Israelites in Erin: Exodus, Revolution, and the Irish Revival

Placeholder author icon
By Abby Bender *06

Published Oct. 19, 2016

 Until the early 20th century, the Biblical narrative of Exodus served as an allegory for the birth of Ireland as a nation. In Israelites in Erin: Exodus, Revolution, and the Irish Revival (Syracuse University Press) Abby Bender *06 examines both well-known and more obscure works by writers such as James Joyce, Lady Gregory, Charles Stewart Parnell, and Patrick Pearse to outline the history of a liberation narrative based in the story of the Israelites’ escape from bondage in Egypt. Bender is adjunct assistant professor of Irish studies at New York University’s Glucksman Ireland House.

Paw in print

Image
The January 2026 cover of PAW, featuring a man and a woman and the headline "Empower Couple."
The Latest Issue

January 2026

Giving big with Kwanza Jones ’93 and José E. Feliciano ’94; Elizabeth Tsurkov freed; small town wonderers.