Ireland in the Life and Work of C.S. Lewis
Description
Even after he achieved world-wide fame through books such as The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and The Screwtape Letters , the Belfast-born author C.S. Lewis - often regarded as uncomplicatedly English by critics and the general public - proudly and regularly described himself as Irish. What's more, he frequently incorporated Irish elements into his work. This includes, for example, numerous allusions to Irish mythology, the repeated employment of Hiberno-English and Ulster Scots words and expressions, and a preference for tropes frequently found in Irish (and sometimes specifically Ulster Protestant) writing.
Reviews / Votes
"This is an academic study, complete with thorough citations, it is blessedly free of jargon, and is accessible to general readers." (Julian Girdham, The Irish Times, irishtimes.com, May 16, 2026)
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Person
David Clare is Lecturer in Drama and English at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, Ireland. His previous books include the monographs Bernard Shaw's Irish Outlook (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016) and Irish Anglican Literature and Drama: Hybridity and Discord (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021) and the edited collections The Gate Theatre, Dublin: Inspiration and Craft (2018), The Golden Thread: Irish Women Playwrights, 1716-2016 (2 vols., 2021), and Across Borders and Time: Jonathan Swift (2022).
Content
Introduction.- The man from God knows where Four Plays about C.S. Lewis that Ignore or Downplay his Irish Background.- Gods and fighting (wo)men" Irish Mythology in the Work of C.S. Lewis.- Lit up inside C.S. Lewis's Joy and Ulster Protestant Ecstasy.- Four Nations C.S. Lewis's Ulster Irish Attempts to Redefine Britishness.