Cyber Ireland
Cyber Ireland Text, Image, Culture Claire Lynch Brunel University London, UK
Claire Lynch 2014 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-0-230-35817-1 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6 10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-34741-4 ISBN 978-1-137-38654-0 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9781137386540 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lynch, Claire, 1981 Cyber Ireland : text, image, culture / Claire Lynch, Brunel University, UK. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Literature and technology Ireland History 21st century. 2. Literature and the Internet Ireland. 3. Irish fiction 21st century History and criticism. 4. English fiction Irish authors History and criticism 21st century. 5. Social networks Ireland. 6. Mass media Technological innovations Ireland. I. Title. PR8803.2L96 2014 820.9 941509051 dc23 2014022093
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Contents List of Figures Acknowledgements viii ix Introduction 1 1 Out With the Old, in With the Boring 16 2 Lost in Cyberspace 40 3 Discovering Ireland 64 4 What Came First, the Chick Lit or the Blog? 91 5 The Digital Divide 116 6 Game Over 141 Bibliography 165 Index 174 vii
Figures I.1 Dublin Goes Digital, artwork by Craig Robinson, on behalf of DDFH&B Advertising 5 2.1 I: Telemachus Ulysses Seen for the ipad, artwork by Robert Berry on behalf of Throwaway Horse, LLC with BunsenTech, 47 53 3.1 Trinity College at Sunset, artwork by John Mahon on behalf of Dublin Virtually Live 70 3.2 View from O Connell Bridge, artwork by John Mahon on behalf of Dublin Virtually Live 73 6.1 Screen shot from Tír Na Nòg, permission provided by Greg Follis and Roy Carter of Gargoyle Games. 146 6.2 Map of Tír Na Nòg, permission provided by Greg Follis and Roy Carter of Gargoyle Games 148 6.3 Kú The Journey Begins, artwork by Basil Lim on behalf of bitsmith Games 151 viii
Acknowledgements Many people have contributed to this book, by enthusiastically recommending websites or books, politely enduring my flights of fancy and, most importantly, challenging me on whether the book should be written at all. Too numerous to name in person, this community of friends and colleagues helped to frame the ideas discussed here and I am grateful to them. The opportunity to present the first iterations at the 2009 IASIL conference at the University of Glasgow and, shortly afterwards, at the Nations and Knowledges event for the Ireland Wales Network at Cardiff University was genuinely formative. Similarly important feedback grew out of discussions at the Conference of Irish Historians in Britain in 2012 at the University of York, with final beta testing of the Cyber Ireland concept in 2013 at events at the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith and University College Dublin. I am grateful to the organisers and fellow participants of all of these events for developing and supporting my thinking on these topics. At Palgrave, my thanks go to Felicity Plester for getting the book started and to Chris Penfold for getting it finished. Permission to reproduce the cover image The Táin and The Journey Begins from Kú was kindly provided by artist Basil Lim of bitsmith Games. I am extremely grateful to the generous permission provided by the following: Dublin Goes Digital image reproduced by permission of Craig Robinson, I: Telemachus Ulysses Seen by permission of Robert Berry, Trinity College at Sunset and View from O Connell Bridge by permission of John Mahon and the image and map from Tír Na Nòg by permission of Greg Follis and Roy Carter of Gargoyle Games. ix