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Mac Mathúna, Liam, “Muintir Neachtain, an nua-aoiseacht agus dúchas Gaelach Bhaile Átha Cliath”, Dublin Historical Record 68:2 (2015): 206–225.

  • journal article
Citation details
Contributors
Article
“Muintir Neachtain, an nua-aoiseacht agus dúchas Gaelach Bhaile Átha Cliath”
Periodical
Volume
68
Pages
206–225
BibTeX
Description
Abstract (cited)
A substantial minority community of Irish speakers lived in Dublin in the early eighteenth century. This community included a vibrant cultural circle of some thirty scholars centred around Seán Ó Neachtain and his son Tadhg, both of whom were also teachers and scribes. This article analyses the links between the world-view and intellectual life of these urban Irish speakers and the general modernising tendencies which gathered pace as the city expanded after the Battle of the Boyne. It undertakes this by examining many of the works written by the Ó Neachtains, the lives they led and the legacy they bequeathed to later generations. The balance between the old and the new, that is, the transcribing of traditional Gaelic material from earlier manuscripts alongside the development of innovative compositions and genres, is surveyed in order to identify specific traits and characteristics of the literature and scholarship which the Ó Neachtains created, nurtured and espoused. It shows, for instance, how Seán's proto-novel, Stair Éamuinn Uí Chléire, incorporated complex passages of Irish/English dialogue, reflecting the sociolinguistic realities of the period. The writings of the Ó Neachtains and their circle shed light from within on the bilingual world in which they lived, both the public sphere and the private domain. Drawing in particular on the evidence for Tadhg's interaction with the Dublin English-language newspapers of his day, and Eólas ar an Domhan, a textbook on world geography which he authored, the global range of the Ó Neachtains' interest is illustrated. Finally, the essay also highlights the strength of the links between the Ó Neachtains and the Catholic clergy and how the general modernising outlook and enhanced sensibility of their family and community networks afforded Dublin's eighteenth-century Irish-speaking women new opportunities to express themselves creatively in poetic composition.
Subjects and topics
Sources
Texts
History, society and culture
Agents
Seán Ó NeachtainÓ Neachtain (Seán)
(c.1640–1729)
Naughton (John)
Irish poet, prose writer, and teacher; was born in Co. Roscommon and settled in Dublin.
See more Tadhg Ó NeachtainÓ Neachtain (Tadhg)
(c.1670–c. 1752)
Irish scribe and scholar, son of Seán Ó Neachtain.
See more Ó Neachtain familyÓ Neachtain family
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
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July 2019
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