"Back in 2008, when Nicola Coughlan was at drama school, a guy in her class swaggered over and, with all the brimming confidence of young men in the noughties, asked her, Do the Irish think the English are really cool? Coughlan, born in Galway, mimes processing the question. Well, she said, it's quite complicated. Like, there's a lot of history there, between the two countries. Like, there's a lot going on."
"Today, people are more knowledgable about the history of the English in Ireland. Coughlan is happy about that. She's also happy about the explosion of Irish storytelling in popular culture Normal People, Trespasses, Small Things Like These, not to mention the series that made her name, Derry Girls. And she's proud of young Irish actors Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan and Lola Petticrew, to name a few. She listens to bands such as Fontaines DC, CMAT and Kneecap. It's such a small country and the amount of creativity that comes out of Ireland is really extraordinary."
"But now there's a different kind of English guy, the one who swaggers over to explain Irish history to you through the music. I'm like, No, no. I know all of that.' Like, I know why [Kneecap] is wearing a balaclava, yes. I know why all of it.' And then there's the person who congratulates her for having an elected leftwing female president in the form of Catherine Connolly. I'm like, Our third. Our third female president. And by the way, Michael D Higgins, her predecessor, is incredibly leftwing. And a poet.'"
In 2008, Nicola Coughlan experienced a drama-school moment when a male classmate asked whether the Irish find the English "cool," prompting her to note complex historical ties between the countries. Coughlan welcomes greater public knowledge of that history and celebrates an explosion of Irish storytelling across TV, film and literature, citing Normal People, Trespasses, Small Things Like These and Derry Girls. She expresses pride in a wave of young Irish actors and musicians, rejects patronizing outsider explanations of Irish culture, and highlights Ireland's disproportionate creative output given its size.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]