Ireland is steeped in literary history with all-time greats such as James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Oscar Wilde, Patrick Kavanagh and many more. Read about these Irish writers and their lives in this section on Irish literature.

Quotes from Oscar Wilde

Legendary Irish wit, dramatist, and raconteur Oscar Wilde lived a life as much remembered for its scandal as for his timeless literary masterpieces. Marked by tragedy, decadence, genius, and infamy, his life was as compelling as that of any of his fictional characters.

Born to the notable doctor William Wilde and the flamboyant Lady Wilde (also known as Speranza, a literary talent in her own right), Wilde attended Dublin’s Trinity College before studying at Oxford. There, he excelled both academically and socially, becoming a much-sought-after party guest known for his clever conversational skills.

He achieved wild success throughout the 1890s, with plays such as Lady Windermere’s Fan, An Ideal Husband, A Woman of No Importance, and The Importance of Being Earnest skyrocketing him to fame and paving the way for further literary achievement with his prolific stories, novels, and essays.

The advent of ruin came in 1891, when Wilde became embroiled in a messy love affair with Lord Alfred Douglas, a manipulative young aristocrat, who urged Wilde to initiate a messy libel suit, which eventually led to Wilde’s conviction of indecency and prison term of two years. After his release from prison, Wilde found himself shunned by previous associates and exiled to the Continent, where he died of meningitis in 1900 and was buried in Paris’ famous Père Lachaise Cemetery, where mourners gather to this day to celebrate his remarkable life.