Irish Literature Trivia

1. Colm Tóibín has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times. Which of his novels was filmed, partially being shot in his hometown of Enniscorthy in 2014?

From Quiz Irish Authors

Answer: Brooklyn

"Brooklyn" opens in Enniscorthy, a rural town in Co. Wexford which was where the author spent his childhood. It follows the fortunes of Eilís (eye-leesh) Lacey in '50s Ireland, a time when many more emigrated due to lack of employment particularly in rural areas. Eilís, in transition from girlhood to womanhood, moves to Brooklyn with the help of a Catholic priest and finds it difficult to adapt to her new life. She returns home and difficult decisions must be made. The book was long listed for the Man Booker Prize.

From Quiz Irish Writers

Answer: Oscar Wilde & Wilde

"I have nothing to declare but my genius."

From Quiz Irish Literary Figures

Answer: Brian Friel

Along with Seamus Heaney and Stephen Lea, Friel founded Northern Ireland's 'Field Day' movement. 'Philadelphia, Here I Come' uses the unusual convention of having two actors play the main star. One actor plays the public persona: always handy with a joke and ready to party with friends. The other plays the private man: unsure of himself and still deciding whether he really wants to go to America. This enables Friel to display the man arguing with himself on stage in scenes which are quite effective dramatically.

From Quiz Irish Authors

Answer: Roddy Doyle

"Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha" was published in 1993, and chronicles a year in the life of a 10 year old Dublin boy and his relationships with those around him during the late '60s. It is written in the vernacular, as are most of Doyle's books. The story, rather than following a linear format, is told in a series of scenes which can appear quite random to the reader. Roddy taught English and Geography at secondary level in his home country. His books are predominantly set in or around Dublin, with the text being very dialogue centred. He has also written a number of children's books. Each of "The Barrytown Trilogy" made it the big screen, the most famous of which being "The Commitments".

From Quiz Irish Literary Figures

Answer: William Butler Yeats

Yeats won the 1923 Nobel Prize in Literature. Many of his poems deal with the trauma Ireland faced as it first fought a war of independence with England, then fell into civil war.

From Quiz Irish Authors

Answer: Maeve Binchy

Maeve Binchy worked for "The Irish Times", both in Dublin and London. She was a prolific author of novels, short stories and novellas, and also authored one play. She appeared to view herself as a story teller more than a specific category of writer. Her books are full of warmth and humour, and a number of her characters made appearances in more than one of her books.

From Quiz Irish Literary Figures

Answer: Seamus Heaney

This winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature also is well-known for his translation of Beowulf. He grew up in the bog country of Ireland, and those same bogs feature prominently in his poems.

From Quiz Irish Writers

Answer: Sean O'Casey

The nationalist audience of the day could not accept the unpatriotic presentation of the 1916 soldiers.

From Quiz Irish Literary Figures

Answer: Joyce & James Joyce

'Ulysses' was named the greatest book in the English Language by the Modern Library, but many readers find it simply incomprehensible. Even harder to understand is 'Finnegan's Wake', whose complexities include, among others, a first line which is the completion of a sentence begun on the last line of the novel.

From Quiz Irish Authors

Answer: Edna O'Brien

O'Brien's first book, "The Country Girls", was published in 1960. It was banned immediately in Ireland due to its sexual content. Her own Parish Priest burned the book. It was set in '50s Ireland, a place and time of sexual repression due largely to the power the Catholic Church was allowed to wield. It tells the story of two friends, Cait and Baba, who leave home to find work in the big city, and describes their experiences along the way. Edna was living in London with her husband (Ernest Gébler) when the book was published. The novel won the Kingsley Amis Award in 1962. Edna has also written biographical and autobiographical material. Edna trained as a pharmacist.

From Quiz Irish Literary Figures

Answer: John Millington Synge

'Playboy of the Western World' caused riots when it first appeared in Dublin theatres due to its unflattering depiction of the average Irishman. It depicts a man who (in order to better get the girls) claims that he murdered his father. Complications arise when the father arrives on the scene, making the lie rather implausible.

From Quiz Irish Authors

Answer: The Sea

"The Book of Evidence" was shortlisted in 1989 but lost out to Kazuo Ishiguro's "The Remains of the Day". "The Sea" won the prize in 2005, once again being up against a Kazuo Ishiguro novel; this time it was "Never Let Me Go". The book, narrated in the first person, is made up of the memoirs of Max Morden, particularly surrounding specific events in his life from a family summer holiday as a child where he met the Graces, the period leading up to the death of his wife and how his life is now. Banville also wrote the screenplay, which became a film in 2013.

From Quiz Irish Literary Figures

Answer: Sean O'Casey

'Juno and the Paycock' is set during the Irish Civil War and describes a woman's attempts at keeping a crumbling household together. 'The Plough and the Stars' follows the inhabitants of a Dublin tenement in the months leading up to the Easter Rebellion. It also led to rioting in the theatre, this time because it had the audacity to place a prostitute on the same stage as Patrick Pearse (one of the martyrs of the rebellion).

From Quiz Irish Authors

Answer: The Importance of Being Earnest

"The Importance of Being Earnest" is a farcical comedy. It was first performed in 1895 in London. Many critics at the time suggested the play missed an opportunity to question issues of social injustice and inequality and thus, whist humourous, was essentially shallow in content; however, there were also those who just enjoyed it for what it was. Audiences appeared to love the play and it was certainly a success until Wilde's private life came to public attention. The Marquess of Queensbury (yes, the same one of the boxing rules fame) had plans to upset opening night, a forewarned Wilde ensured the Marquess would not be permitted to enter the theatre. Oscar had been having an affair with Lord Alfred Douglas, a younger man and son of the 9th Marquess. John Douglas was a loud man whom, it would appear, had no problem in publicly degrading anyone he disagreed with. He verbally attacked Wilde at every possible opportunity. Finally he wrote that Wilde was "posing as a sodmite" [sic] on a calling card which, at a time when homosexuality was illegal, gave Oscar little choice but to sue for libel. The case resulted in the playwright's bankruptcy, the closure of the play and Wilde being charged and convicted of gross indecency in a criminal case. He was sentenced to two years hard labour, which destroyed his health, and subsequently died whilst exiled in France in 1890 at the age of 47. Fingal O'Flahertie Wills were Wilde's middle names.

From Quiz Irish Literary Figures

Answer: Swift & Jonathan Swift

'A Modest Proposal' describes satirically a way of dealing with both the growing Irish population and the problem of hunger: serving Irish babies as meals!

From Quiz Irish Authors

Answer: George Bernard Shaw

Shaw won an Oscar in 1938 for "Pygmalion", predating the musical "My Fair Lady", which was only produced after the writer's death as he refused to have any of his plays set to music after "The Chocolate Soldier", based on "Arms and the Man". He gave permission for "The Chocolate Soldier", as long as they changed the dialogue and characters' names. Shaw received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1926 but was awarded it for 1925. Shaw was also a well known Socialist and as such was a member of The Fabian Society. He was also a vegetarian.

From Quiz Irish Literary Figures

Answer: Seamus Deane

Deane is another Northern Irish founder of the Field Day movement. 'Reading in the Dark' was short-listed for the 1996 Booker Prize (given annually to the best full-length novel written in the British Commonwealth). It is a semi-autobiographical novel telling of a boy growing up in Northern Ireland and seeing history written and rewritten before his eyes.

From Quiz Irish Authors

Answer: James Joyce

Barnacle was used as a blue print for a number of Joyce's female creations, perhaps the most famous of which was Molly Bloom in "Ulysses". Joyce and Barnacle met in 1904 and had a very famous date which would later be written of in "Ulysses". Barnacle was a Galway native working at a hotel in Dublin. Joyce appeared to become quite obsessed with her straight away, with all evidence pointing to the feeling being mutual. They lived together in Trieste, Zurich and Paris, producing a son and daughter in the early years. They finally married in 1931, which shocked a number of people who believed they had married a long time previously.

From Quiz Irish Literary Figures

Answer: Patrick McCabe

The Butcher Boy was made into a movie starring Eamonn Owens. It tells of a Catholic boy in Northern Ireland who gradually descends into violence due to his frustration at the wealth of the neighboring Protestants. It also was short-listed for the Booker Prize.

From Quiz Irish Authors

Answer: The Hostage

In 1957 Gael-Linn (an organisation promoting the Irish language) asked Brendan to write a play in Irish for their theatre. "An Giall", a one act play, was the result. It was performed for the first time on June 16th, 1958 in Dublin. Joan Littlewood, an English producer asked Behan to translate the play so she could stage a production in England. In October of '58 "The Hostage" premiered at The Theatre Royal in Stratford. The English version differed somewhat from the original Irish language play in length and number of cast. Brendan was a wise man in some ways, notably saying, "A man is already halfway in love with any woman who listens to him". Sadly he passed away at the young age of 41 from a combination of factors related to alcoholism, the predominant one being diabetes.

From Quiz Irish Writers

Answer: Brendan Behan

What a loss when he died so young!

From Quiz Irish Literary Figures

Answer: Wilde & Oscar Wilde

Upon entering U.S. customs, he once quipped 'I have nothing to declare except my genius'. Although many of his plays are light, satirical works, 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' is a much darker tale. The title character's face remains forever youthful as he ages, while the portrait shows both his age and the evil he is becoming inside.

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