The Literature of Ireland
I love how Wikipedia states: "For a comparatively small island, Ireland has made a disproportionately large contribution to world literature in all its branches." My way of saying it? Ireland is awesome and that's why it has it's own special place on the calender when everyone who isn't Irish gets to pretend they are because we're so freaking awesome and cool with our disproportionally amazing writing ability. It's the storyteller gene. It's in us, it's a part of us. Time to sing, dance, talk, cry, and please, avoid the green beer.... So who are some of the people I think have given helped give Ireland it's place in the echelon of great literature? Well, for me there's everyone from Jonathan Swift, Oliver Goldsmith, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Bram Stoker to Roddy Doyle, Frank McCourt, Malachy McCourt, Graham Linehan, Pauline McLynn, Ardal O'Hanlon, Dylan Moran, Maeve Binchy, yeah I know some of those are comedians... but that doesn't discount them as writers, seeing as many have actually written books! But, there is one Irish Man who will always be the top, the best, the exemplar... I think you can guess, not that I'll make you. But no one comes close to Oscar Wilde. I'm sorry, don't try, you'll fail and be sad.
A favorite quote: "The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius."
But then best quote about Ireland ever was in The Onion, where they were listing what Northern Ireland wants from the English as reparations, one of them was "Eddie Izzard Back." I was on the floor laughing at that one, because Eddie did live there for some time before moving to England but after he was born in Yemen. So sit back and enjoy some of the best literature on this most holy of days. If you feel more in a passive mood, pop in an episode of Father Ted, watch The Matchmaker, sing along with The Commitments, heck, Eddie's even Irish! Enjoy!
