The Barrytown Trilogy (Ireland into Film)

The publication of The Commitments, The Snapper, and The Van signaled the emergence of a significant new voice in Irish fiction. The significance lay not only in the description of a particular milieu and the social reality evoked, but more particularly in the form of writing used to portray the lives of the fictional Barrytown characters. The book explores the dialectical relationship between the world of the Barrytown characters as mediated through filmed and televised experiences and the translation of these experiences into the film medium in Parker’s and Frears’ work.

The book will trace the genesis and impact of the change in Ireland’s fortunes on the work of Doyle, Parker, and Frears and show how the increasing de-differentiation of boundaries between economy and culture meant that a body of literary and cinematographic work like the Trilogy was as much a contributory factor to the contemporary transformation of Ireland as a reflection of it.