Unit 10: The Age of the Penal Laws

Readings and Activities

• Read Moody, chapter 14, pages 176-189
• Read Titley, A Bottom Up Culture, 69-78
• Read Dunne, Forest Clearance (22-23), A Modest Proposal (205-207), Sweet was the sound… (109-111),Duelling Extraordinary (112-114), The Midnight Court (413-416), Galway (127-129), Fair Churchyard of Cregan (170-172), The Lament for Arthur O’Leary (207-213).
• Read Arnold, part of chapter 2 and 3, pages 48-67. The art of this era, as you might imagine, is almost complete Protestant. The founding of the Dublin Society in 1731 is important. Read for the broad strokes; you will not be expected to identify particular artists or works.
• Read Kilcash (electronic reserve)
• Retrieve and read the following article from UMD’s electronic database:
  Canny, Nicholas. The Formation of the Irish Mind: Religion, Politics
  and Gaelic Irish Literature 1580-1750. Past and Present, no. 95
  (May 1982), page 91-116.
• Go to the website of Daltaí na Gaeilge (Students of the Irish Language), click on “Phrases” and learn 3-4 more useful conversational phrases of your choice. (There’s sound) When given a choice, please use the Munster dialect.
  http://www.daltai.com/home.htm
  

Assignments

• There is a project deadline this week. You should be prepared to bring in and share your work thus far, showing substantial progress toward your goal, consistent with your plan and contract.
• Be prepared to speak your Irish phrases, both from last week and from this week.
• What and when was the "flight of the wild geese?"
• Describe the Penal Laws and other anti-Catholic acts of the early 18th century.
• Religious persecution was rife in Europe at that time. How was Ireland different?
• What did the Protestant non-conformists and the Catholics have in common?
• A Modest Proposal, Sweet was the sound, Duelling Extraordinary, and Galway were written by authors of the Protestant ascendency. At this time in Ireland, the Protestant ascendency owned nearly all the land, occupied all the positions of power, and completely controlled the Irish parliament. What, in these writings, gives you clues that the writers are Protestant and privileged and not Irish?
• Both Fair Churchyard of Cregan and The Midnight Court are written in a form known as an aisling. Compare and contrast these two pieces.
• The Lament for Art O'Leary (Caoineadh Airt Ui Laoghaire) is a traditional song of keening, or weeping and lamenting in a formal way over a deceased person. Art O'Leary was a a victim of the penal laws: he was killed by a Protestant sheriff for refusing to sell his prize-winning horse for 5 pounds (a very small sum). Since Catholics were prohibited from owning anything worth more than 5 pounds, the sheriff felt vindicated in any action he took. What are the themes of Eibhlin's lament?
• What types of art were produced during this time? Knowing the history of these two centuries (17th and 18th), why is there so little information about art, do you imagine?
• Update your timeline from the last unit with the important events of this unit.