A unique cultural history which describes the various maneuvers of the Synge family in its negotiations with Irish history.

The silence of Barbara Synge provides a fascinating companion volume to Bill McCormack's acclaimed Fool of the Family (2000), a biography of the playwright J.M.

Explores concepts of performance, modernity and progress by combining performance studies and historical research with contextualised readings of Synge's plays.

It’s Silence, Soundly, It’s Nothing, Seriously and It’s Absence, Presently, continue The ‘It’ Series published by Matador since The Book of It (2010).

In a volume that has become a standard text in Irish studies and serves as a course-friendly alternative to the Field Day anthology, editors Maureen O’Rourke