Explore Ireland’s history and culture through these narratives of loss and affection by Sally Rooney, Edna O’Brien, Colm Toibin and more

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I was born in Toronto and moved to Ireland as a boy, where I devote some formative years in a scheduled, Khrushchevian-style satellite town in south County Clare. Settlers arrived in ripples from Belfast, London, New York or further afield- from metropolis throughout Chile and South Africa. In this multicultural outpost, occupied by suburban sightseers, we became wry commentators of traditional nuances. For me, Ireland’s political, historic and cultural sceneries were first properly discovered in the country’s literature. The greats, such as Wilde, Yeats and Joyce, offered signposts to the past while more contemporary columnists, including Roddy Doyle, Flann O’Brien and Jamie O’Neill, reflect a light on lesser-heard Irish enunciates. And so my selection of tales repetition Ireland’s literary pilgrimage from pre-famine to the present day.

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Read more: theguardian.com