), tells how the mythical ancestors of the Irish, the God-like Tuatha Dé Danann, wrestled Ireland (or Erin) from misshapen Fir Bolg in fantastic battles. The Fir Bolg were traditionally linked to Gaul and Britain so the analogy between them and the invading English was complete.
Fabricant, Carole. "Speaking for the Irish Nation: The Drapier, the Bishop, and the Problems of Colonial Representation." ELH (1999): 337-332. http://www.jstor.org.muncie.libproxy. ivytech.edu/stable/30032076.
O’Brien, Conor and Cruise. A Concise History of Ireland. Thames and Hudson; New York, 1985.
Over the centuries, poetry has endeavoured to communicate human emotion and ideas. Bruce Dawe’s grave Homecoming and the saddening Dulce et Decorum est by Wilfred Owen convey the trauma in war-stricken situations and the loss involved. Significantly differing from these sombre themes, William Shakespeare is able to convey his love and appreciation for a woman in My Mistress’ Eyes which conflicts with the self-hatred and resentment apparent in Jennifer Maiden’s stark Anorexia. Delving into personal emotions, a number of the poems express despair in conflict or, conversely, aim to portray an inner turmoil.
Moran, D.P. The Philosophy of Irish Ireland (2nd edition). Dublin: James Duffy and Co., 1905.
Kiberd, Declan. Inventing Ireland: The Literature of the Modern Nation. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995.
● “The Changing Faces of Ireland” Darmody, M. Tyrell, N. & Song, S. (2011) Springer
McCann et al. Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1994, 95-109).