Strumpet City is a 1969 Irish novel by James Plunkett. It was adapted into an acclaimed RTÉ miniseries in 1980, still one of the most highly-regarded serials ever produced by Ireland's national broadcaster. Set between 1903 and '14, it details the struggles of Dublin workers against employers, particularly during the 1913 Strike and Lockout
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The great Irish short-story writer Frank O'Connor said it wasn't possible to write a true "social novel" in Ireland, but Plunkett proved him wrong with a novel of grand scale, featuring a wide range of characters of varying social station and political affiliation.
Tropes:
- The Alcoholic: Fr. Giffley, who is a classic whiskey priest - with a weakness for alcohol but simultaneously a strong moral sense.
- Embarrassing First Name: Rashers Tierney.
- Actually Truth in Television: ‘rasher’ is Hiberno-English for a slice of bacon, and "Rashers" was a nickname applied to any male who either loved bacon or was red-haired (because red hair is the colour of bacon.) It has nothing to do with having a rash.
- Historical Domain Character: Jim Larkin, and a brief appearance by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.
- Shout-Out:
- The title is this to a line from The Old Lady Says No, a 1930s play about Dublin by dramatist Denis Johnston: "Strumpet city in the sunset..."
- Rashers is loosely based on a beloved street figure of Plunkett's day named Hoyer (or Howyer, both after his typical Dublin greeting) who would wander the streets quoting Shakespeare with his dog Rusty. Both died in a housefire shortly before Plunkett started writing.
