The Galway Rambler: Anthony Raftery and the Roots of Irish Cultural Identity

My project looks at the impact of Anthony Raftery, a 19th century blind poet and fiddle player from Co. Mayo, Ireland, on Ireland’s cultural landscape upon his ‘discovery’ by Irish writers Lady Augusta Gregory and Douglas Hyde, and his influence upon E. B. Yeats. Explorations of Scottish folk collections and Homeric influences upon Raftery’s poetry and the art of folk music preservation are also examined