Read Ireland Book Reviews, June 2001

Dublin: A Novel by Sean Moncrieff
Dublin was mucky and vulgar. Like a tourist who gets drunk and wakes up with a huge tattoo. This is what it is like for Sean Dillon. 35 years-old, a failure, too hung-over to go to work, and too lazy to get a new job. Then there is a mysterious Frenchwoman and cops banging on the door asking about a dead woman and Russian gangsters. This thriller is needle-sharp, funny and scathing. It is set in a Dublin most people don’t read about - the real city of Dublin.

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A Clouded Peace by John Cole
John Cole, the celebrated former political editor of the BBC, has returned to his Ulster roots to write a thoughtful and intriguing novel, part thriller, part love story, that is inspired by the ‘troubles’ of the 1970s. Cole draws on his own knowledge of Northern Ireland, its people and its politics. He also takes a mischievous side-swipe at the politics of television and televised politics. His hero, Alan Houston, is an Ulster-born journalist working in London, married with two sons - one at university, the other still at school. With sectarian violence growing, Alan is persuaded to quit journalism and become political adviser to the British government in Belfast. Absorbed by his new job, in which he makes contact with the hard men of the IRA, Alan neglects his wife, who is attracted to another man. The IRA, regarding leverage as a potent weapon in its negotiating armoury, targets one of the Houston’s sons. With its twists and turns and its strong characterisation, this book marks an impressive fiction debut.

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Out of Ireland by Christopher Koch
This masterful novel tells the story of a man who suffers exile through fighting for the future of his people. A leader of the Young Ireland rebellion of 1848, Robert Devereux is an Irish gentleman who is prepared to hazard a life of privilege in the fight for his country’s freedom. Transported to Van Diemen’s Land as a political prisoner, he enters a life that greatly changes him, falling in love with a young Irish convict woman. Through Kathleen O’Rahilly he comes to know the people he’s long romanticised; but his cause, and the life he has lost, will not let him go.

6 Days by Brendan Du Bois
A week is a long time in politics, but six days can destroy democracy. It should be the happiest days for former special forces agent Drew Connor. Out walking in New Hampshire’s White Mountains with his girlfriend Sheila Cass, he has butterflies in his stomach and an engagement ring in his pocket. Then a thunderstorm hits, and they take shelter in what Sheila thinks is a relay station for a state utility. But when Drew enters the building, he realises they have stepped into something far more sinister. As Drew and Sheila discover, they have stumbled on a plot to kill the president and overthrow the American government, a plan that is to take place in just six days time. With the conspirators claiming they are terrorists on the run, Drew knows it is going to be hard enough just to stay alive, let alone put a stop to this most deadly of political schemes

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Irish Ice by W. Brian Perry
Justin Flynn, a blue-collar Irish Catholic from the Bronx, arrives late for his own wedding to Manda, a beautiful Spanish immigrant. After a comical brawl at the wedding, a brief and bittersweet honeymoon, and a well-meaning marriage stuck in the starting gate, it becomes clear that Justin Flynn is arriving late to maturity. But once he survives an affair and a half, lands a good job, loses the job and his wife and his lover, and confronts his own past long with his misty Irish legacy, the possibility arises that he might just grow up after all. This novel is a rollicking tale of love, loss and redemption.

Dyke Duffy and the Dog Days of Killarmon by Jo Belle Coffman
When she left for Ireland, Sam thought she was running away from home, but soon discovered that’s where she was running to. After six years in Killarmon, the world’s largest open air asylum, she’s looking forty right in the face and things have finally settled down. Until her cute young neighbour Danny kisses her and life has to go and get interesting again

After Kafra by Martin Malone
Harry Kyle dreams of the Lebanon, of lemon groves, sun-scorched walls, the shush of stormy waves, of a village called Kafra of a woman’s foot wrenched from her body - blue legging, shiny bone like chicken-bone and sinew - blown off at the feet. Sergeant Kyle, United Nations Peacekeeper, has always known that someday this would happen - that his eyes would be called upon to see such a sight. He hadn’t believed he would handle it so badly. Back in Ireland, he struggles in silence to shake off the indelible images branded on his soul, a tough guy melting while his family disintegrates around him.

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The House That Jack Built by Catherine Barry
When Jack loses her virginity at the age of sixteen, she finds the experience a crushing disappointment. But more than a decade on - living in a tiny flat in Dublin as a single mother and in a dead-end job - she still dreams of Matt, Thin Lizzy and those days of old So bumping into her first love unexpectedly one Christmas, she feels she has met with her destiny. Okay, so Matt is married, he has a kid. When he invites her to join an evening class he’s teaching, Jack’s fantasies soar to a new height. Matt has set her on the first steps of a journey that will change her life only it is not quite the journey she had in mind.

Planned Accidents by Sean Monaghan
Shane is 23. His girlfriend has died in bizarre circumstances and his exorbitant hire-purchase lifestyle is about to implode. Andrew is 30. His fortified suburban comforts are threatened by the exposure of a squalid secret. Both seek advice from the carnal owner of a cosmetic shop, Nuala, but she has become disillusioned with making things smell sweet. Planned Accidents is a novel about veiled lives, decadent sex, clubbing, death threats, New Age spirituality, designer drugs and secrets in other words, the Celtic Tiger.

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The Irish Famine: A Documentary by Colm Toibin and Diarmaid Ferriter
The demesne house Yeats celebrated has gone, with its ambiguous legacy of the Great Famine. ‘Nothing now roots where the house once stood is cemented over, as though to contain uneasy spirits in the foundations.’ This remarkable book raises those ghosts - in a collaboration between an award-winning writer and an historian. Colm Toibin’s essay on the Famine was acclaimed on its original publication as ‘not just an absorbing many-sided view of the Famine but also a useful critique of the writing of its history.’ To that text, revised, Diarmuid Ferriter added, linked and introduced a wide-ranging selection of documents - journalism, reports, state papers, statistics, letters, petitions This unique book opens a door to a new and deeper understanding of the Great Irish Famine.

Poems 1968-1998 by Paul Muldoon
Drawing on Muldoon’s eight major collections, this book allows readers old and new to take the full measure of the writer whose ‘influence on the otherwise torpid aesthetics of post-war poetry alone makes him the most significant English language poet born since the Second World War’ (Times Literary Supplement).

The Island of Saints and Scholars by Sean McMahon
Ireland has long been known as a place of religion and learning. From the sixth to the twelfth centuries, Irish monks went as saints and scholars, in voluntary exile. They founded monasteries in Pictish Scotland and in the violent territories between the Sein and the Rhine. Their influence was felt from Iceland to Sicily and as far east as Kiev, and when their work of Christianising Europe was safely accomplished, they became scholars at the courts of the Carolingian kings. This book presents an overview of the missionary work by the Irish abroad and provides an alphabetical guide to the people, places and works of this golden age.

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The Minstrel Boy: Thomas Moore and His Melodies by Sean McMahon
Thomas Moore (1779-12), the pocket-sized tenor who was the darling of English aristocratic drawing rooms as he sang the ‘wild songs of his dear native plains’, was a true Irish patriot. A gifted poet whose first published work was a version of the erotic odes of Anacreon, he created lyrics that, matched to traditional Irish airs, made his name famous throughout the English-speaking world even in his own lifetime. This book offers a short, readable account of Moore’s life and includes the lyrics of a number of his Irish Melodies.

Celtic Spirituality by Maria Buckley
In recent years Celtic spirituality has attracted a great deal of interest: it has been regarded as a manifestation of a world religion that can be seen as separate from Christianity as well as being linked to it. In pre-Christian Ireland, the Celts had their own sophisticated rituals of worship, in which elements such as the seasons, astronomy, nature and the Celts’ perception - as a farming people - of the bounty of the earth all played a part. This succinct and informative book examines the Celts’ belief systems and links them to the development and growth of Christianity in Ireland.

A History of Sex and Morals in Ireland by Aongus Collins
This Irish have always had a tortuous relationship with sex. The Brehon Laws, according to which Gaelic society was organised until the decline of the old order in the sixteenth century, were noted for their liberal stance on polygamy and divorce. By contrast, this era was followed by the asceticism of the Celtic Church in the age of saints and scholars. In modern times, the Church has been rocked by sex scandals and Irish society in general has undergone something of a sexual revolution. In this entertaining and illuminating book, the author surveys changing attitudes to sexual and moral issues in Ireland from the earliest days to the present day.

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Celtic Music edited by Kenny Mathieson
This comprehensive guidebook covers all that is Celtic Music today. Essays feature both traditional and new kinds of Celtic and Celtic-influenced music by leading as well as lesser-known performers. These essays explore solo artists, bands, singers, and players of Celtic music’s specialised instruments, including harps, pipes, fiddles, drums, squeezeboxes, whistles, mandolins, guitars and more. Performers profiled range from rock-influenced group Clannad, to Welsh band Ar Log, Brittany group Gwerz, singer Christy Moore, harpist/piper/singer Alan Stivell, and many more. Reviews guide readers to the essential recordings as well as unexpected discoveries for any new or established Celtic collection.

All Ireland Ambitions by John Scally
The rich history of the GAA is filled with great players and glorious victories. However, while for every great All-Ireland victory there is a trophy, not every great player realises the dream of an All-Ireland medal - they are heroes of the game nonetheless. In this book the author has compiled a diverse range of personal profiles of such magnificent men and women form every province of Ireland.

Mapping Ireland: From Kingdom to Counties by Sean Connors
This is the first book dedicated to explaining Ireland’s counties. It contains a wealth of fascinating and little-known facts such as the origin and meaning of our county names and the names of the old baronies within each county. It also incorporates an index of over 500 family names showing the clans most associated with each region. The maps in this collection are replicas taken form a 300-year old original and show Ireland as it was when the thirty-two counties were first completed. Full colour throughout.

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Deadly Beat: Inside the Royal Ulster Constabulary by Richard Latham
This book describes the world inhabited by the author during his service with the Royal Ulster Constabulary - a force that remains an institution of contradiction and intrigue to many outside observers. Considered by some to be one of the finest police forces in the world, its officers are looked upon by others as the evil storm-troopers of Unionism and the British Government. The RUC is now a force undergoing sweeping changes in response to the Good Friday Agreement and Republican demands, yet for 30 years it stood alongside the British Army in a war with Republicans that killed over 300 policemen and injured thousands more. For 14 years, Latham, an Englishman, served as a police officer, both in England and in Ulster, transferring from the English Special Branch to the RUC in 1991. This book is his story and gives a unique insight into the grim reality of policing Ulster.

Historic Ireland: 5000 Years of Ireland’s Heritage by Daithi O hOgain
This book contains magnificent colour photographs and a text relating both fact and fantasy which gives an insight into 5000 years of Irish history. Visited in these pages are sacred ritual sites, beautiful castles, and ancient fortifications, geological formations which have attracted mythological explanations, symbolic statues and architectural masterpieces - all of them representing Ireland’s unique cultural and historical heritage.

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Irish Potato Cookbook by Eveleen Coyle
The most versatile and adaptable of all vegetables, the potato is indelibly associated with Ireland. In this handy book, the author gathers together a collection of delicious recipes, including old favourites like colcannon, boxty and Dublin coddle, as well as exciting new suggestions such as Parmesan potato cakes, new potatoes with olive oil and bay leaf, and even a delicious potato pizza. This book is for everyone who enjoys the ‘spud’!

The Rough Guide to Irish Music by Geoff Wallis
and Sue Wilson This well-researched book is a fund of information. Traditional music is alive, well and thriving in Ireland, and there’s no better introduction to it than this guide. Covering every aspect of the subject, from its distant origins to today’s barnstorming pub sessions, it features essential background information on the development of the music; biographical entries on over 350 players, singer, bands, with dozens of photographs; critical discographies, recommending the best available recordings; and an up-to-date listing of the best places to hear, buy and learn Irish music, from Donegal to Wexford.

Celtic Tales and Legends retold by Nicola Baxter
with illustrations by Cathie Shuttleworth The stories of the Celts, with their descriptions of gorgeous clothes and jewels, fine cattle and heroic deeds, have spread across the world. This collection, beautifully illustrated in a style the Celts themselves made famous, introduces readers young and old to their magical storytelling. The stories retold include: Cormac’s Golden Cup, Deirdre of the Sorrows, The Land of Youth, Bran and Branwen, The Three Troubles, Elidore, The Fountain, The Two Pig-Keepers, The Field of Gold, and The Gift of Healing.

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Irish Sagas edited by Myles Dillon
Originally published in 1968, the essays in this classic collection were originally broadcast as a series of Thomas Davis lectures. The editor and ten other leading Celtic scholars provide an introduction to the prose tales of ancient Ireland. Through their translations of these heroic sagas a vivid picture emerges of the worlds of the mythological cycle, with stories of the pre-Christian gods; the Ulster cycle of tales of great warriors; the Fenian cycle of inspiring noble youth; and the kingly cycle in which some historical figures have been vested with the immortality of legend.

Meals for All Seasons: The Best of Contemporary Irish Cooking by Georgina Campbell
This book contains recipes and dishes for year-round use and quality contemporary cookery. As well as starters, side-dishes, main courses and desserts; it includes baking and preserving, ‘basics’ and ‘sauces’ sections, seasonal fresh produce listings, sensible and clear instructions on preparation and cooking and imaginative ideas on serving. In fact, everything the cook needs for all-season cooking.

Reflections on a Summer Sea by Trevor Norton
This book is a wonderful evocation of a magical place caught in time - a funny and touching true story of talented ecologists who, as a hobby, spent forty summers at their privately-owned field laboratory in a stunning corner of south-west Ireland. The sea laps on every page, for events take place beside and beneath a stunning marine lake in this beautiful country, where myths seep from the ground like will o’ the wisps and eccentrics are always in season.

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Oral History and Biography: Women’s Studies Review volume 7 from the Women’s Studies Centre, NUI Galway edited by Jane Conroy and Rosaleen O’Neill
This volume includes many and various articles on oral history and biography. All the contributions were papers presented in or around NUI, Galway over the past 5 years; most were given at the Women’s History Association of Ireland conference in September 1999.

The Years of Bloom: James Joyce in Trieste 1904-19 by John McCourt
This book is based on extensive scrutiny of previously unused sources and informed by the author’s intimate knowledge of the culture and dialect of Trieste. It is possibly the most important work of Joyce biography since Ellmann, and re-creates this fertile period in Joyce’s life with an extraordinary richness of detail and depth of understanding. In Trieste, Joyce wrote most of the stories in Dubliners, turned Stephen Hero into A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and began Ulysses. Echoes and influences of Trieste are rife throughout Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. Though Trieste had become a sleepy backwater by the time Ellmann visited there in the 1950s, McCourt shows that in the waning years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire the city was a teeming imperial port, intensely cosmopolitan and polyglot. There Joyce experienced the various cultures and central Europe and the eastern Mediterranean. He knew many Jews, who collectively provided much of the material for the character of Leopold Bloom. He encountered continental socialism, Italian irredentism, Futurism and various other political and artistic movements whose subtle influences McCourt traces with literary grace and scholarly rigour. This book is a rare landmark in the crowded terrain of Joyce studies.

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Not of This World: Evangelical Protestants in Northern Ireland by Glenn Jordan
Evangelicalism is one of the least understood sectors of Northern Irish society, evoking emotions that range from bewilderment to disdain and even fear. Arguing that evangelicalism plays too far important a role to be so easily dismissed or misunderstood, this important book is based on in-depth interviews with more than seventy men and women from the Protestant evangelical tradition. They talk revealingly about their deepest beliefs and convictions, their understanding of Northern Ireland’s troubled history, and their hopes and fears for the future. The result is a candid and complex portrait of an influential community - a portrait that also offers a more profound understanding of the wider society in which evangelicals live, work and worship.

The Sieges of Derry edited by William Kelly
Few events in Irish history have generated such an output of writing, reaction and controversy as the siege of Derry in 1689. In fact, the events of those months still resonate in modern politics. Controversies over commemorations of the siege have often resulted in violence in the streets of Derry and elsewhere. This volume of essays seeks to explore these events and their profound impact on the literature, history, politics and popular culture of Ireland. Given the breadth of material and timespan, this series of essays is as much a contribution to our understanding of some of the most intractable problems of modern Ireland as it is to our knowledge of events in the seventeenth century, events which still inspire popular mythology and inform the ideology of Ulster Unionism.

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Travelling West by Rita Kelly
Rita Kelly’s poetry introduces the reader to a distinctive voice which commands respect and admiration for a consistent attempt to find and shape a language which will be in keeping with the complexity and sensitive aspects of her view of the world. It has a subtle depth of tone - there is an urgency, but a great range of narrative style, and there is humour. As always in her work there is a strong sense of place. Her atlas and her map are now more extensive. This extended experience is as much cultural as it is geographic. She ranges from a sun-filled afternoon in New York whizzing through the traffic, to the seemingly simple pleasures of a child building a sand-castle in Conamara.

Perfume of the Soil by Mary Guckian
A collection of poetry from the Co. Leitrim poet.

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Bone and Pearls by Eithne Cavanagh
In this collection, the poet explores family history, childhood memories, love and loss. Many of the poems reflect the author’s love of foreign travel and her interest in the Arts. The collection also considers her response to a variety of cultures.

The Early Years: Recollections of Madame Sidney Gifford Czira edited by Alan Hayes
‘John Brennan’ was a woman of the twentieth century, and along with her five sisters, the Giffords, she contributed to many of the developments of that time. Born Sidney Gifford in 1889 into a well-off Protestant unionist family, she was attracted to the nationalist cause and started publishing articles as a school girl for Arthur Griffith’s ‘Sinn Fein.’ For the next 65 years, she was well-known as a broadcaster and political activist, and counted as her friends and associates, the men and women who were leaders of the nationalist struggle. This book is her memoir, first published in 1974, in which she recounts her memories of these people. More than biographical portraits, she gives an insider’s view which is perceptive, entertaining and enlightening and adds greatly to the study of the political developments of the early decades of the last century. She provides the reader with a vivid picture of some of the customs and social live in Dublin in the early twentieth-century, and recounts the exciting developments in theatre during the Irish literary renaissance. This edition republishes the original manuscript together with a foreword by Gifford Lewis who was her original publisher and a biographical article on her and her five sisters by editor Alan Hayes. The book also includes selections of her journalism.

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James Liddy: A Critical Study by Brian Arkins
James Liddy is one of Ireland’s leading contemporary poets. Combining Kavanagh’s sense of local place with the cosmopolitan allegiances of MacNeice, exhibiting a Joycean sensibility that is Catholic, sexually open, and devoted to the quotidian, Liddy has proceeded to write some of the most original poetry to come out of Ireland since Yeats. He has, in particular, produced a very powerful body of poems about sex, for which there is no Irish analogue. This book is the first comprehensive study of Liddy’s work, placing it at the forefront of modern Irish literature.

The Seahound: The Story of an Irish Ship by Daire Brunicardi
This is the story of a small ship that in another time or place would have had no significance. But the ‘Helga’, later the ‘Muirchu (Sea Hound)’, was present at the birth of a new state and was Ireland’s first fishery-patrol and research ship. Its lifetime, 1908-1947, coincided with a most important period in Irish history. The maritime aspects of this period have received little attention. Many dramatic events occurred during the ship’s lifetime and it was there for most of them or, at least, not far away. Its shelling of Liberty Hall is mentioned in every account of the 1916 Rising while it played a key role in the moving of Free-State troops during the Civil War. Renamed in 1923, it resumed fishery patrol and research work, despite being unarmed and unable to enforce its orders. In 1939 it was refitted for naval duties, the flagship of the world’s smallest navy, patrolling against invasion and carrying out mine destruction. On her last voyage from navy headquarters at Haulbowline in Cork Harbour to Dublin for scrapping, the ship sank in a storm near the Saltee Islands off Wexford.

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St. Therese of Lisiuex by Those Who Knew Her by Christopher O’Mahony
Therese of Lisieux was declared Saint of the Church over fifty years ago. This book presents what those who knew her said about her when the first steps were taken towards her canonisation. Her sister, a maid, a school friend, her novice mistress, her novices and others, all have something to tell us about her from their own personal experience. The Therese they present is as loving, gentle and unassuming as we have always known her, but that quiet strength of character and undoubtable courage of the person wholly yielded up to God in loving trust regain their rightful emphasis in this restoration of ‘the true face’ of St. Therese.

God Save All Here: Memories of Life in County Roscommon during the th Century 2nd edition by Paul Healy
This book is a fascinating insight into the local history of Roscommon during a century and its people features interviews with men and women from all walks of life. They talk openly about life, death, happiness and hardship - and more. Subjects include: The ass and cart, living conditions in thatched houses, schooldays, the house station, wakes and funerals, the old fairs, emigration, killing the pig, the rambling houses, dances and carnivals, the American wakes and much more. This book captures the essence of 100 years in County Roscommon.

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Silver Linings: Travels Around Northern Ireland by Martin Fletcher
In this enchanting and highly original book, the author presents a portrait of Northern Ireland utterly at odds with its dire international image. He paints a compelling picture of a place caught in a time warp since the 1960s, of a land of mountains, lakes and rivers where customs, traditions and old-world charm survive, of an incredibly resourceful province that has given the world not just bombs and bullets but the Titanic, the tyre and the tractor, a dozen American presidents, two prime ministers of New Zealand and a Hindu god. He meets an intelligent, fun-loving, God-fearing people who may do terrible things to each other but could not be more welcoming to outsiders. He describes a land of awful beauty, a battleground of good and evil, a province populated by saints and sinners that has yet to be rendered bland by the forces of modernity. The author travels from Belfast to the furthermost corners of Northern Ireland, from grim housing estates to romantic castles, from mountaintops to abandoned islands. He encounters poachers, pilgrims, and poteen-makers. He goes cock-fighting in the ‘bandit country’ of South Armagh, eel fishing on Lough Neagh and road-bowling on country lanes. He finds dispensers of ‘cures’ in Fermanagh and guinea-hunters in Country Antrim. Inevitably, too, he meets terrorists and their victims.

Prehistoric Archaeology of Ireland by John Waddell
On present evidence, the human settlement of Ireland commenced some ten thousand years ago and the prehistoric story thus covers over eight and a half thousand years. Now in a second edition, this classic book provides a chronological account of this long timespan and, with numerous illustrations, charts the development of the first hunting and foraging communities, the achievements of the earliest agriculturalists with their remarkable megalithic tombs, and the technological advances of the later bronze- and iron-using societies. Recent decades have seen some exceptional developments in the study of the prehistoric archaeology of Ireland. New discoveries, excavations and research, new theoretical approaches and the increasing application of radiocarbon and tree-ring dating techniques have all made an enormous contribution to the better understanding of this remote past. As well as being a comprehensive and original review of the subject, this book answers the need for a detailed introduction to a large body of archaeological evidence and it is a measure of the amount of recent work that almost half the references cited in the bibliography have been published in the last dozen years.

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Too Long a Sacrifice: The Letters of Maud Gonne and John Quinn edited by Janis and Richard Londraville
This important collection of letters between Maud Gonne and John Quinn deals with art, literature, Irish politics, and the horrific conflicts of early twentieth-century. As Quinn himself wrote to Gonne in 1915, ‘We are having the experiences of centuries packed into a few years.’ Their letters are filled with details about the Irish fight for freedom, and how it affected Yeats, Pound, Joyce and other friends; about Gonne’s never-ending battle to establish a school feeding program for starving children in Ireland; and about the alarming changes in the political and social world of their time. Gonne believed that the powerful Quinn could do much for a troubled Ireland and wished he belonged ‘to Ireland entirely, for you would have led the people and made history as Parnell did.’ Maud Gonne was one of the few women Quinn wrote to with whom he had no romantic connection and she and the great patron became good friends who shared a passion for Ireland’s dream of freedom. There has rarely been such a significant group of letters that allow the reader access to one of the most exciting times in Irish history and literature.

Glimpses by Brendan Kennelly
In a frantic world, the momentary glimpse can spark a sudden flash of insight. This resonating glimpse - caught on the move - ripples through this mind, illuminating past and present, fast-forwarding in a split second to reveal future possibilities. But in an instant it is gone, lost in the bustle of everyday life. Keats wrote of the blindness that accompanies the sense of purpose. In this new collection, Brendan Kennelly opens his eyes - and ours - to the world and times we rush through without looking. With their quickfire wit and timeless wisdom, Kennelly’s glimpse-poems are short, quizzical, word-creatures in the tradition of riddles, epigrams and puzzles. Sublime or profane, joyous or crazily raucous, Kennelly’s glimpses have a life of their own, leaping beyond the words used to summon them up on the page.

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Female Activists: Irish Women and Change 1900-1960 edited by Mary Cullen and Maria Luddy
This book charts the lives and works of women who were significant figures in Irish political life in the twentieth century. Many of these women had cut their activist teeth in the suffrage campaign and went on to play an important role on the national and international political stage from the time of independence. These biographical studies recount the lives and work of trade unionists Louis Bennett, Helena Molony and Mary Galway, and political activists, Kathleen Lynn, Rosamond Jacob, Hanna Sheehy Skeffington and Margaret Cousins. While often associated with one particular arena, these women, in reality, campaigned on numerous significant issues, from suffrage to pacifism, republicanism, trade unionism, socialism and health reform. In addition, Jacob was a novelist, Malony a leading Abbey Theatre actress, and Lynn a pioneer in paediatric medicine. This collection adds considerably to our view of women’s place in twentieth-century Ireland, and it provides the first comprehensive study of a significant group of Irish women.

Carolan: The Life Times and Music of an Irish Harper by Donal O’Sullivan
Originally published in 1958, this classic study of Turlough O Carolan became a musical and historical beacon for all those interested in Ireland’s past and present. It is an indispensable tool for Irish musicians, who through this remarkable volume of research can go beyond the music itself, and engross themselves in the colourful world of this unique travelling musician in a still largely feudal Ireland of the 17th and 18th centuries. This new edition contains all of the original sections on ‘The Life of Carolan’ , with all 213 tunes, the annotations to the tunes, ‘The Remarkable Memoirs of Arthur O’Neill’, and complete indexes. Of major importance is the inclusion of an Appendix which contains recently discovered O’Carolan compositions, as well as much other previously unpublished material.

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Irish Session Tunes: The Green Book selected by Geraldine Cotter
This book contains 100 tunes collected by Geraldine Cotter. She is from Ennis, Co. Clare, an area well known for its rich musical tradition. Her music has been learned first hand from well-respected musicians of an older generation. She is carrying on this tradition in the time-honoured way, by presenting the tunes as she learnt them. The music is written in a simple form, without ornamentation, thus making it accessible to musicians of all levels. The tunes in this collection include jigs, reels, hornpipes, set dances, slow airs and miscellaneous pieces.

Irish Session Tunes: The Red Book selected by Matt Cranitch
This collection contains a varied selection of tunes, some of which are popular and widely played, others not so well known. The different dance rhythms - double jigs, slides, slip jigs, polkas, reels, hornpipes and set dances - are included, in addition to some airs. The number of tunes in each category represents, approximately, the relative popularity of the various types of tune, with the reel undoubtedly being the most popular.

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Exploring Wicklow’s Rebel Past 1798-1803 by Ruan O’Donnell
The events which took place between 1798 and 1803, when Irish rebels attempted to seize power from the colonial government, has left a lasting mark on the people and landscape of County Wicklow. The rugged mountains formed a place of refuge for the United Irishmen, from where they could organise raids on the lowlands that surrounded them. Rebel leaders such as Billy Byrne, Joseph Holt and Michael Dwyer became heroes during this time. This book brings the Wicklow landscape of 1798-1803 to life. With twenty four sites of interest listed, both in the towns and the mountains, and easy to follow maps, the reader can plan a round around the county which will suit. All the memorials commemorating the Rebellion are listed, with photos of many. The history and folklore of each site is given, as are clear directions to the area.

Last Orders, Please! By John McGuffin
This book consists of 24 ‘tasteless’ tales from the ‘Troubles’, written over a period of 25 years. The author recently confessed that the worst thing about these tales or reminiscences is that they are basically all true, and not even the names have been changed to protect anyone, innocent or guilty. Obscure, bizarre and humorous, the stories are politically incorrect gems!

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The Voice of the Eagle: The Heart of Celtic Christianity by Christopher Bamford
This book contains John Scotus Eriugena’s Homily on the Prologue to the Gospel of St. John. John Scotus Eriugena was born and raised in Ireland during the early ninth century. Neither monk nor priest, but a ‘holy sage’, he carried to France the flower of Celtic Christianity. His homily, ‘The Voice of the Eagle’, is a jewel of lyrical mysticism, theology, and cosmology, containing the essence of Celtic Christian wisdom. He meditates on the meaning and purpose of creation as revealed by the Word made flesh, distilling into twenty-three short chapters a uniquely Celtic, non-dualistic fusion of Christianity, Platonism, and ancient Irish wisdom. The translator’s ‘Reflections’ make up the second half of this book and attempt to unfold some of the life-giving meaning implicit in Eriugena’s luminous sentences. Inspired both by a personal search for a living Christianity and by a sense of the continuity of Western culture, these ‘Reflections’ offer a contemporary, meditative encounter with the Word as mediated by both St. John’s Prologue and Eriugena’s Celtic homily. This favourite of Celtic Christianity has been revised and also includes a new introduction by Thomas Moore, author of ‘Care of the Soul’ and ‘The Soul of Sex’.

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