This lecture explores forms of popular culture that developed in Ireland during the Second World War. Comparisons are drawn with Britain, where radio and cinema assume tremendous importance in the war years. In Ireland the major developments are in amateur drama, reading groups, beginnings of film and journalism. Particular attention is focused on the very specific relationship between high and popular culture which develops in both Britain and Ireland at this time due to the fact that many 'high cultural' writers are taking on mediated jobs in radio broadcasting. Consideration is also given to the role of The Bell and other cultural movements in strengthening the consensus on behalf of neutrality in Ireland.

James Joyce’s works abound in references to popular culture. They depict such works as part of the very fabric of modern consciousness. Frequently, Joyce deploys allusions to popular entertainment as a means of underlining the debasement and vulgarity of contemporary existence. But also crucially, in the manner of Walter Benjamin, he depicts popular culture as a site of resistance and the very basis by which his characters may contest the enervating effects of capitalism and of political imperialisms.

This lecture examines W.B. Yeats’s not inconsiderable body of writing for the newspapers which ranges from literary journalism to letters to the editor. Attention will focus on the tensions between his clear commitment to journalistic practice and his own avowed hostility to ‘the Ireland of the newspapers’. As well as providing Yeats with the means of publicising his literary endeavours and pleading Ireland’s cause, journalism was also crucial to Yeats’s development as a poet.

This lecture is focused primarily on the pre-revolutionary period in Ireland and looks at the cultural and visual significance of the image of the boy within Irish nationalist discourse. Particular emphasis is placed on how the figure of Cuchulainn was adapted (especially by Patrick Pearse) to create an idea of modern revolutionary male citizenship. Consideration is also given to the ‘after-life’ of Cuchulainn and some of the changing meanings and representations attached to Cuchulainn within contemporary culture.

Like Moore’s Melodies, Bill Whelan’s Riverdance has become the stable signifier of a complex cultural moment. The innovation and appeal of his music lies in his ability to interrogate and transcend the highly compartmentalised divisions within Irish music which can be traced back to Yeats’s rejection of Moore’s songs.

PJ Mathews introduces series 1 of UCDscholarcast - The Art of Popular Culture: From "The Meeting of the Waters" to Riverdance