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Read Ireland Book Reviews, April 2002
Sinn Fein: A Hundred
Turbulent Years by Brian Feeney
Sinn Fein is one of the most controversial
political movements in Ireland. In this book, for the first time, the
complete story of the rise and fall - and rise again - of a party that
repeatedly reshaped its identity over a hundred years, moving from dual
monarchy to dual strategy - the Armalite and the ballot box. From Arthur
Griffith to Gerry Adans, this book is a roll-call of major personalities
from twentieth century Irish and British history and politics. In 1922
Eamon de Valera said: ‘To me Sinn Fein is the nation organised. I never
regarded it as a mere political machine.’ This dual function - the voice
of national identity and a political party - has played a determining
role in the unique history of Sinn Fein. From its origins as an intellectual
and political ginger group, founded by Arthur Griffith at the beginning
of the last century to foster independence from the British Empire, Sinn
Fein has today become a powerful force in Ireland, North and South, led
by Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness. At times, the movement seemed to
have disappeared from the Irish political landscape, but it surfaced repeatedly
in periods of economic and political stress, attracting a core republican
vote. In the course of it existence the party has swung from being the
biggest mass movement in Irish history in 1918 to near extinction in the
1930s. It re-emerged in the 1950s with two Members of Parliament and 150,000
votes in Northern Ireland, and with four TDs in the Dublin parliament.
In the past forty years it changed direction on several occasions. In
the 1960s it reorganised as a Marxist-orientated movement; it split in
1969; it became a support group for the IRA in the 1970s; then entered
electoral politics after the 1981 hunger strikes. Sinn Fein’s major ideological
shift was in 1986 when, after another split, the policy of abstention
was abandoned. The IRA ceasefire in 1994, which gave Sinn Fein a legitimacy
in both parts of Ireland unprecedented since 1921, enabled the party to
play a key role in negotiating the Good Friday Agreement with the British
and Irish governments in 1998. Preoccupation with Britain and unionism
has been an ongoing theme for Sinn Fein since its foundation. Sinn Fein’s
relationship with the Irish government is also explored, documenting the
party’s dealings with Irish leaders. This book traces Sinn Fein’s path
towards constitutional politics and presents a critical analysis of its
personalities and policies over the century and shows how it has arrived
at last in government in Northern Ireland with hopes of a future role
in coalition in the Republic of Ireland and still confidently predicting
a united Ireland.
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Far from the Shamrock
Shore: The Story of Irish-American Immigration Through Song by Mick Moloney
This book tells the story of Irish immigration
to America in words and lyrics, with an accompanying CD further illustrating
the journey through song. The Irish-American folk and popular songs featured
complement the text, highlighting issues immigrants faced and the social
conditions they experienced from the 1700s to the early 20th century.
They tell of the backbreaking task of survival in the New World; the battles
waged for fair treatment and fair pay for the work done by these immigrants
on railroads, on canals, and in mines, construction, and factories; the
success that they ultimately attained in politics, business and society;
and the continuing influence on American life and culture today.
[ top ]
Ireland: History, Culture,
People edited by Paul Brewer
This book captures the essential Ireland,
with stunning colour photography and authoritative and entertaining text,
including a comprehensive register of families and their coats of arms.
It includes in-depth portraits of each of the 32 counties, and provides
a visual and textual guide to the landscapes that inspired Ireland great
writers and artists. It also contains stories of the Irish experience
in Canada, America, Australia and other lands. It has informed discussions
of the sports and daily life of the Irish people, as well as authoritative
accounts of the successive invasions and wars that shaped Irish history.
[ top ]
20th Century Irish
Poems selected by Michael Longley
This book is a personal anthology of 100
Irish poems published in the last century, examples of what Robert Graves
calls ‘heart-rending sense.’ Renowned figures such as W.B. Yeats, Louis
MacNeice, Patrick Kavanagh, Seamus Heaney, Derek Mahon, Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill
and Paul Muldoon are represented alongside less familiar voices. As Michael
Longley suggests in his preface, ‘The diversity of verse-shape, voice-tone
and word-music shows that there are many ways in which a poem can be a
poem. And there are just as many ways of being Irish or, more precisely,
having an imaginative relationship with Ireland.’ This book showcases
the magnificent Irish achievement in the field of modern poetry.
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In the Chair: Interviews
with Northern Irish Poets by John Brown
This book comprises in-depth interviews
with 22 of Northern Ireland’s leading poets: Seamus Heaney, James Simmons,
Paul Muldoon, Seamus Deane, Michael Longley, Derek Mahon, Tom Paulin,
Frank Ormsby, Medbh McGuckian, Ciaran Carson, Robert Graecen, Cathal O
Searcaigh, Conor O’Callaghan, Gerald Dawe, Colette Bryce, Moyra Donaldson,
John Montague, Jean Bleakney, Roy McFadden, Martin Mooney, Padriac Fiacc,
and Cherry Smyth. The interviews explore the poet’s work and development,
the social/historical context and the impact assimilated influences. In
addition to explore a poetry often rooted in ‘the North,’ the interviews
also suggest the individuality and diversity of the poets and their poetry,
of work whose imaginative range is not circumscribed by either literal
borders or critically convenient categories.
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The Dublin Review Number
6 Spring 2002 Edited by Brendan Barrington
This issue of the Dublin Review contains
the following: The Making of St. Thherese of Lisieux by Ann Marie Hourihane;
Ciaran Carson on the iconography of the Troubles; ‘Kavanagh’s Threat’
by Harry Clifton; ‘Seven Years in the Brothers’ by Tom Dunne; Harry Browne
on the Bloody Sunday films; David Wheatley: What is a poet-critic?; J.C.C.
Mays on the power of Trevor Joyce; A story by Douglas Martin.
After the Celtic Tiger:
Challenges Ahead by Peter Clinch, Frank Convery and Brendan Walsh
In the final years of the twentieth century,
Ireland was the economic wonder of the western world. The economy is now
in transition and things have changed dramatically, especially since 11
September 2001. This book examines why Ireland made such startling progress
and identifies the policies that will help in changing circumstances to
carry it through to a promising future. Amongst other issues, it explores
the Irish economic policy and its performance; the effects and challenges
of globalisation; and environmental damage and change. It also looks at
key social issues associated with the boom time, but which affect quality
of life, such as traffic congestion, housing needs, immigration, and poverty
and prosperity.
[ top ]
Best of Irish Traditional
Cooking by Biddy White Lennon
From starters to puddings, this book contains
a delicious selection of over 60 recipes using the best of ingredients:
succulent salmon, creamy cheeses, nutty wholemeal flower. The reader can
choose from Clonakilty Black Pudding, Dublin Coddle, Kerry apple cakes,
traditional fruity barm brack or buttermilk scones, Guinness stew, Baileys
Cream ice and, of course, the famous Irish coffee. Forty charming illustrations
complete the mix, along with details of customs, folklore and Irish regional
food traditions provide a fascinating background to the recipes.
Best of Irish Potato
Recipes by Biddy White Lennon
The humble spud is the vegetable most
associated with Irish cooking. Whether you like your potatoes floury or
waxy, baked, roast or mashed, you will find a recipe here to suit your
taste. You can choose from over fifty recipes, including traditional colcannon
or the brunch favourites, boxty, surprisingly light potato bread and scones,
warm potato salad or dumplings. Create hearty soups and traditional dishes,
such as Irish Stew and Dublin Coddle.
[ top ]
Best of Irish Soups
by Eileen O’Driscoll
This book contains over 40 mouth-watering
soups made with the best of ingredients and reflecting the cooking traditions
of Ireland. They include Wild Garlic and Potato Soup, Cream of Wild Salmon,
Maire Rua Beetroot Soup, Patriot Soup, Pea and Ham, Roast Plum and Red
Cabbage - all nutritious, delicious and easy to make and may be used as
starters or as meals in themselves. Recipes for Savoury Soda Scones, Wholemeal
Brown Bread and Potato Bread provide the perfect accompaniment, and thirty
five charming illustrations complete the array.
On Another Man’s Wound
by Ernie O’Malley
The new edition of the ‘one classic work
to have emerged from the violence that lead to the foundation of the state’
according to John McGahern, contains the additions and annotations made
by Ernie O’Malley to his original text during the 1950s and which have
only recently come to light. First published in 1936, the book has become
the classic account of the years 1916-1921. More than any other book of
the period, it captures the essence of Ireland at the time, the way people
lived, their attitudes, their beliefs, the songs they sang, the legends
they knew.
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The Resurrectionists
by Michael Collins
‘I couldn’t quite get us back without
incident from the burial of my father. We ran into a little trouble along
the way. It took us two stolen cards along the Interstate to get us home.
It’s not exactly easy to go to a funeral halfway across the country when
you’re up to your ass in debt, when you don’t have the money for an airline
ticket, and you have a car with shot gaskets. You hear about bereavement
fares, but have you actually ever met anyone who flew for free to bury
a loved one? It’s all part of some benevolent myth. Like everything else
in life, there are stories within stories.’ Small town America is Limerick-born
Michael Collins’s heart of darkness, a territory he maps with infinite
precision in this novel of murder and menace. Almost thirty years ago,
when Frank was five, his parents burned to death in a remote Michigan
town. Now, Frank’s uncle is dead too, shot by a mysterious stranger with
a dead man’s name, a stranger who now lies in a coma in the local hospital.
Frank wants answers to questions about his own past, and he believes that
the stranger, who hangs between life and death, might be able to supply
them. He leaves New Jersey and heads North, back to the town where he
never belonged, to find out why his uncle died, and why people still shrink
when they hear his name. Brilliant and unsettling, this story of the unquiet
dead from the prize-winning Irish author charts a dark passage through
modern mores.
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Dancing with Minnie
the Twig by Mogue Doyle
In rural Ireland in the 1960s: if you
were a boy, you listened to Luxembourg on the wireless, went hurling up
the fields with your friends, thought about what the big boys got up to
with the girls, and in particular what your brother did with his girlfriend,
Minnie. Your mam ruled the house, and you watched out for your father
- the old lad - who as liable to fly into rages and give you a right ringer
when you weren’t expecting it. Most of all, you knew everything about
the village where you lived, and everyone there. And Tony did; he was
one smart boy, ready for anything - at least he thought he was, until
the day he stumbled across a family secret that brought with it devastating
consequences. In prose that is lyrical yet streetwise, haunting yet grimly
comic, Tony conjures to life a rural community with such intimacy that
you can smell the mountain air, hear the church bell call Mass, and watch
Tony’s family and friends as they arrive for the funeral service that
will change everything. Very funny and achingly sad, this novel distils
an essence of a departed Ireland that will linger long after the final
page has been turned.
[ top ]
Junk Male by Brian
Gallagher
Sometimes, no matter how hard a man tries,
nothing will go right. When Joel’s wife Ellen announces she’s pregnant,
he gulps but prepares to accept the challenges of fatherhood, even if
it means trading in his precious saxophone for a steady job to provide
for his offspring. But it is not that straightforward. Ellen has a little
secret regarding the baby and she’s got a race against time to make sure
Joel doesn’t find out. A blackly comic novel of love, misunderstanding
and fatherhood.
[ top ]
Love and Sleep by
Sean O’Reilly
This debut novel is a journey into the
dark and uncomfortable psyche of Niall, a young man on the run from the
past and denying himself a future. Arriving in Derry, years after he left
for a wandering life - from city to city in Europe, from woman to woman
- Niall finds the damaged city of his youth to have changed in all but
character. His family too has fractured, and Niall’s failure to show up
at his father’s funeral has encouraged a bitter response. Just as his
memories, fears and desires threaten to consume him, Niall enters into
a dangerous relationship with Lorna, a committed socialist with a dark
side of her own. Haunted by a past that only gradually gives up its secrets
and insensate for most of the time through a cocktail of booze and drugs,
Niall lives his life to extremes, testing the limits of those around him
and pushing himself ever closer to destruction.
[ top ]
A Waste of Shame by
Jim Lusby
On the first morning of a new millennium,
Ireland wakes up to the brutal murder and sexual mutilation of a 93-year-old
woman who had been living alone in a ramshackle house on the main street
of a remote seaside village in West Cork. Local detectives are convinced
that it was a bungled robbery and already have a pair of suspects in the
frame. Detective Inspector Carl McCadden disagrees. Now attached to a
roving unit of elite officers dedicated to cracking stubbornly unsolved
cases, he is sent to investigate and quickly decides that the reason for
the sickening mutilation of the old woman lies buried in her past.
[ top ]
Consumed in Freedom’s
Flame: A Novel of Ireland’s Struggle for Freedom 1916-1921 by Cathal Liam
This historical novel is the story of
fictional hero, Aran Roe O’Neill, and his resolute commitment to Ireland
and its quest for independence. He personifies the courageous resistance
of generations of Irishmen and women to English conquest, corruption and
injustice. Together with a small group of other republicans, Aran fights
for his nation’s freedom during the early part of the twentieth century.
The story weaves fact and fiction around the exploits of this youthful
Irishman and his adventurous friends from Dublin’s 1916 Easter Rising
to the ensuing Irish War of Independence. The book provides both historical
background and imaginative detail seen through the eyes of the romantic
and brave young man as he seeks to free his homeland from the bonds of
British entanglement.
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Smoke in the Wind:
A Celtic Mystery by Peter Tremayne
Enroute from Ireland to visit the new
Archbishop of Canterbury, Sister Fidelma and her faithful Saxon companion,
Brother Eadulf, find themselves on the coast of the Welsh kingdom of Dyfed
when their ship is blown off course by a storm. The elder King Gwlyddien
is quick to offer hospitality, not least because the famous Irish ‘dalaigh’
may be the only person capable of solving the mystery which has baffled
the wisest men - the entire monastic community of nearby Llanpedern, to
which Gwlyddien’s eldest son belongs, has vanished into thin air.
[ top ]
Miracle Woman by Marita
Conlon-McKenna
Martha McGill was an ordinary woman. Nothing
extraordinary had ever happened to her, unless she counted her marriage
to Mike and the birth of her three perfect, healthy children. Until the
day of her accident, when she touched the Lucas boy as he lay dying on
the tarmac, and they said she saved him. That was the start of it all.
As word of her healing gift spreads, Martha’s life and the lives of those
around her are radically altered. Hounded by the media and those in desperate
search of hope and miracles, Martha is forced to decide what is most important
in her life.
[ top ]
Bastketmaking in Ireland
by Joe Hogan
The main purpose of this book is to record
the techniques used in making Irish traditional baskets, a task that became
more urgent as indigenous baskets, such as creels and lobster pots, began
to go out of use. The history of the baskets and their uses are included
because, in order to understand or even make these baskets, the author
feels strongly that some knowledge of, and respect for, the people who
made and used them is required. The book is structured so that each chapter
contains information for the reader who has a general interest in traditional
craft; each chapter also has a technique section giving details of how
to make many of the baskets described. Contains numerous b/w photos and
drawings.
[ top ]
Shipbuilding in Waterford
in 1820-1882: A Historical, Technical and Pictorial Study by Bill Irish
This book is a remarkable study of shipbuilding.
At the heart of the book is the ethos and contribution of the local Quaker
families who were central to both phases of Waterford shipbuilding. The
book that has resulted is unique in its range, its use of reconstructions
and visual materials, and its lyrical evocation of craft skills as they
were practised, and its admiration for the ordinary man who performed
the difficult and sometimes prodigious feats it describes. It is full
of colourful detail, whether dealing with the apprenticeship system, work
practices or the excitement of the great launch days. It is also a wonderful
visual record, particularly of ships and of Waterford’s riverfront and
estuary.
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The Souterrains of
Ireland by Mark Clinton
What exactly is a “souterrain”? The word
itself is French in origin from ‘sous’ (under) and ‘terrain’ (ground).
In short, therefore, a souterrain is an underground structure. Colloquially,
these structures will invariably be referred to throughout the island
as ‘caves’ and they are generally marked ‘cave’ on Ordnance Survey maps.
To date, there has been no comprehensive study dealing with this ubiquitous
monument type in Ireland. This is the definitive book on souterrains.
[ top ]
Antiquities of West
Mayo by Christian Corlett
This book is a synthesis of the archaeology
of West Country Mayo, namely, the two baronies of Burrishoole and Murrisk,
which once formed the ancient territory known as Umhall. It details the
rich archaeological, historical, and folk heritage - from prehistoric
times to the twentieth century - of an area of the west of Ireland world-renowned
for the beauty of its coastline, islands and mountains. The book is a
photographically focused work, with many of the mountains of the area
illustrated in 91 colour photographs, 20 b/w photos, and 23 figures. It
includes a gazetteer and map of the archaeological monuments, to facilitate
readers wishing to explore the area for themselves.
[ top ]
Clones Lace: The Story
and Patterns of an Irish Crochet by Maire Treanor
This book tells the social history of
the crochet lace-making tradition in south Ulster. Between the mid-nineteenth
century and early twentieth century, almost every family in the area made
Clones lace. It offered great opportunities for young people, many of
whom travelled to Dublin to train in design and then taught it in the
west of Ireland. The lace-making industry declines, as fashions changed
and machine-made lace became more popular, in the early twentieth century.
The lace continued to be made locally until the 1960s. The second part
of the book is aimed at the beginner, with guides to easy-to-do motifs
that introduce the beautiful craft of Clones lace.
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Believe It Or Not:
A Memoir by Patrick Semple
Patrick Semple was born into the minority
Church of Ireland community in Wexford at the beginning of the Second
World War. ‘These were the days of Catholic triumphalism when ecumenism
in provincial Ireland was non-existent,’ he says. This is a very straight-talking,
honest and often humorous insider account of growing up in such a church
in such a society. Religion was also a factor in getting his first job
in Britain’s motor assemblers in Rathmines in Dublin, but did not interfere
with the lively social life of his late teens. From there, the development
of a sense of vocation, education at Trinity College, entry into the ministry
and a first parish appointment in Belfast. Again, he chronicles the culture-clash
between the world in which he grew up and the very different circumstances
of religiously divided Belfast. In a very full life of ministry, the author
talks of ecumenism at parish level, of the idiosyncracies of aspects of
the life of the Church of Ireland, and about difficulties with various
aspects of Christian faith itself.
[ top ]
Theatre Talk: Voices
of Irish Theatre Practitioners edited by Lilian Chambers, Ger Fitzgibbon
and Eamonn Jordan
This book is a collection of interviews
with 39 of Ireland’s leading ‘Theatre Practitioners’: Ben Barnes, Sebastian
Barry, Dermot Bolger, Jason Byrne, Marina Carr, Daragh Carville, Michael
Colgan, Frank Conway, Anne Devlin, Joe Dowling, Bernard Farrell, Olwen
Fouere, Ben Hennessy and Pat Kiernan, Declan Hughes, Garry Hynes, Marie
Jones, John B. Keane, Raymond Keane, Tom Kilroy, Hugh Leonard, Tim Loane,
Tomas Mac Anna, Barry McGovern, Frank McGuinness, Tom Mac Intyre, Patrick
Mason, Paul Mercier, Eleanor Methven and Carol Moore, Tom Murphy, Paddy
O’Dwyer, Fintan O’Toole, Lynne Parker, Billy Roche, Annie Ryan and Michael
West, Phyllis Ryan, Peter Sheridan, Gerard Stembridge, Enda Walsh and
Vincent Woods.
[ top ]
Brits: The War Against
the IRA by Peter Taylor
In the final part of his trilogy exploring
The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the author talks to undercover agents
of the Belfast state and reveals for the first time the secrets of the
war they waged against the IRA for thirty years. ‘Provos’ and ‘Loyalists’
told the story of the conflict from the respective viewpoints of the Republicans
and Loyalists; now the story, with all its tragic twists and turns, is
told from the British perspective. In this fully updated paperback edition,
soldiers, Special Branch officers and MI6 agents step out of the shadows
and, along with Whitehall mandarins who helped shape policy from Westminster,
explore and explain their experience. This important and impressive book,
meticulously researched, accurate and balanced, is vital to any collection
of Irish politics and current affairs.
[ top ]
Dear Yeats, Dear Pound,
Dear Ford: Jeanne Robert Foster and Her Circle of Friends by Richard and
Janis Londraville
The life of a remarkable Adirondack woman
(model, journalist, and poet) provides readers with a unique insider’s
view into art and literature during the birth of the Age of Modernism.
Jeanne Robert Foster challenged the accepted role for women at the turn
of the twentieth century. Born on a hardscrabble farm in the Adirondack
Mountains in 1879, she was hailed as an important voice in American poetry
by 1916 when her first books of verse. “Neighbors of Yesterday” and “Wild
Apples” were published. She has early success as a model - she was the
Harrison Fisher girl of 1903 - and later became a journalist for the American
Review of Reviews. In 1918, she met John Quinn, patron of the arts, which
placed her in the middle of some of the most important literary and artistic
movements in the twentieth century.
[ top ]
Finders Keepers: Selected
Prose 1971-2001 by Seamus Heaney
This book is a gathering of Seamus Heaney’s
prose of three decades. Whether autobiographical, topical or specifically
literary, these essays and lectures circle the central pre-occupying questions:
‘How should a poet properly live and write? What is his relationship to
be to his own voice, his own place, his literary heritage and the contemporary
world?’ As well as being a selection from the poet’s three previous collections
of prose, the present volume includes material from ‘The Place of Writing’,
a series of lectures delivered at Emory University in 1988. Also included
are a rich variety of pieces not previously collected in volume form,
ranging from short newspaper articles to more extended lectures and contributions
to books, including ‘Place and Displacement’ (1984), only available previously
as a pamphlet (of which I have two copies only available from stock priced
at 50 Euro each), and ‘Burns’s Art Speech’, written for the bicentennial
of Robert Burns’s death. In its soundings of a wide range of poets - Irish
and British, American and East European, predecessors and contemporaries
- this collection is, as its title indicates, ‘an announcement of both
excitement and possession.’
[ top ]
The Ledge by Blanaid
McKinney
When he was kidnapped, at the age of 38,
John Kelso owned thirteen thousand video tapes. Fifty-two thousand hours.
Every sitcom, animation, sci-fi series, drama and documentary worth their
salt. And nine thousand movies. John was not a geek. He just loved his
job. When Tom broke into John’s flat he found six VCRs, six televisions,
and six DVD players. For a moment, Tom thought the guy was a thief like
him. In fact, at the time of his kidnapping, John was a successful if
unfulfilled film critic, with his own late night TV slot and a cult following.
Crazed fans were an occupational hazard. One night during a break in the
show, John stepped outside for a smoke. When he didn’t return, nobody
worried too much. It was a week before he was found. Kenny Duthie was
a farmer’s son from Aberdeen, Scotland. He had written the screenplay
of his life. All he wanted was for John Kelso to read it. And John Kelso
was going to read it. Whether he wanted to or not. Kenny was not an unstable
person. Lynne Callier was a researcher. She researched things. One day
she researched John Kelso. Acclaimed Irish writer McKinney’s first novel
reveals a writer of persuasive imagination, revelling in characters who
are man or bad, or both.
[ top ]
Dictionary of Irish
Artists of the 20th Century 2nd edition by Theo Snoddy
This long-anticipated second edition is
the most comprehensive reference book on twentieth-century Irish artists
ever published. It is an invaluable source for collectors, dealers, researchers,
and students, and is regarded as the definitive work for anyone interested
in this field of modern art. It contains 600 entries and encompasses the
works of painters, sculptors, creators of works of stained glass, etchers,
designers and artists of every description. It provides an extensive survey
of both the major and less celebrated figures of the past century, from
Walter Osborne (1859-1903) to Markey Robinson (1918-1999). Each entry
includes biographical information and listings of institutions where artists’
works have been exhibited and may be found today.
[ top ]
A Dictionary of Irish
Artists by W.G. Strickland
This book is the standard comprehensive
reference work for the subject of Irish art and artists. First published
in 1913, it was reissued in 1968 with an introduction by Theo Snoddy.
It complements the volume above and as there are limited copies of it
remaining I thought I would remind readers of it at this time.
[ top ]
Deconstructing Ireland:
Identity, Theory, Culture by Colin Graham
This book intervenes with authority and
originality in an area rife with debate and passionate opinion, where
cultural theory and analysis run alongside the daily challenge of political
events. The author examines the course by which the history of modernity
and colonialism has constructed an idea of ‘Ireland’, produced more often
as a citation than an actuality. The author’s approach illuminates the
way in which this concept of the nation plays across discourses of authenticity,
fiction and fantasy in a fascinating range of material. The book presents
a compelling, astutely theorised cultural history.
[ top ]
Never Make a Promise
You Can’t Break: How to Succeed in Irish Politics by Gene Kerrigan
Let the bores blather on about the importance
of transfers in the fifteenth count - this book gets to the heart of politics
in Ireland today: shafting your colleagues, conning the voters and sucking
up to the people who matter. This is the only book that tells how to get
elected, how to be a government minister, and -when the time comes - how
to give evidence at a tribunal of inquiry. From the basics (how to shake
hands) to the complex (how to accept a bribe), this book is a no-holds-barred
guide to political success.
[ top ]
An Accident Waiting
to Happen by Vincent Banville
Private Detective John Blaine is back
treading Dublin’s mean streets. With his marriage now on track, and little
baby Emily to keep his attentions closer to home, it could be said that
things are going better than ever for the private eye. That is until he
gets a call from Bertie Boyer, owner of the Purple Pussy nightclub in
Dublin’s Temple bar. He hires the P.I. to warn off some Romanian immigrants
who are threatening to burn the place down. But the Romanians have a different
tale to tell. Blaine smells a rat. But who is fooling whom? Time is running
out fast, and before he knows it, Blaine finds himself right in the centre
of the blaze. This novella is a gripping and funny tale of life on the
wrong side of the tracks.
[ top ]
The Builders by Maeve
Binchy
Nan Ryan lives by herself at Number 14
Chestnut Road. When it’s heard that the builders are coming to work on
the deserted house next door, everyone has an opinion. Nan’s three grown-up
children reckon she won’t get a moment of peace. Not to mention the mess
they’ll create. Or the fat that she’ll end up becoming their tea lady.
But when Derek Doyle’s shiny van arrives outside number 12, Nan is secretly
excited. And when the handsome builder looks to Nan to help unravel the
mystery of the previous residents’ vanishing, a special friendship begins
to flourish. But as they soon discover, nothing is quite what it at first
seems.
[ top ]
Letter From Chicago
by Cathy Kelly
Elsie and Maisie are sisters. They live
on opposite side of the Atlantic. Regular letter writers, they like to
boast about their respective families. But over time, the gulf between
fact and fiction is getting bigger than the ocean that divides them. So
when a letter arrives from Chicago saying that Maisie’s granddaughter
is coming over to star with her Irish family, Elsie must face the truth
at last. And with neither posh house nor pony to be found for miles, this
working-class family has quite a mix-up on its hands.
[ top ]
Driving with Daisy
by Tom Nestor
It is the 1940s in rural Ireland. Tom
Nestor is a young boy. Every week, he is sent on an errand to the nearby
town of Rath. Tom sets out on this journey as if it were an adventure
into the Wild West, and he a cowboy. On his way, he meets a host of weird
and wonderful characters, from Ned Wall, the farmer with half a face,
to dear Miss Daisy, with her pony and elegant trap - a perfect lady. But
times are changing fast, and the old ways are dying out. This novella
is a funny, moving and familiar story of a rural Ireland long since passed.
[ top ]
Has Anyone Here Seen
Larry? By Deirdre Purcell
Larry is an 87-year-old widow. She lives
with her daughters Martha and Mary. Through old and frail, she remembers
the time when she was golden-haired Larissa, as if it were yesterday,
growing up in the Liberties of Dublin. Martha is the put-upon daughter.
She runs the home like an army major, looking after her mother’s every
need - and feeling utterly taken for granted. Her only escape comes with
her regular outings to see her friend, Father Jimmy. At least he understands
her! Mary, on the other hand, goes out to work, takes interesting holidays,
and is mummy’s pet. Add to this that she never lifts a finger in the house,
and something has to give. It soon does - one embarrassing evening when
Father Jimmy comes to tea.
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Pipe Dreams by Anne
Schulman
Meany Freeney is a bachelor farmer with
simple needs and a healthy bank balance. His take on life could be summed
up by his drinking habits - why buy a pint of Guinness when a half-pint,
sipped slowly, gives twice the value? Trouble brews when an old flame
arrives back in town. Her sparkle lights up his lonely world, but if he
and the free-spending Julie are ever to marry, Meany must loosed his iron
grip on the purse strings.
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Second Chance by Patricia
Scanlan
Tony O’Neill is not having a good day.
He is unemployed and broke, with a wife and child to support. Even worse,
he’s living with his snooty mother-in-law. They don’t get on. Bridie Feeney
is very annoyed. She’s just had a row with her son-in-law and her daughter,
Jean. Bitter words have been spoken. But she is not going to apologize.
Dave Cummins needs a fix. It’s the worst day of his life. He knows he’s
going to do something he swore he’d never do. Sarah Collins is looking
forward to a day in town. It’s been planned for ages, then the unthinkable
happens.
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Old Money New Money
by Peter Sheridan
The city is Dublin, the year is 1972.
Redser and Pancho are two teenagers from the North Wall. Redser is top
of the class, especially good at maths. Pancho’s knack is for finding
money, not adding or subtracting it. Redser’s parents run the local credit
union. Pancho’s dad runs riot in the city pubs on pay day. The boys’ worlds
could not be further apart, yet the pair are best of friends. One day,
on his regular paper round, Redser stumbles upon the aftermath of a crime.
Two elderly sisters, ‘the East Wall witches’, have been burgled, but the
robbers haven’t taken all the money.
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Joe’s Wedding by Garth
O’Callaghan
It is the morning of Joe’s wedding. He
opens his eyes to find himself on a park bench beside the sea, dressed
in torn tights and a cape. And that’s not his only chilly awakening. For
Joe is in Holyhead, but his wedding is in Dublin. And he doesn’t even
remember how he got there. As Joe tries to put the pieces back together,
an old man joins him on the bench. Marty is a local, no stranger to these
parts. So how does he know so much about this gruff young man? And why
is he so interested in talking to a stranger in a Superman suit, who clearly
has no time for chit-chat?
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The Comedian by Joseph
O’Connor
It is 1975 in a small town near Dublin.
The Bay City Rollers are topping the charts. Starsky and Hutch rule the
television screen. In Northern Ireland, bombs are going off. And here,
in this little town on the sea, a young boy’s life is about the be changed
forever. By day his father is a delivery man for the local bakery. He
dreams of being a comedian by night - a famous performer, a hero, a star.
But the future that is lying in wait for his family, in a story of childhood
both funny and sad, turns their whole world upside down.
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No Dress Rehearsal
by Marian Keyes
Lizzie is dead - she just hasn’t realized
it yet. She can’t understand why everyone is ignoring her when all she
wants is a little sympathy. She has been in an accident, after all. Next
day at work, she meets Jan and Jim, two spirits who have been sent to
break the bad news. But Lizzie is not ready to go yet. She hasn’t said
her goodbyes. Plus there’s so much she’s never done. She sees her best
friend, Sinead, stuck in a job she hates, always talking and never doing.
It only Sinead knew - life is no dress rehearsal.
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Sad Song by Vincent
Banville
John Blaine is a private detective who
walks Dublin’s mean streets. He is tough and smart, but unlucky in love
- his wife has just left him. Hired to bring home a straying daughter,
he takes the girl’s side against her rich father, and suffers for it.
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Ripples by Patricia
Scanlan
The McHughs’ marriage is on the rocks.
Daughter Ciara worries that her mother and father are going to divorce.
Lillian, Ciara’s Gran, is worried too. She has a nice life now, since
her bullying husband died. This could all change. Meanwhile, Brenda Johnston
is very happy. She has a lot to gain if the McHughs divorce. Or has she?
And Mike and Kathy Stuart, the McHughs’ best friends, are beginning to
wonder if the friendship can survive. Then, one night, everything changes.
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Maggie’s Story by
Sheila O’Flanagan
Maggie is forty-three years old and looking
for romance. She loves her husband, Dan, but his idea of romance is a
couple of drinks at the local and an early night at home. Her children
think she’s too old to care. And she’s beginning to wonder if life has
passed her by. But a chance meeting changes all that, and now Maggie faces
tough decisions. Can she put the spark back into her marriage, or would
she be better off calling it a day? And who is more important? Her husband?
Her children? Or herself?
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Jesus and Billy are
Off to Barcelona by Deirdre Purcell
Billy is an average-looking sixteen year-old
who lives in an ordinary Dublin estate on the northside of the city. Jesus,
on the other hand, is a beautiful boy with Continental manners, from the
poshest part of Barcelona. He travels from Spain to live with Billy’s
family for three weeks one summer. The plan is that at the end of the
holiday, Billy will go back with Jesus on a return visit. However, no
one should make plans ...
Not Just for Christmas
by Roddy Doyle
Danny Murphy is going to meet his brother
Jimmy. They haven’t seen each other in over twenty years. On the way to
the meeting, Danny remembers the good times and the bad times, the fun
and the fights - and the one big row that drove them apart. Will they
fight again or will they become the friends they used to be? Danny doesn’t
know.
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In High Germany by
Dermot Bolger
Eoin tells his son the story of Euro 88.
The excitement is high for football fanatics like Eoin, Shane and Mick,
who all work abroad. Now they are in Germany supporting the Irish team,
witnessing the highs and the lows. For these emigrant friends, home is
no longer where the heart is; home is where the Irish team plays. And
there will be many adventures both on and off the pitch before the final
whistle blows. Also included is ‘A Poet’s Notebook’, a selection of short
poems about ordinary life with the author’s notes on how and why they
were written.
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