Chapter 5, The Irish Question Summary and Analysis

English is not Ireland's native language and most unique Irish writers have been assimilated into the English writing tradition. In America, forty million people claim to be of Irish descent. Irish remains one of the most recognizable English tongues. Ireland has had a traumatic history where the English have conquered them for eight hundred years. Irish culture is a strange mixture of Anglo-Saxon and Celtic.

The Gaelic tradition is a source of the inspiration of Irish literature. Old Ireland spoke the language and exerted major influenced in England in the eighth and ninth centuries. The culture of Ireland rose to a high point in the tenth century. From the late 12th century onwards, England began their domination. The English tried to crush the Irish but by the turn of the 16th century, English had almost...