About the ECLRNI
An important and varied body of scholarly writing on British and Irish literature of the long eighteenth century (c. 1680 – c. 1820) has emerged from Ireland in recent years. At the same time, the study of Irish literature in English has developed greatly in strength and scope, the landmarks here including the 5-volume Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing (1991-2002) and the 2-volume Cambridge History of Irish Literature (2006). Irish literature in English has been significantly represented in these major works, as in individual studies, importantly redressing the neglect in the earlier part of the twentieth century of all but a handful of major figures, generally incorporated into 'English Literature'.
Even so, most recent eighteenth–century research and teaching in Ireland has been carried out by individual scholars who may have had links with each other through learned societies – such as the Eighteenth-Century Ireland Society, the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, or the American Society of Eighteenth-Century Studies - but who have had little institutional contact.
The ECLRNI is designed to redress this situation, allowing members to form a clearer idea of work currently being undertaken, the possibilities open for collaborative research, and the opportunities to obtain research funding for individual and collaborative projects, including inter-institutional and cross-border collaborations.
Established in 2006, the Eighteenth–Century Literature Research Network in Ireland (ECLRNI) aims to allow individual researchers work more fruitfully on their own projects, by enabling them to relate these to the wider study of eighteenth-century literary culture in Ireland and to the study of all eighteenth-century literatures in English, in these islands and beyond.
Primarily based in departments of English studies in third-level institutions and in research libraries in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, the network seeks to include all interested researchers with full-time permanent, part-time permanent, or fixed-term posts, post-doctoral fellows, and postgraduate students; those without a formal position within departments but with links with them – e. g., retired members, recent postgraduates – are also welcome as members. A further aim of the Network is to foster inter-institutional links, at departmental or School level, throughout Ireland.
Many of those currently working in the area of eighteenth–century Irish literature in English do so in the context of research and teaching eighteenth-century English Literature in the widest understanding of that term: i.e. including Scottish and Welsh literatures, as well as English writing in the narrow sense. A third aim of the ECLRNI is to help strengthen such work in departments of English in Ireland.
Even so, most recent eighteenth–century research and teaching in Ireland has been carried out by individual scholars who may have had links with each other through learned societies – such as the Eighteenth-Century Ireland Society, the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, or the American Society of Eighteenth-Century Studies - but who have had little institutional contact.
The ECLRNI is designed to redress this situation, allowing members to form a clearer idea of work currently being undertaken, the possibilities open for collaborative research, and the opportunities to obtain research funding for individual and collaborative projects, including inter-institutional and cross-border collaborations.
Established in 2006, the Eighteenth–Century Literature Research Network in Ireland (ECLRNI) aims to allow individual researchers work more fruitfully on their own projects, by enabling them to relate these to the wider study of eighteenth-century literary culture in Ireland and to the study of all eighteenth-century literatures in English, in these islands and beyond.
Primarily based in departments of English studies in third-level institutions and in research libraries in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, the network seeks to include all interested researchers with full-time permanent, part-time permanent, or fixed-term posts, post-doctoral fellows, and postgraduate students; those without a formal position within departments but with links with them – e. g., retired members, recent postgraduates – are also welcome as members. A further aim of the Network is to foster inter-institutional links, at departmental or School level, throughout Ireland.
Many of those currently working in the area of eighteenth–century Irish literature in English do so in the context of research and teaching eighteenth-century English Literature in the widest understanding of that term: i.e. including Scottish and Welsh literatures, as well as English writing in the narrow sense. A third aim of the ECLRNI is to help strengthen such work in departments of English in Ireland.