historical ireland

A book that might help: The Quiet Man and Other Stories by Maurice Walsh.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/407432.The_Quiet_Man_and_Other_Stories

You could always set it on Craggy Island.

So... that'll be Theme Park Ireland you're looking for?

Do you want post-British rule? In which case the 20s and 30s may fit but you need to be aware of the civil war that followed British withdrawal. These were tough times of high emigration from rural Ireland and high mortality from TB.

1970's?

If you are going for Theme Park Ireland it doesn't matter when you set it cos it won't be realistic anyway.

Ermmm unfortunately you can't actually stop me. Painful I know.

My whole point is that, as someone who actually is half Irish, I find your whole idea offensive.

If you want to write about someone else's country, do some proper research.

Ok, obviously you have no idea what it is I'm actually offended by.

It's this:

It is very much the romanticized notion of Ireland. You could call it the Theme Park

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.

Do you really not see what's wrong with that?

dozens of Irish fairy tales set in similar places.

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Those are not Disney stories. They are not rides in a theme park. They are part of the culture of Ireland.

ETA: and yes, I do find quite a lot of those films offensive.

1930s in West Cork, Kerry or Galway would probably work if you want coastal. Very rural, very poor with many large families. The parish priest would be a person of enormous influence. Very few cars, travel by boat along the coast or bicycle inland, railway to Dublin. Poor communications outside the towns.
Does this place http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sneem sound like what you want?

Ok, I'm glad we've reached an understanding.

I didn't mean to have a go at you or make you feel bad. But when working with someone else's culture, it's really important that you do proper research. Just out of respect, really.

And I didn't mean to imply that there was never a period in Irish history where things were good. Of course there has been. And that's why you need proper research.

Because if you had, you wouldn't have made 'it's not like it's a proper holiday' a poll choice....

Go ahead and write whatever's inside you. Worry about being inoffensive later. I don't think there's anyone who truly believes that Darby O'Gill and The Quiet Man are 100% accurate portrayals of rural Irish life.

Constructively - I'm not sure how you're going to mix the real world historical setting with a romanticised village, unless you're telling a backstory of a character who's wearing rose/green goggles on. I think it's great that people are interested in writing about Ireland and Irish people.

I suggest you might be better setting your story in a village in Ulster, on the coast of Co. Antrim maybe. There was a strong linen industry in that area in the 18th-19th centuries that made it a bit more prosperous. Also, any villages on the coast around Dublin might be good. In the last 18th century, Dublin was the most fashionable city in the British Empire.

I ain't touching that with a muddy shillelagh.......

mirandashell said:

I ain't touching that with a muddy shillelagh.......

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Like Mrs. Doyle says - go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on GO ON!

I hear what you're saying about it being potentially offensive with all the paddywhackery etc, but until you read it you can't know. That's what I means!

I agree with you. But if I can point out the potential offence before Beachbum starts, it will save a heck of a lot of rewriting later!

And the Twitter/Facebook abuse if it's published as is.....

beachbum21k said:

I'm sure that there is a time and place in Ireland where people weren't shooting at each other.

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I'm kind of uncomfortable with that statement.

Yes, there are times and places when people weren't knocking six bells out of each other. Some research would help you in that direction. I appreciate that people tend to focus on the violence in Ireland's history, no thanks to US media coverage and novels such as Leon Uris' 'Trinity'.

If you want examples of 'quiet' Irish stories, Maeve Binchy wrote some good stuff. She had a great gift for observation and creating quirky, realistic characters and describing life in Ireland.

I have gotten two reported posts from this thread. I came and read the thread and had to walk away for awhile to cool down... trouble is, I didn't cool down. I've got a few points to make, then I'm going to step back and watch.

If y'all can't keep it civil, if you feel the need to bring a bunch of passive-aggressive crap in here, if you think getting all butt-hurt over your perceived ownerships of heritage, country, or history is going to fly, if you want to make up terms and then accuse other people of insulting you with said terms, if you want to exhibit your lack of a sense of humor, if you want to destroy a romantic vision of a country I love, and/or if you want to see who can and can't swing a shillelagh or stop you... just try me.

No one owns being Irish... and I can say that with veins just bursting with Irish DNA. And if you're offended, make damn sure your not being offensive.

I don't believe I need to close this thread... the original poster had a legitimate question related to historical writing and deserves to get a civil answer and discussion. There are ways to suggest ways to get that information without being a jackass. If you simply must be a jackass, take it elsewhere.

Now... I've used a whole passel of the pronoun 'you'. If you haven't been a jackass, you don't need to worry about this post... but if you have been a jackass, read it twice and pay attention.

If you have any question about whether or not the passel of pronouns refers to you, perhaps you should reconsider. And if you're absolutely sure they don't refer to you at all, you better reconsider.

There now... I feel much better.

Carry on.

A book I would very highly recommend:

Ireland, by Frank Delaney

It's the story of a boy's pursuit of a travelling storyteller, in the context of his own questions about his family, and across the backdrop of Irish history. It's a wonderful read, and it combines history, mythology, tragedy, history and humour. One of its primary tenets is that, in Ireland, history and legend are entwined - that in the absence of ancient fact, the spirit conveyed in legend paints the pictures that contribute to understanding where facts don't, or can't.

I think Delaney does a masterful job of telling a story and embracing both the ancient legend and the violence and beauty of recent history. It's a book I'll read several times, I'm sure, for the pleasure of it.

beachbum21k said:

I'm trying to find the time period in which something akin to that picturesque irish village by the sea existed.

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mirandashell said:

So... that'll be Theme Park Ireland you're looking for?

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beachbum mentioned settings—and if you think Secret of Roan Inish is "Theme Park Ireland" you need to start over.

mirandashell said:

1970's?

If you are going for Theme Park Ireland it doesn't matter when you set it cos it won't be realistic anyway.

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This is you being antagonistic and not helpful.

mirandashell said:

Ermmm unfortunately you can't actually stop me. Painful I know.

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You're not offering any helpful suggestions; you're just poking, based presumably on your magic DNA.

mirandashell said:

My whole point is that, as someone who actually is half Irish, I find your whole idea offensive.

If you want to write about someone else's country, do some proper research.

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Oh my, how quaint!

How fortunate that I have actually "done some proper research." And unlike you, I did mine in Irish. It's ever so much more effective than DNA gazing.

mirandashell said:

I ain't touching that with a muddy shillelagh.......

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Now see that? That's offensive. It's not shillelagh; that's English.

You meant an sail éille, and it's used in bataireacht. Shillelagh was adopted as an offensive stereotype by the English in the eighteenth century as a way of mocking rural Irish, and implying they were always brawling.

It's not well meant. Perhaps you should consult your DNA more closely next time?

beachbum you might look at the suggestions upthread; be aware that a lot of what people think of as Irish fairy tales are at best Anglo-Irish corruptions by well-meaning English writers like Yeats and Lady Gregory.

They're bowdlerized, and often dramatically changed. For instance, the modern popular idea of the leprechaun; the original Old Irish luchorpán in medieval texts were a small humanoid water-dwelling otherworld folk with the characteristics of fertility symbols.

You might look for the tales that are associated with the Táin but are not actually part of it. They're not light and bright fairy tales though; they're about raids and elopements and other world journeys. See the recent English translations in Early Irish Myths and Sagas by Gantz, for instance.

If you want to look at the English versions, that's fine, but be aware you're seeing re-written re-imagined stories with French and German and English folklore mixed in with the Irish.

For additional background and help with settings see Peig: The Autobiography of Peig Sayers of the Great Blasket Island ; Peig was an old-school seanchaí, and grew up in the rural life that is alluded to in Secret of Roan Inish.

Speaking of seanchais, beachbum, you could Youtube a fella called Eddie Lenihan. He is a professional storyteller. Like, you pay him money to tell you verbal stories. I've been to see him loads of times, he's brilliant for the oul folklore.

You might also do some reading on the Aran Islands. They're a bit touristy these days, but they might be a good example of an isolated and insulated community. Might be a good starting point.