Bringing contemporary critical theory to bear on Irish studies, contributors - eminent Irish and American scholars - provide insightful and timely essays on Ireland's changing identity by looking at representations of Ireland in history, film, literature and political science. Contributors explore the role of language in identity construction, modern efforts to reconstruct Irish identity after the Great Famine, and the impact of gender and class on nationality. Utlimately, the Ireland that emerges from these theoretical, multidisciplinary snapshots is complex, diverse and largely unmapped. Long defined by others, it is also an Ireland ready and eager to define itself.