Litríocht Ghaeilge na nÓg, 1900-2022

The seeds of Irish youth literature as we understand it today were sown at the beginning of the twentieth century. This article provides an overview of the development of Irish literature for young people over the past 120 years: the obstacles that authors and publishers faced in the early years, progress that has been made, and the challenges related to Irish literature for young people today. We show that in the first half of the twentieth century young Irish literature was a male domain, both its authors and target audience, but that this tendency has changed over time. There also appears to be a close connection between young Irish literature and the state of the Irish language in the education system. The article focuses on new Irish literature mainly for young people, although references are made to translations and school books.