IRISH (self-names - na hEireann, na hEireannaigh), the people, the main population of Ireland. The number is over 3.7 million people, including those born in Ireland - 3.5 million people, in Northern Ireland - 47 thousand people, in England - 109 thousand people, in Scotland - 5.6 thousand people (2006, census). They also live in the UK, USA (36 million people claim Irish ancestry, some of them do not actually have Irish ancestors; 2006, US Census Bureau estimate), Canada (3.8 million people of Irish descent, of which almost half are in province of Ontario; 2001, census), Australia (1.9 million people, the 2nd largest group of Anglo-Australians; 2001, census), etc. Estimates of the number of Irish in the diaspora vary depending on who is considered Irish (officially, the Irish government recognizes immigrants up to the 3rd generation as Irish). They speak English language and Irish (Gaels). Believers are Catholics.

Celtic (Gaelic) tribes settled the island of Ireland, probably by the 2nd half of the 1st millennium BC. Since the 12th century, the British initially entered into marriages with the Irish, adopted their names, customs, etc., but from the middle of the 14th century (the Kilkenny Statutes of 1366), relations with the Irish began to be considered in England as treason. Oppression of the Irish by the British, land confiscations, religious reformation and persecution of Catholics, brutal suppression of uprisings (especially after the expedition of O. Cromwell in 1649), prohibition folk culture(language, songs, clothing, etc.), the agrarian revolution of the 19th century (the forced transition from grain farming to cattle breeding and potato growing, accompanied by the mass ruin of the peasants), the Great Famine of 1845-49 caused a mass emigration of the Irish, especially to North America. In the middle of the 19th century, the Irish made up about half of the immigrants to Canada and the United States. Emigration was accompanied by high mortality (ships carrying the Irish to America were called "coffin ships"). The Irish became one of the most urbanized groups in the United States (the cities of New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco), made up a significant proportion among construction and transport workers, the police, etc. Over time, despite discrimination, the descendants of Irish immigrants entered the economic , political and cultural elite of many countries. The Irish diaspora created educational, cultural, charitable and political organizations, maintained close contacts with the rebel movement in their homeland, participated in hostilities against British colonial troops in America (for example, the "Irish invasions of Canada" 1866-1871). Tensions between the Irish and the British, taking the form of a religious conflict (between Catholics and Protestants), persist in Northern Ireland.

The Irish were one of the most agrarian peoples in Europe. They were engaged in large-scale commercial beef cattle breeding (mainly in the east and northeast) and sheep breeding, including transhumance (mainly in the west). The main crops are potatoes, barley and oats, in the southeast also wheat. Until the middle of the 19th century, in the west they plowed with a light wooden plow (ard), in central and eastern Ireland - with a heavy Anglo-Norman plow, in a team of 4-6 horses. In the mountains, the earth was cultivated with a shovel with a narrow curved blade (double in some places) and a foot rest at the bottom of the handle. Until the 20th century, drags, 2-wheeled carts, were preserved; they also rode donkeys and ponies of a special breed (large, with long hair). Irish villages are cumulus, in the west - an ordinary layout; until the 19th century, there were up to 50-60, then - 10-20 households. Until the 17th century, settlements on artificial islands on lakes (krannog), ring fortifications (rat) remained. After the agrarian revolution, the farm became the main type of rural settlement. The yard is usually rectangular, open with massive gates, in the north and west - one- or two-row, in the mountains and swampy areas - a scattered layout. traditional dwelling adobe, in the mountains - stone, bleached since the 19th century; in the east, under English influence, fachwerk frame technique is common, in Northern Ireland - brick. Thatched roofs are typical. The house usually has entrances from 2 longitudinal sides, small windows - in one of the longitudinal walls overlooking the courtyard. In the southwest, houses with a central location of the hearth were common, sometimes oval in shape with a hipped roof, a bedroom and a room for livestock (later an additional room) were fenced off from the ends. In the north and west, houses with a fireplace near the end wall facing the street prevailed; sometimes a front room or bedroom was attached behind the fireplace from the end. Until the 19th century, fireplaces with wicker tops smeared with clay, beds in wall niches were common. There were often no tables, the family gathered at the hearth for food, the food was placed on a wicker tray on their knees, which was then hung on the wall; later wall folding tables appeared. Traditional food - milk (in terms of milk consumption, the Irish occupied the 1st place in the world), bacon, oatmeal, oat and barley cakes on soda, baked on a tripod brazier (yeast bread was unknown). Since the 19th century, potatoes have become the main food. In the west, algae and mollusks collected on the shore at low tide were eaten. The main drink is strong sweet tea, sometimes with milk; from alcoholic - beer, whiskey. traditional clothing mostly wool. Women's outerwear is characteristic - a wide cape with a hood. Women's clothing the Irish of the Aran Islands have a dark red skirt with black stripes along the hem, a blouse and a shawl. The men wore knitted sweaters with an ornament characteristic of each village (the bodies of drowned fishermen were identified by it). In the 18-19 centuries, the Irish began to mistakenly attribute the Gaelic kilt, women's green dress, etc. as "national" forms of clothing. Straw weaving, patterned knitting (including men's belts), embroidery, bobbin lace weaving, etc., were developed from crafts. ; the so-called Celtic ornament is popular.

Until the 19th century, the remnants of the clan system were preserved (its traces are surnames starting with Mac - "son" or O' - "grandson", in the past indicating belonging to one or another clan), until the 2nd half of the 20th century in rural areas - neighborly mutual assistance, patriarchal family. Due to lack of land, primacy and late marriages were common. In the 19th century, seeing off emigrants with the participation of neighbors (american wake - American commemoration) became a custom. Until the 19th century, there were traditional wedding and funeral rites. The cult of water sources is preserved (for example, the so-called source of oblivion on the Aran Islands, to which they went before leaving for America). It is a custom for old people to gather winter evenings on someone's farm by the hearth. Men go to pubs. Traditional sports are field hockey (hurling), golf. Major holidays include St. Patrick's Day (March 17); popular, especially in America, the autumn memorial holiday of Halloween. At the initiative of national cultural organizations (Gaelic League, Gael Lynn, etc.) annual festivals(fesh, plural of feshana).

Oral creativity. The most important musical instrument in the Irish tradition, the claryne harp (see Celtic harp; the oldest surviving examples date back to the 14th century). One of ancient instruments- lira cool (see Mole). The traditional aerophone bun over the past few centuries has been supplanted by longitudinal flutes (with and without a whistle device). The Irish ilean pipes (smaller than the Scottish, the bellows are operated by the elbow) may accompany the piper's singing. The fiddle has been used in traditional Irish music since the 18th century, the bodran tambourine has been used since the 20th century. Usually, in ensemble playing, the instruments sound in unison. Unaccompanied singing is considered the oldest form of music making and is called shan nos ("old style"). Most of the preserved traditional music- dance tunes in even meter: reel, giga and hornpipe. The most ancient melodies are based on the pentatonic scale. Gaelic genres (legends, bylichki, etc.) and plots are preserved. Purely English genre - limerick. Traditional Gaelic musical and dance culture was largely lost by the 18th and 19th centuries. The most characteristic musical and poetic genre of late folklore is the ballad (plots about wars, uprisings, the death of heroes, etc.). In the urban environment, there were so-called street ballads. Historical songs are characteristic (for example, "The Boys from Wexford", "Brave Robert Emmett", "Clothes of the Greens" - about the uprisings of 1798 and 1803), including author's ones, for example, the 19th century poet T. Davies. Lyrical songs also have a patriotic overtone. Among the heroes of fairy tales are the comic character Dark Patrick, the wandering musician and storyteller Raftery, and others. In connection with the revival of national culture in the 20th century, the so-called Irish, or New Celtic, harp came into use; the ancient harp of the klarshach is depicted on the coat of arms of Ireland. The so-called Irish music (“Celtic folkrock”) that spread in the late 20th and early 21st centuries in Ireland and beyond its borders is only partly connected with late folklore.

Lit.: Flood W. H. G. History of Irish music. Dublin, 1905. 3rd ed. Shannon, 1970; Grozdova I. N., Kozlov V. I. The Irish // Peoples of foreign Europe. M., 1965. T. 2; O'Neill T. Life and tradition in rural Ireland. L., 1977; Charles-Edwards T. M. Early Irish and Welsh kinship. Oxf.; N.Y., 1993; Patterson N. T. Cattle-Lords and clansmen: kinship and rank in early Ireland. 2nd ed. N.Y., 1994; The companion to Irish traditional music / Ed. F. Valley. N.Y., 1999.

T. A. Mikhailova; I. Garzonio ( oral creativity).

Irish, Erinnah (self-name in Irish), Irish (self-name in English), people, the main population of Ireland (3.4 million people). They also live in the UK (2.5 million people), the USA (1.6 million people), Canada (over 200 thousand people), Australia (72 thousand people). The total number of 7.8 million people. Speaking English. The Irish (Gaelic) language of the Celtic group of the Indo-European family exists in the west and south of Ireland. Writing on the Latin graphic basis. Believers are predominantly Catholics.

The ethnic basis of the Irish was made up of the Celtic tribes of the Gaels, who migrated from the continent in the 4th century BC. After the adoption of Christianity (5th century) and the formation of separate states on the island, an Irish ethnic community developed. In the 12th century, the British landed on the island. The colonization of Ireland proceeded especially intensively from the 17th century, after the suppression of the anti-English uprising of the Irish in 1641. Irish lands were confiscated, many Irish clans were resettled in barren highlands, especially in Northern Ireland. The colonialists persecuted the Gaelic language, Celtic culture, trying to assimilate the Irish. However, the Irish managed to defend their cultural independence and preserve their national identity.

The Irish nation was formed (XVIII-XIX centuries) in difficult, essentially colonial conditions. The agrarian revolution that took place in the country in the 19th century - the transition to a large pasture farm was accompanied by a mass drive of small tenants from their plots. The land area under grain crops has sharply decreased. Potatoes became the main food of the Irish peasant. Its crop failures in 1845-47 led to severe famine, which was the impetus for the development of mass emigration to England and overseas. Since then, emigration has been characteristic of Ireland. In 1919-21, the Irish War of Liberation unfolded, during which a compromise Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 was concluded on granting Ireland the status of a dominion (except for Northern Ireland, the province of Ulster, which remained under British control). In 1949 Ireland was proclaimed a republic. In Ireland, measures are being taken to preserve the Irish language: it is considered official along with English, introduced as a compulsory subject in schools. In Northern Ireland (Ulster), the relationship between Catholic and Protestant communities has led to inter-ethnic tension and terrorist activities of extremist forces. A political settlement of the conflict is being sought.

The majority of Irish people live in the countryside, although the urban population is increasing. Agriculture is dominated by animal husbandry (cattle, sheep). They grow wheat, barley, oats, potatoes. Developed fishing.

In food, traditionally, a large place is occupied by potato dishes, dairy products, oatmeal, fish. The most popular drink is tea.

The type of settlements is farm, there are small villages of cumulus planning. In the west, Celtic buildings have been preserved - stone houses with low walls and sloping thatched or thatched roofs. In other places, they have long been supplanted by stone or frame (with concrete block walls) houses, with two-, four-pitched slate or tiled roofs. The walls are plastered inside and out and painted in bright colors. The usual type of urban settlements are small towns with a central square.

National clothes - a one-color (more often orange) skirt (kilt), a long jacket, a light shirt without a collar, a large cloth beret - are almost completely lost. Only musicians of pipe bands wear a stylized folk costume. Festive clothes are dominated by green color which is considered national.

There are traces of the old clan structure: most of the surnames have the prefix "Mack" - son or "O" - grandson (for example, O "Neil - the grandson of the Neil clan). Patriarchal foundations remain in rural families: the head of the family is the owner of the farm, children are economically dependent on The son who inherits the farm usually does not marry until the death of his father, the tiny plots of land cannot support two families, so late marriages prevail in the Irish countryside, and a large number of bachelors is also characteristic.

In the calendar cycle of folk rites and customs, common with other European peoples, ancient Celtic holidays are also celebrated, for example Samhain - the beginning of the year according to the Celtic calendar (November 1). On the night of November 1, it is customary to kindle bonfires on hills, around which they sing and dance, processions of mummers pass through the streets. On August 1, on the feast of Lugnazad, the beginning of the harvest and other harvesting activities is celebrated. Holidays are accompanied by sports competitions. Gaelic national sports - harling (a kind of hockey), Gaelic football.

The oral art of the Irish is rich and original both in Gaelic and in English (historical songs that reflect the national liberation struggle of the Irish, etc.). Traditional musical instruments are the harp (considered the national emblem of the Irish) and the bagpipe.

I. N. Grozdova

Peoples and religions of the world. Encyclopedia. M., 2000, p. 194-195.

4.8 million people live in Ireland. Despite their small numbers, the Irish have left a noticeable mark on world culture and science, and to this day they are one of the most enlightened nations.

The Irish character is not traditionally European. They are open and friendly, they do everything in a big way, they love noisy feasts. These people will treat the first person they meet as their friend: they will tell you the way, ask about plans, and at the same time tell a funny story. Friendliness, responsiveness and a great sense of humor are their main national traits. Not for nothing in 2010. Ireland has been named the friendliest country in the world by Lonely Planet!

Population of Ireland

The indigenous population of Ireland comes from the Celtic tribes of the Gaels who moved here in the 5th century BC. In the 8th century, the Vikings came to the territory of the kingdom, who founded cities here (including Dublin) and had a huge impact on the formation of the nation. The Irish are distinguished by red hair, blue eyes, tall stature and a dense physique. And in their character the features of warlike ancestors can be traced: directness, perseverance and independence.

To date, Ireland multinational state, which is based on the Irish (90%). Among more than 40 other nationalities, British (2.7%), immigrants from EU countries (about 4%) and emigrants from Asia and Africa can be distinguished.

Most of the inhabitants are Catholics. The national languages ​​are English and Irish, the study of which is paid attention at the state level.

Culture and life of the peoples of Ireland.

Irish literature is considered the third oldest in Europe (after Greek and Roman). Its founder is Saint Patrick, who wrote the Confession in Latin. Three Irishmen received Nobel Prize on literature. The inhabitants of this country love to read books, and many write poems and publish them in local magazines.

Among the architectural monuments, one can single out Irish dolmens (ancient stone structures), ancient fortresses, buildings in gothic style(Cathedral of Christ in Dublin) and classical mansions from the time of the English domination. Commoners lived in alumina or stone one-story houses with a hearth, which was considered the "heart of the house." Songs and folk tales were dedicated to him. Modern Irish prefer to live in brick houses without any frills. The only decoration is bright multi-colored doors, which are the hallmark of Ireland.

The main highlight of Irish culture - folk music and dancing. Irish "solo dances" with vigorous foot movements are known all over the world. In Ireland itself dance shows so popular that you can watch them in ordinary pubs and drink a glass of beer here.

Traditions and customs of the peoples of Ireland.

In this country, they like to hold noisy fairs with musical performances and sports competitions. Here you can also eat delicious and satisfying meals. The cuisine of Ireland is simple in a folk way: potato stew, pickled herring, kolkannion (a dish of cabbage and potatoes). It is customary to drink all this with beer or the famous Irish whiskey.

On New Year's Eve, the Irish do not close the doors of their houses so that anyone can come to visit them.

The main public holiday is St. Patrick's Day (March 17). The arrival of spring is celebrated with parades and carnivals. The Irish wear green robes, Leprechaun hats and adorn themselves with shamrock leaves. Even beer turns green on this day. In every city there is an atmosphere of cordiality and general fun.

The Irish are the largest Celtic people. 4.6 million ethnic Irish live in Ireland (meaning an independent state, not an island of the same name), 1.8 million live in Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK. About 70 million people in the world are of Irish origin, most of all in the USA (40 million), Great Britain (14 million), Australia (7 million), Canada (4.5 million), Argentina (1 million) .
This rating presents the most beautiful, in my opinion, famous Irish girls and women from Ireland, Great Britain and the USA.

15th place. Rose McGowan(b. September 5, 1973, Florence, Italy) is an American actress, best known for her role as Paige Matthews in the television series Charmed. Her father is Irish, her mother is.

14th place. Holly Carpenter / Holly Carpenter(born October 9, 1991, Dublin, Ireland) - Irish model, Miss Ireland 2011, represented the country at Miss World 2011.

13th place. Aimee Richardson / Aimee Richardson(b. December 29, 1997, Bangor, Northern Ireland listen) is a British actress best known for her role as Myrcella Baratheon in the first two seasons of Game of Thrones.

12th place. Ifa Walsh / Aoife Walsh- Irish model, Miss Ireland 2011, represented the country at Miss World 2013. Red is the natural color of her hair.

11th place. Andrea Corr / Andrea Corr(born May 17, 1974, Dundalk, Ireland) - Irish singer, vocalist bands The Corrs, which also includes her two sisters (all sisters are in this ranking) and her brother.

10th place. Maureen O'Sullivan / Maureen O'Sullivan(May 17, 1911, Boyle, Ireland - June 23, 1998) - Irish actress who made successful career in Hollywood in the 1930s. She is best known for playing Jane in the Tarzan films.

9th place. Ene Ni Vrinon / Eithne Ní Bhraonáin(b. May 17, 1961, Guidor, Ireland), better known as Enya / Enya is an Irish singer.

8th place. Margaret O'Brien / Margaret O "Brien(born January 15, 1937, San Diego, USA) - American actress, known for her roles in childhood. Her father is Irish, her mother is.

7th place. Katherine "Katie" McGrath / Katherine "Katie" McGrath(born October 24, 1983, Ashford, Ireland) is an Irish actress, best known for her role as Morgana in the British TV series Merlin.

6th place. Caroline Corr / Caroline Corr(b. March 17, 1973, Dundalk, Ireland) - Irish singer, drummer for The Corrs.

5th place. Sharon Corr / Sharon Corr(b. March 24, 1970, Dundalk, Ireland) - Irish singer, violinist of The Corrs.

4th place. Alison Doody / Alison Doody genus. November 11, 1966, Dublin) - Irish actress. Known for the films "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989), The Musketeers' Ring (1992), King Solomon's Mines (2004).

3rd place. Maureen O'Hara / Maureen O'Hara(August 17, 1920, Ranelagh, Ireland - October 24, 2015) - Irish and American actress and singer.

see also (Scots are another Celtic people)

And others. Irish culture is one of the oldest in Europe, and after 700 years of British domination, the country has restored its national identity much faster than it happens in Russia after 70 years of the Soviet Union. As part of literary project"Hidden Gold of the 20th Century" will soon be published by two books by Irish authors who have not previously been published entirely in Russian. What is the uniqueness of Irish history and culture and why the Irish are so similar to Russians, the translator said.

Spherical Irishman in a vacuum

From around the time of Shakespeare, Ireland—with outside help—began to create what is now called the "stage Irishman". He first appeared in Henry V. This initiative was picked up by other playwrights. Then what began in the theater splashed out from the stage to the people, and the image of the Irishman, who now lives in people's heads, we are largely indebted to English playwrights, complex relationships between England and Ireland and 700 years of dominance of the first over the second.

In defining what a “stage Irishman” is, I take the position of Declan Cyberd, an outstanding Irish thinker of the 20th century, who devoted his life (God bless him - he is still alive) to the study of how World culture and history made Ireland. This "stage Irishman" was invented by the English so that England would have an "other": a collective figure of everything that England is not. It was especially in demand during the Victorian era.

From about the time the Industrial Revolution began in England, it has been a pleasure for the English cultural space and mentality to consider themselves efficient, that is, not wasting themselves on emotions, fantasies and dreams. All dream reality and the feelings associated with it are recognized as ineffective, unnecessary and set aside far aside. It is postulated that the English are restraint, coldness, closeness - something that is still stereotypically associated with England. And the Irish are everything that is the opposite.

Photo: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Getty Images

In this sense, cultural maturation is not very different from human maturation. Especially in adolescence. Only an adult can define himself as a self without negation. I am this and that, I know how to do this and that, I have achieved this and that. When we are small, we do not yet have achievements and failures, we have to define ourselves through “I am not ...”: I am not Vasya, not Petya and not Katya. And who are you? I dont know. In this respect, England needed "another", and before this another was a stone's throw - a neighboring island. And he was everything that England is kind of not: undisciplined, lazy, quarrelsome, flighty, emotional, sentimental. It looks like a classic conflict between physicists and lyricists. This set of qualities stuck with the Irish for a certain time.

Under the mask of an Irishman hiding an Irishman

Somewhere from the middle of the 19th century and a little further, when a stream of migrant workers from Ireland poured into industrialized England, this stereotype was even beneficial for the Irish. Because when a person comes from a remote village (and Ireland is mostly a non-urban space) to a city, he finds himself on another planet, where there is nothing to do with the communal life that he led in the village. And then he is offered a ready-made mask of a kind of village fool - and he takes it upon himself. At the same time, we understand that even the rural Irish are quick-witted, cunning, observant, sarcastic, demonstrating everyday acumen and the ability to survive in extreme circumstances. But this image was profitable, and the Irish, especially those who moved to England, supported it for some time - consciously or unconsciously.

Drawing by Irish artist James Mahoney (1810–1879).

The Great Famine of the mid-19th century is a fantastically monstrous event in the history of Ireland, when 20 percent of the country's population died or left. It is clear that then the Second World War happened, and the world has not yet seen such a thing, but before the invention of weapons of mass destruction and without any epidemics, losing so many people simply because they had nothing to eat was monstrous. And I must say that the population of Ireland has not recovered to its former size so far. Therefore, the tragedy of the Great Famine is relevant for Ireland and still affects the Irish idea of ​​themselves, their position regarding the world around them, and even more so determined the intensity of passions during the Irish Renaissance at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, when the country finally gained independence from England.

Leprechauns and other evil spirits

Later, already in the 20th century, against the background of that very “stage Irishman” - a cheerful witty gouge - a consumerist society arises with all this commercial hype around leprechauns, rainbows, pots of gold, dances like Lord of the Dance, which are rather indirectly related to folk tradition. A country that has been in poverty for a long time, finally realized that the richness of its history, temperament (because without temperament you cannot survive in their conditions - the climate is not a fountain, and the history of the last 700 years has not been conducive to relaxation) - all this can be commercialized. It's a normal thing for anyone European culture. It's just that among European countries, Ireland is so rich in humanities that it is richer than almost any culture, not counting the ancient one.

This happened, in particular, also because Ireland was never under Rome. Urban culture did not come to it through the channels through which continental Europe received it. And the organization of relations between people was not the same, and hierarchical relationships in society were not built under the pressure of Roman law and Roman order.

Photo: Siegfried Kuttig / Globallookpress.com

Ireland, in general, was very fractional - such a Tver region, divided into areas about the size of Chertanovo. Each had its own king and its own relationship with neighbors. At the same time, until the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in the 12th century, it was all a single cultural continuous space of a more or less single language (there were a lot of dialects, but people understood each other), a single old law, perhaps one of the oldest surviving legislative systems. on the ground. It was based on worldly logic, because in Ireland there was neither punitive nor legislative power in the Roman sense.

The law was the tradition, and the tradition was the law. Once in a while there was a meeting of the people under the supreme king, a court was held, precedent amendments were made. And this ancient tradition, uninterrupted for thousands of years, has created unique culture, which the Irish - after the British left them alone - commercialized, and we now have all these leprechauns, which in the mass consciousness are associated with Ireland, like matryoshka, balalaika, bears and snow - with Russia. At the same time, we understand that we don’t say “good luck” while drinking, we only give nesting dolls to each other for a very big joke, and you need to be a very specific image-oriented person in order to wear a cap with a carnation in everyday life.

Irish writers who had to defend their Irishness

And now about why we undertook to publish in Russian authors who are unknown to anyone. Firstly, the great Irish writers of the level of Wilde, Shaw, Joyce, Beckett, O "Casey, Yeats, Heaney - one way or another, to a greater or lesser extent translated into Russian. Another thing is that few people realize that they are Irish And they are Irish, despite the fact that the concept of Irishness is very, very difficult.

Photo: Sasha / Hulton Archive / Getty Images

Why? Because Ireland is the same America, only within Europe. Until the conquest of that hemisphere began, Ireland was the edge of Europe. Farther - big water. Wave after wave of people who went west, eventually rested on the limit - in Ireland. And a lot of people came there, so genetically the Irish are a mixture of Iberian Celts, continental Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Scandinavians. Therefore, it is reasonable to consider as Irish those who consider themselves Irish.

Inside Ireland, from the XII-XIV centuries, the first wave of Anglo-Normans very quickly adapted, assimilated, and these people, who were before Cromwell, were called "Old Englishmen" - Old English. So they are considered absolute Irish, despite the fact that in their deep anamnesis they have not Celts, but Anglo-Saxons and Normans. But they had children, these children already spoke Irish, wore Irish clothes, sang Irish songs and were Irish because their fathers married Irish women. And the mother brings up the child, speaks her own language with him, so the child is Irish, regardless of what kind of blood he has from his father. In this sense, a completely matriarchal story.

As long as England was Catholic, everyone who came to Ireland became Irish. In this old, viscous, bewitching culture, people fell headlong and dissolved in it. Because the Anglo-Norman culture was 100 years old by that time. This mixture of Anglo-Saxons and Normans was such a Frankenstein monster that had not yet realized itself as a separate self. And Ireland by that time already had a written language for seven centuries, they were the center of European civilization, they saved the whole of Catholic Europe from the dark Middle Ages, they were the center of education. And in the VI-VIII centuries, a crowd of Catholic enlighteners came from the north of Europe to the south.

But in the Tudor era, the situation changed: England ceased to be Catholic, and the Irish became enemies because they remained Catholics. And then it was already a national-religious conflict. On this basis, ideas about the Irish changed, and politics in the 19th century equated Irishness with Catholicism - that is, the cultural aspect disappeared, but the religious one remained, and the English-speaking Protestants, who considered themselves Irish to the marrow of their bones, had a hard time - writers in particular.

Now about literature. Ireland has four Nobel laureates in literature - Yeats, Shaw, Beckett, Heaney. And this is in a nation with only five million people. This is first. Secondly, in their shadow, especially in the shadow of Joyce, huge literature, part of which, fortunately, also exists in Russian. And we would like to emphasize this too.

Why O'Creehin and Stevens?

Well, this year we decided to publish two authors who had a direct or indirect relation to the Irish Renaissance. The first is Thomas O "Krihin with the book The Islander." He wrote in Irish, and Yuri Andreychuk translated it from Irish, which is especially valuable because there is a tendency to translate Irish writers With English translations. Medieval Irish literature has been translated into Russian for a long time, but modern Irish literature written in Irish hardly appears in the Russian-speaking space. And we decided to start this campaign - not exactly Napoleonic, but we have some plans for a dozen books translated from Irish.

We won't publish more than two books a year, because Yura [Andreichuk] won't be able to do it anymore: translating from Irish is not a ram sneezed, but Yura still has a teaching load. But I really want to show the Russian reader that the Irish language is not dead - it's not Latin, and how rich literature is in Irish. It has both modernism and postmodernism. Irish literature in effect historical reasons more inclined towards the small genre than towards the novel form. And "Ulysses", in general, is not a very disguised collection of stories, which in no way detracts from its merits, but it is important to understand that the whole tradition of Irish creativity in the language organizes this literary space as a space small form Keywords: poetry, short stories, dramaturgy. Although, you see, we will present to readers a certain set of novels familiar to us.

"Islander"

Thomas O "Krihin wrote a landmark biographical novel. O'Krihin was born in mid-nineteenth century, that is, approximately in the Great Famine, and lived a rather long life already in the twentieth century. He lived on Blasket Island. This is such an absolute reserve in terms of culture, language, relationships and other things. The Blaskets, of course, traveled to the mainland - to the main island - on their own business, but they have specific everything: clothes, gait, language, they stand out in the crowd. And when they were asked - what kind of Irish are you, they answered: we are Blaskets. Ireland, from their point of view, became opposite, modernized and vulgarized, while they remained Old Testament.

Life on Blasket was cruel, gloomy, such a continuous overcoming, when you could not go outside for a week, because the wind was blowing off your feet. Because the soil there is a stone overgrown with grass, and there is nothing but algae to fertilize this soil. And people on this island survived. They were evacuated from there in the middle of the 20th century under the pretext that the conditions there were unsuitable for life, but in fact - so that the people would not evade taxes and would generally be under control. And now these islands are slowly being turned into museum reserves. In particular - Blasket.

And a resident of this island, at the suggestion of one of his friends, slowly, with a whole series of letters, compiled an autobiography. And he gave rise to a whole stream of autobiographical testimonies that were intended to fix the outgoing reality of this reserve: two more such memoirists arose on Blasket besides O’Kriheen. The Islander has a very complex Irish language, a specific dialect, Yura butted heads with it for almost a year. And the help desk is great.

The Islander by Thomas O'Krihin is a real memoir, not a fictionalized Ireland, a unique document. There is one more bonus: the novel Singing Lazarus by Flann O'Brien is largely a nod towards the Islander and Blasket's memoir phenomenon in general. But this is not a parody on the islanders themselves, but rather on the sentimentalization of this layer of literary statements.In general, it was a popular genre, because the Irish understood: nature is leaving; its fixation was valuable not only to nationalists, but to intelligent people in general - as a memory of the past.

"Irish Wonderful Tales"

The second book is Irish Wonderful Tales by James Stevens, such a specimen of the Gaelic Renaissance that we are familiar with mainly from the works of Yeats, Lady Gregory and, to some extent, George Russell. These are people who were engaged in the revival of culture, the collection of folklore, the rebirth and transmission of what was collected through the theater. Stevens of the same generation as Joyce, then retelling of mythological material was a fashionable thing, O'Grady Sr. took up this, and then Yeats, Gregory and Stevens.

But what is remarkable about Stevens is his fantastic sense of humor. If Lady Gregory worked with texts very meticulously, scrupulously, then he took ten legends and reworked them, retold, rearranged. He pulled out the funny, ironic, hooligan, lively things from these texts, blew off the patina of eternity from them. The reader is often inclined to treat any epic with reverence and boredom, because people with incomprehensible motivation act there, they have their own values ​​that are different from ours. Stevens' book can give the Russian-speaking reader the opportunity to see in the mythological material a timeless real life, live laughter and poetry. Stevens is in this sense a translator between times.

In the bottom line, it seems to us, these two books will give the reader the opportunity to get in touch with the time of the Gaelic Renaissance - that is, the time when Ireland radically rethought itself and recreated itself the way we see it now, beyond popular stereotypes.