Description
00:00 // Introduction: Language, Politics & Conflict
03:10 // Classical Gaelic & the Gaelic World
07:23 // Anglicisation & the Gaelic Poets’ Response
10:07 // Béarla: How Irish Named the English Language
12:10 // Shakespeare’s England & Attitudes to English
14:30 // Henry V: Ireland, Macmorris & the Four Nations
22:32 // Language & Power: From Henry V to The Tempest
25:32 // Gerald of Wales & the “Barbarian” Irish Stereotype
28:42 // Tudor Language Policy & the Plantation of Ulster
35:10 // The Irish at Elizabeth I’s Court
38:17 // Grace O’Malley Meets Queen Elizabeth I
39:35 // Elizabeth I’s Irish Primer & the First Irish Type
43:30 // Conclusion: Identity Beyond the Binaries
Watch the Q&A here: https://youtu.be/nBGxHiZmLeo
The Irish language has been associated with politicisation and conflict, particularly in the context of contemporary Northern Ireland identity politics. However, debates around the language extend much further back in time and some key elements of the discourse may be traced to the sixteenth century in particular.
This lecture looks at the portrayal of the Irish language by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, and the motivations for some negative stereotypes which were to prove resilient and enduring in later centuries.
This lecture was recorded by Mícheál Ó Mainnín on the 1st of October 2026
Professor Mícheál Ó Mainnín works within the School of Arts, English and Languages at Queen's University Belfast.
His principal research interests lie in the areas of linguistics (particularly onomastics and historical linguistics); Irish and Scottish Gaelic literary texts; language politics; Irish and Scottish identity and relations in the medieval and modern periods.
The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/shakespeare-irish
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