Kevin Barry, Tom Dunne, Richard Kearney, Edna Longley and Clare O’Halloran.

CONTENTS

John Wilson Foster, ‘Radical Regionalism’, pp.1-15. Illustrates the diverse nature of Ulster regionalism from T.W. Freeman’s interpretation of Ulster as a natural region set in four river basins, to Mary Cawley’s theories on the Drumlin Belt region as well as John Hewitt’s beliefs that an over-centralised government, standardised trading and propaganda reproduction were instigating the revival of regional identity; draws on the hypothesis put forward by A.T.Q. Stewart, George Melnyk and Benedict Anderson on areas of the Anglo-Irish agreement and E.C. regional policy.

Paul Durcan, ‘Micky Donnelly’s Hat’, pp. 16-17 [poem].

Kathleen McCracken, ‘Canvas and Camera Translated: Paul Durcan and the Visual Arts’, pp.18-29. Deliberates the ‘mystery’ of Durcan’s poetic style and his examination of reality which is primarily occupied with transferring the visual arts into a verbal medium; traces Durcan’s early career, influenced by Van Gogh, and later by R.B. Kitaj, highlighting his continuing obsession with cinema and music as opposed to literature, and making stylistic comparisons with film directer Andrei Tarkovsky.

Paul Durcan, ‘Mary Farl Power’s Works in Cast Paper’, pp.30-31 [poem].

Richard Kearney, ‘Rushdie, Kundera and Wolfe’, pp.32-39. Identifies an increasing threat to the imagination in modern culture, and illustrates his point with relative accounts of Salman Rusdhie’s Satanic Verses, Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities and Milan Kundera’s The Art of the Novel; discusses the controversial relationship between fictional writings and mass media reproductions, underlining the seeming inability to differintiate between the fiction and the reality thus placing one’s freedom of imagination in peril.

Howard Wright, ‘Two Poems’, pp.40-41. The Gasometer, Dismantled; The First Hurdle.

Amechi Nicholas Akwanija, ‘Chinua Achebe’s Writing: An investment in Speech’, pp.42-50. Reckons Achebe’s acclaimation as a novelist arises not from the quantity of his productions but as a consequence of his ambiguous politics which resist codification; following an investigation of his theme, the power of speech, which dominates all five of his novels, Akwanija uncovers a prophetic quality in his work which sets a path to liberation from inequality.

Tom Mac Intyre, ‘Baby in the Fire’, pp.51 [poem].

Jan Ashdown, ‘Northern Theatre: whose renaissance’, pp.52-56. Questions the role of theatre in modern society and asserts that if there is to be a renaissance in Northern theatre then it must begin at home; admonishes the lack of funding for the arts as well as the absence of ‘breeding’ grounds for fresh dramatic works.

John McGrail, Oh, Play That Thing!’, pp.57 [poem].

Alvin Jackson, ‘Unionist History (i)’, pp.58-66. Charts the evolution of unionist historiography from the era of Home Rule and the Irish Free State through W.W.1 as well as the predominating attitudes at Westminister in the 1900’s; juxtaposes the unionist historian with the historian of unionism, taking in aspects North and South of the border of Protestantism, Unionism and the Orangemen; refers to the ideals of the influential historians such as A.T.Q. Stewart.

Robert Johnstone, ‘A Glint of Metal’, pp.67 [poem].

Sean Lysaght, ‘Heaney vs Praeger: Contrasting Natures’, pp.68-74. Compares and contrasts Heaney’s theories in Preoccupations and Prager’s in The Way that I Went, outlining not only their conflicting viewpoints on the interpretation of Irish historiography but also the coalescence of their ideas on the linking of the Irish landscape to science.

Ian Duhig, ‘Three Poems’, pp.75-77. Fundamentals; The Irish Slave; People of the Book.

Séamas Mac Annaidh, ‘Rubble-na-Mickies: A Work in Progress’, pp.78-85. Leaba an Ghogaide.

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Graham Reid, ‘A Northern Star’, pp.86-88, review of Stewart Parker, Three Plays for Ireland: Northern Star; Heavenly Bodies; Pentecost (Birmingham: Oberon Books). Outlines the fundamental storylines, characters and themes of these three plays rating Pentecost as his best achievement ever.

George O’Brien, ‘Goodbye to All That’, pp.89-92, review of John Banville, The Book of Evidence (London: Secker and Warburg); Aidan Higgins, Ronda Gorge and Other Precipices. Travels and Autobiographies 1956-1989 (London: Secker and Warburg). Acclaims Banville’s self-consciousness and originality influenced by the impersonal and experimental style of Flann O’Brien and juxtaposes him with Higgin’s artistic confrontation with modern society, in turn, influenced by Beckett and Joyce.

Peter McDonald, ‘Chalk and Cheese’, pp.92-97, review of Richard Murphy, New Selected Poems (London: Faber & Faber 1989); Richard Murphy, The Mirror Wall (Dublin: Wolfhound Press 1989); Thomas Kinsella, Blood and Family (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press 1989). Compares and contrasts the careers of Kinsella and Murphy, the first receiving much accolade and the latter being overlooked, the first classed as an Irish poet and the latter Anglo-Irish, ultimately critically assessing both poet’s insightful offerings into Irish culture, history and tradition.

Michael Allen, ‘Celebrations’, pp.97-102, review of John Montague, Mount Eagle (Old Castle: Gallery Press 1988); Irish University Review, John Montague Issue, vol.19, no.1, Spring 1989 (Dept. of English, U.C.D.); Thomas Dillon Redshaw ed.,, Hill Field: Poems and Memoirs for John Montague (Minneapolis: Coffee House Press; Oldcastle: Gallery Press 1989). Joins these authors in paying tribute to Montague’s sixtieth birthday while providing a brief glimpse at the characteristic structure, style and plot, as well as the autobiographical quality, of the recognisable writing of John Montague.

Tom Clyde, ‘Prose Revival’, pp.102-105, review of Michael P. Harding, The Trouble with Sarah Gullion (Belfast: Blackstaff Press); Shane Connaughton, A Border Station (London: Hamish Hamilton); Peter McCabe, Carn (Henley: Aidan Ellis Publishing); Robert MacLiam Wilson, Ripley Boyle (Belfast: Blackstaff Press). Assesses the dilemmas encountered in the ‘multi-faceted novel’ and the detailed accounts set against a Northern backdrop, including individual appraisals of these authors and re-emphasising the shift from poetry to prose in Ulster writing.

Sean Lysaght, ‘Post-Territorial, Post-’68’, pp.105-09, review of Sara Berkeley, Home Movie Nights (Dublin: Raven Arts Press; Saskatchewan: Thistledown Press 1989); Matthew Sweeney, Blue Shoes (London: Secker and Warburg 1989); Robert Johnstone, Eden to Edenderry (Belfast: Blackstaff Press 1989). Studies a new generation of poetry in these three representations, Berkeley’s offering of more realistic love poetry to the female tradition, Sweeney’s cosmopolitan, common sense type poetry and Johnstone’s disenchantment with the ills of society.

Stephen Boyd, ‘‘Versions’ or ‘Translations’’, pp.109-11, review of Michael Smith, On the Anvil. Francisco de Quevedo (Dublin: Dedalus 1989). Deems this a ‘useful biographical and critical introduction’ to the greatest love poet and satirist that Spanish literature has seen.

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Kevin Boyle, ‘Confronting and Sidestepping History’, pp.111-14, review of Dennis Kennedy, The Widening Gulf: Northern Attitudes to the independent Irish state 1919-1949 (Belfast: Blackstaff Press 1988); Michael Farrell ed.,, Twenty Years On (Brandon 1988). Sketches Kennedy’s study which unites nine varying student interpretations of the civil rights movement and their personal accounts of the events preceeding the Irish Free State and places these perspectives in the context of present day.

Ivan Herbison, ‘A Pecular People’, pp.114-15, review of Rory Fitzpatrick, God’s Frontiersmen: The Scots-Irish Epic (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson 1989). Finds this examination of Ulster’s diverse cultural heritage impressive and well researched, highlighting themes on seventeenth century settlement in Ulster, the Rebellion of 1641 and the events leading up to the Revolution settlement, as well as the Scotch-Irish in America.

Ged Martin, ‘Canadian Irish’, pp.117-19, review of Bruce S. Elliott, Irish Migrants in the Canadas: a New Approach (Kingston and Montreal: McGill-Queens Univ. Press; Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, Queens Univ. 1988); Cyril J. Byrne and Margaret Harry ed.,, Talamh an Eisc: Canadian and Irish Essays (Halifax, Nova Scotia: Nimbus Publishing Lmt 1986). Praises Elliott’s indept study of the migration of Protestant Irish to Canada and though different in approach and content, finds Byrne’s collection of stories of the Irish experience in Canada informative about both Canada and Ireland.

Eoin Devereux, ‘Ethnographic Perspectives’, pp.119-20, review of Chris Curtin and Thomas M. Wilson ed.,, Ireland from Below (Galway: Officina Typographica, Galway Univ. Press 1989). Outlines the contents of this collection which covers topics such as religious traditions, social meaning, economy, culture and politics in Ireland, England, Canada and America and deems it a valuable reference for Irish ethnographers.

Cliona Murphy, ‘Varieties of History’, pp.120-23, review of K. Theodore Hoppen, Ireland since 1800. Conflict and Conformity (London: Longman 1989); Pauric Travers, Settlements and Divisions Ireland 1870-1922 (Dublin: Helicon 1989). Esteems Hoppen’s chronicling of historical philosophies, research, writing and teachings which make up his multi-dimensional account of the era and contrasts this to the traditional approach applied by Travers, which focuses on land traditions and nationalism, finding it, fundamentally, a narrowminded perspective.

John A. Murphy, ‘Ireland for Foreigners’, pp.123-24, review of Thomas Bartlett, Chris Curtin, Riana O’Dwyer and Gearóid O Tuathaigh, Irish Studies: A general introduction (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan). Praises this handbook to Irish studies which offers a basic framework on topics such as religion, history, society, music and folklore.

Eamon O’Flatherty, ‘Rigour and Clarity’, pp.124-26, review of Gerard O’Brien ed.,, Tom Dunne (assoc. ed.), Catholic Ireland in the eighteenth century: collected essays of Maureen Wall (Dublin: Geography Publications 1989). Welcomes this tribute to the remarkable historiographic account of the Irish Catholics during the Penal Law period provided by Maureen Wall which portrays, through a series of eleven essays, her own personal commitment to the issue.

D. Otten, ‘On Non-being’, pp.126-27, review of Dermot Morag, The Philosophy of John Scottus Eriugena. A Study of Idealism in the Middle Ages (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press 1989). Is enlightened by the parallels between Eriugena’s and Spinoza’s theories and appreciates the hints offered relating to the possible influence of Celtic society on Erkhart’s theological mysticism making this a valuable source for those interested in the evolution of medieval, mystical philosophy.

Fergus O’Ferrall, ‘Past and Present in Local History’, pp.128-29, review of Patrick J O’Connor, Exploring Limerick’s Past: An Historical Geography of Urban Development in County and City (Limerick: Oireacht na Murnhan Books 1987); Tipperary Historical Journal. County Tipperary Historical Society 1988; B. Coffer ed.,, Journal of the Wexford Historical Society, No.12 1988-89. Classes O’Connor’s study of Limerick’s topography and urban development as first rate and regards the Tipperary production on history and society as ambitious as it covers a diverse range of topics including history, archaelogy and memoires; these, along with the Wexford articles on Luke Wadding, the Wexford privateers in early 1640’s, early Viking settlements and the French revolution and architecture, all serve in making this a fine collection of new local historical catalogues.

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Michelle O’ Riordan, ‘Famines and Failures’, pp.129-32, review of E. Margaret Crawford ed.,, Famine: The Irish Experience 900-1900 (Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers Ltd. 1989); Ciaran Brady, Worsted in the Game: Losers in Irish History (Dublin: Lilliput Press 1989). Notes the broad coverage in Crawford’s book of the food crisis in Ireland’s past including papers by Mary C. Lyons on food shortage, weather and plagues and David Dickson on comparative pricing from 1740-1820; Prof. O’Corráin on Diarmait MacMurrough, Prof. Aidan Clarke on William Bedell and Patrick Kelly on William King are some of the biographical essays which make up Brady’s entertaining , if somewhat random, collection of Thomas Brady lectures.

Thomas Bartlett, ‘Weighty Evidence’, pp.132-34, review of S. H. Palmer, Police and Protest in England and Ireland 1780-1850 (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press). Acclaims this voluminous work which deals with the serious theme of the evolution of policing in England and Ireland and consists of charts, maps, illustrations, appendices and bibliographies, hence the title ‘weighty’.

Caitriona Clear, ‘Ireland’s Suffragists’, pp.134-36, review of Cliona Murphy, The Women’s Suffrage Movement and Irish Society in the early twentieth century (London: Harvester Wheatsheaf 1989). Deems this book as worthwhile, both for offering an awareness of the scale of the Irish Suffrage Movement but also for the engrossing and informative account of a neglected facet of Irish political history.

Tom Dunne, ‘Normalising Unionism’, pp.136-37, review of Alvin Jackson, The Ulster Party. Irish Unionists in the House of Commons 1884-1911 (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1989). Commends this fascinating analysis of Unionist political culture which highlights the trials and successes of Unionism in terms of the relationship with Westminister, Home Rule and the propaganda war.

Maura Cronin, ‘Labour in Dublin and Belfast’, pp.138-39, review of John W. Boyle, The Irish Labour Movement in the Nineteenth Century (Washington D.C.: Catholic Univ. of America Press). Regards this as an excellent study of the progression of an organised labour force in Dublin before Jim Larkin’s influential period and questions areas of law, politics, wages and working conditions.

Kevin Whelan, ‘Gaelic Survivals’, pp.139-43, review of Eoghan O Néill, Gleann an Oir. Ar thóir na staire agus na litríochta in oirthear Mumhan agus i ndeisceart Laighean (Dublin: An Clóichómhar 1988). Illustrates the important contribution this book makes in understanding the Gaelic tradition and offers an interesting, if somewhat discriminatory, insight into the influence of the O’Neill family in Tipperary and Kilkenny from the medieval period in Ireland through to the Cromwellian era.

Clare O’Halloran, ‘The Next Generation’, pp.143-45, review of Gerard O’Brien ed.,, Parliament, Politics and People. Essays in Eighteenth Century Irish History (Dublin: Irish Academic Press 1989). Expresses a disappointment with this symposium finding it unprofessional and lacking originality, though the individual essays by James Kelly on Protestantism, James Smyth on riots and O’Donovan on the militia in Munster are a redeeming factor.

John Coolahan, ‘Structure, Access and Process’, pp.145-46, review of Seamus O’Buachalla, Educational Policy in the Twentieth Century Ireland (Wolfhound Press 1988). Welcomes this analysis of the development of our educational system and applauds the well structured chronicling of a neglected area of contemporary society.

Fred Powell, ‘Northern Ireland: A Welfare State?’, pp.146-48, review of John Ditch, Social Policy in Northern Ireland between 1939-1950 (Aldershot: Gower). Esteems this representation of citizenship in Northern Ireland, enjoying the originality of the analysis and content and finding significance in terms of the Anglo-Irish dialogue; looks forward to a more updated study.

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