A Voice of Their Own: Portraits of Old Age in the Irish Short Story

Abstract

Ageing has been a dominant theme in the Irish short story since the early twentieth century when writers like Liam O’Flaherty, Daniel Corkery, Frank O’Connor and Sean O’Faolain excelled in external portraits of the elderly while leaving their emotions to be deduced from actions and dialogue. Michael MacLaverty’s stories marked a turning point by entering into the consciousness of his older protagonists, and the developing interiority of the Irish short story gave space to the flashback in stories by John McGahern and William Trevor, which allowed for the depiction of social change through the eyes of the older generation. Some contemporary short stories focus more directly on their world, entering into the consciousness of the old and confused in order to give them a voice of their own.