Spanning the entire history of the Irish short story, from folk-tales to modern writing, this is the most broad-ranging anthology available. Included are such masters as James Joyce and Elizabeth Bowen, who established Ireland at the forefront of the modern short story, as well as Frank O'Connor and Sean O'Faolain, the two most important writers since Joyce and Bowen. Trevor has selected stories by Bernard MacLaverty and Desmond Hogan to represent the new generation of writers. But, as Elizabeth Bowen observed, the modern short story in Ireland is "a young art," and it is against the nation's deeply rooted oral tradition that it must be considered. Toward this end, The Oxford Book of Irish Short Stories includes seven folk tales translated from the Irish by Sean O'Sullivan, and Seamus MacManus's re-telling of an Irish fairy tale. William Trevor is one of today's most famous and respected Irish writers. The 45 stories he has selected for this anthology, for which he has written a generous introduction, cover a 250-year period and works by 35 authors. Together they demonstrate the development of the short story in Ireland, a land where a flair for storytelling has "become a national characteristic."

Contents:
The hour of death; Fionn in search of his youth; Cromwell and the friar; the Girl and the Sailor; the Four-leafed Shamrock and the Cock; the Cow that Ate the Piper; Conal and Donal and Taig; Adventures of a Strolling Player, Oliver Goldsmith; the Limerick Gloves, Maria Edgeworth; the Death of a Devotee, William Carleton; the Brown Man, Gerald Griffin; Green Tea, Sheridan Le Fanu; Albert Nobbs, George Moore; the Sphinx without a Secret, Oscar Wilde; Philippa's Fox-hunt, E.E.Somerville and Martin Ross; the Priest, Daniel Corkery; the Weaver's Grave, Seumas O'Kelly; the Dead, James Joyce; my Little Black Ass, Padraic O Conaire; the Triangle, James Stephens; Bush River, Joyce Cary; the Pedlar's Revenge, Liam O'Flaherty; the Fanatic, Lian O'Flaherty; Her Table Spread, Elizabeth Bowen; the Faithless Wife, Sean O'Faolain; the Sugawn Chair, Sean O'Faolain; Guests of the Nation, Frank O'Connor; the Majesty of the Law, Frank O'Connor; Pastorale, Patrick Boyle; the Hare-lip, Mairtin O'Cadhain; the Poteen Maker, Michael McLaverty; the Ring, Bryan MacMahon; Sarah, Mary Lavin; Desert Island, Terence De Vere White; the Pilgrims, Benedict Kiely; Weep for our Pride, James Plunkett; Loser, Val Mulkerns; the Bird I Fancied, Aidan Higgins; Death in Jerusalem, William Trevor; the Diviner, Brian Friel; an Occassion of Sin, John Montague; Irish Revel, Edna O'Brien; First Conjugation, Julia O'Faolain; the Beginning of an Idea, John McGahern; Life Drawing, Bernard MacLaverty; the Airedale, Desmond Hogan.