Irish Tradition

ROBIN FLOWER was Deputy-Keeper of Manuscripts in the British Museum from 1929 to 1944 and a lifelong visitor to the Blasket Islands in Kerry. His books include the Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts in the British Museum (Vol.II, 1926), The Western Island (1944), and a translation of The Islandman (1934) by Tomáis O Criomhthain.

The Irish Tradition will perpetuate Robin Flower’s memory among all educated Irishmen. It is the one book on Irish literature which can be recommended without reserve to everyone who wishes for a true, accurate and sympathetic account of a beauty that once permeated the lives of kings, monks and men of learning, but which now survives perilously only among the rocks and heather of the West.’ – The Irish Times ‘It has more knowledge and thought and light than almost any other modern book about Irish literature.’ – The Irish Press ‘Scholarly, knowledgeable and loving, these lectures provide a rare combination of intellectual satisfaction and plain enjoyment.’ – Sean Dunne, Cork Examiner