Since the end of the nineteenth century, Ireland has witnessed a profound reconfiguration of its cultural, political, constitutional and religious identities, resulting in an unparalleled questioning of the dominant discourses and narratives that have seemingly defined the nation. The essays in this collection examine the ways in which established Irish socio-cultural structures of authority and their constructs of collective identity have been challenged within literary and cultural discourses of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Every challenge to the purported wisdom of these authority structures adds a new facet to the complexity of Irish national identity and contributes to the continuous evolution of the New Ireland, a phrase often used to signify the momentous transformations of the country in times of change.

Carmen Zamorano Llena is Associate Professor of English at Dalarna University, Sweden. She is President of the Nordic Irish Studies Network and edits the literature section of the peer-reviewed journal Nordic Irish Studies. Her current research interests include representations of ageing in Irish and British literature, literature and globalisation, and the migrant experience in contemporary Irish and British literature. Billy Gray is Associate Professor of English at Dalarna University, Sweden. He edits the section on history, politics and culture in the peer-reviewed journal Nordic Irish Studies. His research interests include Doris Lessing and Sufism, Northern Irish literature, and Irish essayists such as Hubert Butler, Chris Arthur and Conor Cruise O'Brien.