Short Stories (Classics of Irish History)

Patrick Pearse's ten stories, written in Irish, were first published between 1905 and 1916. Groundbreaking in Pearse's recourse to modern narrative techniques and his use of vernacular Irish, these stories provide a sympathetic portrayal of life in Connemara. Joseph Campbell translated them into English in the aftermath of the 1916 Rising. His translations capture the spirit and tone of the original stories, largely because they are written in a distinctive form of Hiberno-Irish that reflects Pearse's use of colloquial speech. Patrick Pearse (1879-1916) is chiefly remembered as an Irish political activist, executed for his leading role in the Easter Rising of 1916, but he was also a qualified barrister, teacher, and versatile writer. ""These tales. . . demonstrate complexities of Pearse's live and aspirations in ways that the biographical narrative cannot."" The Endless Bookshelf