Research Guide to Irish Literature

The following is a selected list of resources for starting research in Irish literature. For further assistance, contact Elizabeth Peterson, Librarian for Literature and Cinema Studies, at emp@uoregon.edu.

Background, Terms, Research Methods

Use these sources to find information about authors, movements, periods, genres, theories, terms, historical context, and plot summaries.

• The Concise Oxford Companion to Irish Literature
• The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature  |  KNIGHT REFERENCE PR8706 .O88 1996
• Dictionary of Irish Literature | KNIGHT REFERENCE PR8706 .D5 1996
• Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing (5 vols)
• An Irish Literary Dictionary & Glossary | KNIGHT REFERENCE PE2406 .W353 2001
• Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism Provides encyclopedia-like entries of critical trends and theories. Also includes overviews of particular critics' publications and influence. Also available in print: KNIGHT REFERENCE PN81 .J554 2005.
   
• Literary Research and Irish Literature : Strategies and Sources

Author Information

• Modern Irish Writers : A Bio-Critical Sourcebook | KNIGHT REFERENCE PR8727 .G66 1997
• British Writers | KNIGHT REFERENCE PR85.B688 | Irish authors are incorporated into this eight-volume encyclopedia of British writers from the earliest days to World War II.
• Irish Playwrights, 1880-1995 : A Research and Production Sourcebook | KNIGHT REFERENCE PR8789 .I67 1997. Provides lists of plays and their production histories.
• Literature Resource Center Provides easy access to scholarly research on authors and literary works. Includes criticism, biographies, bibliographies, work overviews and explications, and journal articles. more...
• Library Catalog
  • Search for the author as a subject (e.g., joyce, james). Works by and about the author will be shelved together.

Social & Historical Context

• Cambridge Companion to Modern Irish Culture | KNIGHT DA959.1 .C35 2005
• Modern Irish literature and Culture : A Chronology | KNIGHT REFERENCE PR8718 .C35 1993
• Encyclopedia of Irish History and Culture | KNIGHT REFERENCE DA912 .E53 2004
• The Oxford Companion to Irish History | also available in print KNIGHT REFERENCE DA912 .O94 2002
• The Blackwell Companion to Modern Irish Culture | KNIGHT REFERENCE DA925 .B47 1999 

Finding Books

• UO Local Catalog | Search just the UO Libraries' holdings.
• UO WorldCat | Search the UO Libraries, the Summit system (Northwest libraries), and libraries worldwide. Use this system to request items not owned by UO Libraries.

Literary Criticism & Articles

• Academic Search Premier Indexes more than 8,000 publications, with full text for approximately 4,600. ASP focuses on academic, social sciences, humanities, general science, education and multi-cultural journals, with over 3,500 peer-reviewed titles. Full text coverage goes as far back as 1965.
• JSTOR A full-text database that contains the scanned images of hundreds of major research journals in a variety of academic disciplines, some of which began publication as early as the 1870s.
• MLA International Bibliography The essential index for critical materials about all literatures (except classical Greek and Roman), languages, folklore and film. The database provides access to over 1.3 million entries gleaned from essay collections, dissertations, monographs and over 6,000 journals. Covers 1926-present.
• Project Muse Searches the full text in over 300 academic journals in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, journals.

Surveys of Research, Bibliographies

What are the current trends in Irish literary study? What research has already been done and what are the gaps? Use these guides to stay abreast of the area.

• Annual Bibliography of English Language & Literature | KNIGHT REFERENCE PE1 .A56
• Year's Work in English Studies | KNIGHT REFERENCE PE58 .E6
• A Bibliography of Modern Irish and Anglo-Irish Literature (c1976) | Z2037 .K47
• Recent Research on Anglo-Irish Writers (c1983) | PR8712.R4 1983
• For specific authors, search for the author's name and "companions or handbooks" in the Library Catalog. Some examples:
  • Cambridge Companion to J.M. Synge | PR5534 .C36 2009
  • The Cambridge Companion to Jonathan Swift | PR3727 .C36 2003
  • The Cambridge Companion to James Joyce | PR6019.O9 Z52637 2004