Irish Literary Renaissance

Irish Literary Renaissance : The Irish Literary Renaissance was a writers’ movement that worked to create literature with a truly Irish character, distinct from literature of England, through the study and revival of ancient Irish legends and folk tales. William Butler Yeats helped start the movement, which was partly the outcome of a trend toward political nationalism that developed in Ireland at the end of the 19th century. In 1902, Yeats and Irish playright Lady Augusta Gregory (1859-1932) established the Irish National Theatre Society, which became the movement’s most famous institution. It achieved an international reputation through its staging of the plays of John Millington Synge and Sean O’Casey. The movement is said to have influenced the work of James Joyce.