Joyce, Shaw, and Beckett managed to isolate themselves from Ireland's worst conflicts by leaving the country before the Anglo-Irish War and the Civil War. For those who remained in the country, however, Ireland's strife inspired a number of major literary works.

Sean O'Casey (1880–1964)

Sean O'Casey actively supported the Irish Nationalist movement as a member of both the Gaelic League and the Irish Citizen's Army. His experiences with the independence movement inspired his first play, The Shadow of the Gunman, which was produced by the Abbey Theatre in 1923. This was followed by Juno and the Paycock (1924), which many consider his masterpiece, and The Plough and Stars (1926), which sparked riots in Dublin for its allegedly anti-Irish stance. O'Casey's plays used vibrant language and elements of comedy and tragedy to depict the tensions in Irish society.

O'Casey broke with the Abbey Theatre in 1928, and many of his later plays were produced in London. These plays were increasingly concerned with expressing the author's socialist views. O'Casey also published a six-volume autobiography, beginning with I Knock at the Door in 1939.

Brendan Behan (1923–64)

Brendan Behan was born at the dawn of Irish independence to a family closely tied to the Irish Republican Army. Behan joined the IRA as a young man, and it swiftly led him into trouble. At the age of sixteen Behan was arrested for plotting to blow up an English battleship. He spent three years in the Borstal Reform School, which provided him with material for his most famous book, Borstal Boy (1958). Behan spent two more terms in prison for revolutionary activity, and he was eventually deported to France.

Behan poured the experiences of his troubled youth into passionate plays, such as The Quare Fellow (1956) and The Hostage (1958). He was internationally famous for his talents as a playwright, but he was equally famous for his alcoholic exploits, such as showing up roaring drunk to performances of his plays. Behan's shenanigans made him something of a media favorite, but they also brought him criticism for perpetuating the image of a wild, drunken Irishman. Sadly, he died at the age of forty-one from a combination of diabetes and alcoholism.