ABSTRACT
The first chapter introduces the group of writers involved with the Daiken circle, listing biographical details, social backgrounds and setting reasons why their contribution to Irish and broader cultural histories of the Left should be re-assessed. The chapter also describes and outlines key factors in the historical context of Thirties Ireland, the politics and cultural developments in the fledgling Irish Free State and the societal constraints and effects on writers associated with dissent or left-wing ideas and how these factors that led to the writers’ exile from Ireland in the Thirties. It posits the argument that the exile of these writers facilitated their participation in a broader international mosaic of Left cultures, part of transnational political engagement and cultural dissidence in the Thirties and Forties.
