Read Ireland Book Reviews, August 2002

Authenticity by Deirdre Madden
After a brilliant youth, the painter Roderic Kennedy’s life has been over taken by a series of crises - alcoholism, the failure of his marriage to an Italian woman, and estrangement from his three daughters following his return to Ireland. When he meets Julia Fitzpatrick, twenty years younger and also an artist, it seems as if this period of turbulence and misfor tune from which he has been struggling to emerge is at an end. But when Julia then meets William Armstrong, a middle-aged lawyer, it sets in motion a chain of events which, in the course of the following year, has dramatic and unforeseen consequences for all three of them. Deirdre Madden’s novel is her most ambitious to date; both a moving love story and a thought-provoking meditation upon the nature of painting. It is above all an exploration of what it means to be an artist in contemporary society.

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Collected Stories by Benedict Kiely
Benedict Kiely is a writer of national and international status. His writing is at once quintessentially Irish and marvelously universal, and a generation of younger writers owes him an enduring debt of inspiration. This celebratory collection brings together for the first time Kiely’s short fiction written between 1963 and 1987. The stories in this volume are rich in imagination and invention, their characters unforgettable, their humour at once affectionate and incisive. Written with apparently effortless style and craft, they amply demonstrate how Kiely’s stories have become classics of the genre while at the same time expanding that genre’s horizons. This book was our Fiction Book of the Month for June 2001.

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The Blue Tango by Eoin McNamee
At 2:20 am on the morning of the 13th November, 1952, the body of nineteen-year-old Patricia Curran was carried into the surgery belonging to the family doctor. At first Dr. Kenneth Wilson thought that she has been the victim of an accidental shooting. In fact, a subsequent post-mortem revealed that she had been stabbed thirty-seven times. This wonderful novel, which is based on one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in recent history, is at once a gripping thriller and a danse macabre through a shadowy world of corruption and sexual intrigue - a darkly lyric narrative of white mischief in post-war Ireland, of false accusation and savage murder, presided over by the haunted, tragic figure of Patricia Curran.

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When the Bough Breaks by June Considine
Under the shadow of a remote headland, a child is born and abandoned. Eva Frawley’s birth is a mystery that remains unsolved, a media event that will soon fade from the headlines. Years later - her marriage in ruins, her future uncertain - Eva realises that to move forward with her life she must first understand her past. For Eva it is a time of discovery. As she returns to the headland that first cradled her, she begins a reckless and passionate affair with an older man, unaware that she is drawing ever nearer to the truth about her birth. This novel is a story of love and passion, of power, lost innocence and revenge. It weaves through the broken branches of a family tree, revealing scars that have never healed and a love that refuses to die.

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The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits by Emma Donoghue
This wonderful book of fictions that are also true, is named for Mary Toft, who, in 1726, managed to convince half England that she’d laboured and had done just that, given birth to rabbits. Resurrecting buried scandals, audacious hoaxes and private tragedies, the Irish author has written a sequence of short stories about peculiar moments in the history of the British Isles. Here artists mix with poisoners and countesses rub shoulders with cross-dressers, vicars and revolutionaries. Fiery Irish poteen seduces a young English captain into a hasty marriage; the Second Coming is proclaimed in Scotland; and a miniature girl becomes a tiny skeleton in a London museum. This is a book of real treasures.

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Shame the Devil by Mary McCarthy
Amy Kennedy, partially dressed, lies on top of a creased duvet. Her eyes are half open. A year after her mother’s death, her depression threatens to engulf her. Her mother’s cruel and violent tones still rage in her head. ‘No tears, no tears now or I’ll give you something to cry about.’ She is along. A letter arrives. It is addressed to her mother. Vague childhood memories are stirred. Desperate to emerge from the blackness, the contents of the letter fire Amy to embark on a dangerous journey that she hopes will uncover the awful secret that destroyed her mother’s life and ruined her childhood. But, the truth that begins to emerge is worse that she imagined.

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Loving the Stars by Jaye Carroll
Andi wants to be a stand-up comic but in the meantime she’s got to hang on to the day job down at the pound shop. It’s not exactly showbiz, but it helps to have a sense of humour when you’re trying to sell badly painted ornamental cats and bright blue toilet brushes. Her love live is a bit of a joke too, but could be a lot better if only Dean, her best friend Ellen’s twin brother, would just get the hint. ‘I think we should just be friends.’ Andi told him. But, it has been a year and a half and he still expects them to get back together. When Andi bumps into Tony, and up-and-coming comedian, who just happens to be good-looking. They hit if off immediately and now he wants her to write some material for him. Andi’s sure that this will take her a step closer to her dream of becoming a comedian herself. But the road to stardom is not going to be easy, especially if her disapproving mother and paranoid and panicky older sister have any say in it.

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Sign’s On by Jacinta McDevitt
‘My darling, darling Linda ‘ Wow, what an opener and how romantic ! But as Linda reads on she discovers that the note is not a tender love-note but more or a buggered-off type note. It seems that Dick is sick of being a husband and father of their two, almost grown, children, so he as left to ‘find himself’ - not in the lost property office, but on the beautiful island of Crete. Well, her life had been in a bit of a rut before he left. And to add insult to injury, her 18-year-old hormone on legs, Carl, thinks he has found himself, in the arms of an older woman - in fact much older and with a child - while daughter Chloe wants to get her nose and God knows what else pierced. All out of love and with half of her life missing in action and the other half acting up, Linda’s determined she’s going to show them all. Linda’s about to fight back.

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Friends Indeed by Rose Doyle
Alicia Buckley and Sarah Rooney have been friends since childhood. Allie, whose coldly disapproving mother has social ambitions her daughter doesn’t share, comes from a prosperous Dublin family; Sarah is a child of the tenements. But the girls enjoy a loving closeness that belies their different backgrounds, so when Sarah gets pregnant and is thrown out by her father, Allie doesn’t think twice about joining her friend in exile. Neither woman, however, is prepared for the hardship and deprivations she will face. This novel is moving portrait of friendship.

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Evening Class / Copper Beach / Tara Road by Maeve Binchy
For the first time in one volume, three wonderful novels from the much-loved, internationally-bestselling Irish author. Evening Class: The Italian evening class at Mountainview School is like hundreds of others all over Dublin. But this class has its own special quality - as the focus for the varied hopes and dreams of teacher and pupil alike. By the time the pupils set off on a grand trip of Italy, a surprising number of them have found more than the Italian language in the evening class. The Copper Beach: Shancarrig School stands in the shade of a glorious old copper beach whose colours tell the passing of the seasons and the years: a tree that has watched over many young lives. Eight children once carved their names on the trunk of the copper beach. Now those children are gown and have become very different - but in each life, there are hidden secrets and extraordinary stories to be told ... Tara Road: Ria and Marilyn have never met - they live thousands of miles ap! art, one in Tara Road, Dublin, the other in New England. They are two unlikely friends but when each needs a place to escape to, a house exchange seems an ideal solution. Along with the borrowed houses comes gossip and speculation as Ria and Marilyn swap lives for the summer

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The Road to McCarthy by Pete McCarthy
‘We discussed it over a few pints, and decided that the original McCarthy’s must have been a nomadic tribe from North Africa who sometime in pre-history had, like the Celts, emigrated north to Ireland. Over Singapore noodles and a couple of bottles of wine we further deduced that the unaccustomed moistness of the Irish climate must have broken down their dark sun-beaten nomadic skin pigment, a kind of genetic rusting process that led inevitably over the centuries to red hair and freckles. ‘Determined to pin down mythical tales of his own clan history and pursue other far-flung Irish connections to their illogical conclusions, Peter McCarthy is thrust into a world-wide adventure that reveals an unsettled and poignant history, while unearthing a good pint in the most unexpected of places. From the Holy Ground of Cork harbour via the Fried Breakfast Zone of Belfast Airport, he travels to Gibraltar and Morocco, searching for his hereditary Gaelic chief in the perplexingly un-Celtic casbah of Tangier. Journeying onwards to New York, Tasmania, Montana, and the tiny Caribbean island of Monserrat, he survives worrying confrontations with ornamental monkeys, an endangered species of goose, and a bar full of stratospherically drunken Glasgow Celtic supporters before finally reaching the remote Alaskan township of McCarthy and its population of just eighteen people, but a lot more bears. McCarthy’s previous book, McCarthy’s Bar (available in paperback) an international bestseller, placed him in the forefront of contemporary travel writers. His unique combination of laugh-out-loud humour, heartfelt insights, and uncanny instinct for the unlikeliest situations, and the best bars, now lights the way for this joyous and hilarious journey.

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Riverdance: The Phenomenon by Barra O Cinneide
This book describes the remarkable renaissance of a traditional Irish art form - dance - revealing behind-the-scenes details of ‘Riverdance’, one of the most remarkable entertainment phenomena of the last decade. Based on extensive research undertaken by the author over several years, it includes both original analysis and a comprehensive review of ‘Riverdance’s’ media coverage. The book highlights how culture and art forms can survive many adversities, including extensive disruption of the social fabric of rural Ireland, the fountainhead of Irish dance. The importance of the worldwide community of over 70 million people with ethnic connections to Ireland is given special consideration. ‘Riverdance’ has shown that an indigenous venture with an Irish cultural theme can successfully compete with all comers on the world stage.

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Great Irish Artists from Lavery to Le Brocquy by S.B. Kennedy
This book introduces fifteen of Ireland’s most interesting painters and reproduces a selection of their work. It includes the undeniably great artists, such as Jack B. Yeats, while also presenting those names no so widely known, such as Norah McGuinness and Colin Middleton, as well as popular painters such as Sean Keating, Paul Henry and Sir William Orpen. Presented chronologically from Sir John Lavery to Louis le Brocquy, each artist is introduced with a concise biography, followed by a discussion of the individual works. Written in a clear, easy-to-read style and accompanied by over sixty colour reproductions, these illuminating short essays encourage the viewer to look at some of the finest Irish art alongside the ideas and aims of those who created it.

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On Dublin’s Doorstep - Exploring the Province of Leinster by Christopher Moriarty
In this book, the author explores fifty-two day trips around Dublin and further afield. From mountains to museums, from sea walks to stately homes, his favourite places make ideal Sunday trips while parking and traffic are not such a problem. Each entry has directions and map references with information about wheelchair access, children’s facilities and even which locations are good for dogs! Other essential facts about buying a meal and picnic areas are covered, along with details on the history, wildlife, geology and archaeology of each place.

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The Dubliner 100 Best Restaurants 2002 by Domini Kemp & Trevor White
Amusing, informed and remarkably candid, this book of restaurant reviews is written for people who love eating out, and not for the vanity of chefs. Each month, thousands of men and women read what Domini Kemp and Trevor White have to say about dining in Dublin. Here, for the first time, is a definitive guide to the only restaurants in the Irish capital that are really worth visiting.

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Stud: Adventures in Breeding by Kevin Conley
This book takes the reader into the strange and seductive world of horse breeding.

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The Irish and British Wars 1637-1654: Triumph, Tragedy and Failure by James Scott Wheeler
This book is an accessible and well-documented study of the wars of Britain and Ireland in the mid-seventeenth century. After a period of stability and peace during the early years of the century, Charles I set about carrying out administrative and religious reform in England, Scotland and Wales. The revolution that this prompted in Scotland was to repeat itself in Ireland, and four years later led to civil war in England. Connecting the strategic and tactical levels of war with political actions and reactions, the author discusses how Britain and Ireland became battlegrounds in the ‘war of three kingdoms’. With numerous maps and illustrations, the various stages of this period of turmoil are clearly demonstrated, right through to the execution of Charles I, the conquest of Catholic Ireland, and the eventual death of the English Republic.

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Ireland and the Great War: ‘A War to Unite Us All’? edited by Adrian Gregory and Senia Paseta
This outstanding collection of studies on the immediate and continuing impact of the war on Ireland brings to the subject both new research and re-evaluations of older assumptions. It covers a variety of aspects of Ireland’s war years by focusing in turn on the military, social, cultural, political and economic aspects of the conflict. Specific topics include the contrasting experiences of the Irish nobility with those of the regular soldiers; women; volunteer work; industrial controls and trade union activity on the home front; and public opinion on the British mainland about Ireland’s contribution to the war. Whilst considering these, the contributors carefully reflect on issues of continuity and change within Irish historiography and analyse how the experience and memory of the war have contributed to the formation of national identities and the perceived legitimisation of political programmes.

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Through Terror and Adversity by Jack McKee
This book is a pastor’s dramatic life story and ministry in strife-town Northern Ireland. In the midst of the 30 years of violence and terrorism within Northern Ireland, Pastor Jack has engaged in a different war against terrorism and personal adversity with the Gospel of peace and the full armor of God. His ministry has often taken him outside the church building into the local Shankill community, and beyond to the surrounding Catholic communities of North and West Belfast. In 1989 he raised funds to purchase an old movie theatre in the heart of the Shankill Road. This was converted into a youth and community outreach centre, which became the launch pad for much of his work within the community.

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How to Trace Your Irish Roots by Nora Ni Aonghusa
This little book is designed to help the reader trace his/her roots and relatives from the comfort of their own home. Also included is advice on following up research in Ireland.

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Irish Mythology: A Dictionary by Peter Kavanagh
‘The most valuable book I have’ was Patrick Kavanagh’s comment on this book upon its initial publication in 1958. In it Cuchulain, Dagda of the Tuatha De Danann, the Hag of Bear, The Island of Pigs, Diarmaid of the Love Spot, the Battle of Moytura the reader finds out about these and about a wealth of Irish legend, including Cures, Curses, Omens, and Wonders. This is a fascinating collection. As well as an introduction by Patrick, the book also includes a bibliography. Long a collectors’ item, it originally appeared in an edition of 117 copies, this popular reprint edition is also coming to the end of its print life. Anyone interested in Irish mythology, legend and folklore should have a copy of this book, and this could well be your last chance to purchase it! (We have 6 paperbacks and three hardbacks in stock and are told by the publisher he has none left for future supply.)

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A Heritage of Beauty: The Garden Plants of Ireland - an Illustrated Encyclopedia by E. Charles Nelson
This unique, illustrated encyclopedia contains descriptions of around 5,300 garden plants that were raised in Ireland or that are, by various means, associated with Irish gardeners and gardens. It is the culmination of 25 years’ research by an acknowledged authority of Ireland’s garden heritage and garden plants. It is also a tribute to all those Irish men and women who have contributed to the enjoyment of gardens throughout the country.

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Dublin’s Little Jerusalem by Nick Harris
The heart of Dublin’s little Jerusalem was Clonbrassil Street. The author was born nearby, in 1915, and in this lively memoir he tells of its characters and customs from the inside. Mostly refugees from the pogroms of Eastern Europe, Dublin’s Jews were determined to succeed in their new lives, full of initiative and willing to work all hours. They brought with them the rich tradition of Orthodox Judaism, lovingly recalled by the author - the weekly rituals of the sabbath, the preparation of food according to kosher rules, the elaborate preparations for great festivals such as Passover, celebrated with solemn ritual and private joy. Since prosperity and emigration have sadly dispersed the once close-knit community, this memoir provides a unique insight into a distinctive part of Dublin lift and history.

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The Ulysses Guide: Tours Through Joyce’s Dublin by Robert Nicholson
This book follows the 18 episodes of Joyce’s Ulysses to their original locations. With it, the reader and walker and retrace the footsteps of Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom on eight tours through the Dublin, with detailed text relating to landmarks, and assorted tales and anecdotes. The book includes map, comprehensive directions, summaries of each episode, and photographs, as well as practical information on opening hours and bus routes. This is an essential handbook for anyone exploring Dublin.

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Black Mass: The Irish Mob, the FBI, and a Devil’s Deal by Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill
John Connolly and James ‘Whitey’ Bulger grew up together on the tough streets of South Boston. Decades later, in the mid-1970s, they met again. By then, Connolly was a major figure in the Boston office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bulger had become a godfather of the local Irish-American Mob. What happened next - a deal to bring down the Italian-American Mafia in exchange for protection for Bulger - would spiral out of control, leading to murders, Bulger’s takeover of the neighborhood drug trade, racketeering indictments, and, ultimately, the biggest informant scandal in the history of the FBI. A gripping, epic trust story of violence, double-crosses and corruption, this book is much more than a crime story: it is also a fascinating book about Irish America.

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Whiskeys of Ireland by Peter Mulryan
Irish whiskey has a rich history, with traditions going back hundreds of years. This book tells of the ancient origins of distilling and the exciting period of the great Gaelic chieftains, of running battles between ‘poitin’ makers and excise men, of the industrial revolution and the trials and tribulations of the twentieth century. It brings the story up to date with the resurgence of whiskey in the present day. Ireland is home to some of the world’s greatest and most famous whiskeys, and included in this book is an A-Z of the fifty-five most popular Irish whiskey brands, with tasting notes. The careful process of whiskey-making is also detailed - from barley, water and yeast, through malting houses, washbacks, giant copper stills and oak casks, to the finished, matured and mellowed whiskey. A guide to tasting whiskeys is also included to encourage a full appreciation of the subtle flavours, aromas, textures and colours of fine whiskey. The book is a colourful, entertaining and comprehensive introduction to the rich world of Irish whiskey.

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The Modern Irish Novel: Irish Novelists After 1945 by Rudiger Imhof
In this book, the author explores the lives and works of contemporary Irish novelists, including Samuel Beckett, Brian Moore, Edna O’Brien, John Banville and John McGahern. He also discusses in detail Dermot Bolger, Roddy Doyle and Patrick McCabe who have yet to attract as much critical attention as their predecessors. Each of these writers plays or has played a vital role in shaping Irish culture. This definitive and absorbing study fills in many of the gaps in understanding their essential role in Irish literature.

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Tarot of the Celtic Heart by Julian de Burgh
This book is an inspirational guide to love and relationships that marries the wisdom of the Celts with the intuition of the Tarot. Although often fabulous and fantastical, ancient Celtic tales provide great insights into the ways that we behave in relationships. The stories’ universal themes remain relevant to us today and connect with the cards of the Tarot. With this book’s guidance, the reader will discover how to use the Tarot and the corresponding Celtic myths to gain understanding about any given relationship.

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Compulsory Irish: Language and Education in Ireland 1870s-1970s by Adrian Kelly
In independent Ireland, the attempt to revive the Irish language was the single most important policy in shaping the education system, with significant negative consequences for both the standard of education and the perceived status of the language. This book, which draws on previously unused government files, is the first detailed account of how the promotion of Irish, the central defining factor in moulding the education system and curriculum, was detrimental to the quality of education given and received. It examines why the schools were chosen as the chief instrument of Gaelicisation, why it was thought necessary and acceptable to trade educational achievement for linguistic ability, and why the policy was a significant failure in terms of what it set out to achieve.

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From Connemara to Cock o’ the North: Railway Journeys in Ireland and Scotland, 1920-1950 by Laurence Liddle
This is a railway book about the days when trains really were trains and steam reigned supreme. Based on his own personal experiences of travel on Irish and Scottish railways from 1920 onwards, the author’s vivid writing recreates for the reader the railway scene in the second quarter of the last century. This book reminds the reader of operating practices now passed into history and recalls events now almost forgotten. In the course of his travels, the author takes the reader to Howth, Co. Dublin, Bray, Co. Wicklow, Mullingar in the early GSR days, Edinburgh and the lines radiating from it in the early 1930s, and the GNR(1) lines in the mid-1930s. This is followed by a look at Irish railways during the war years and at the lines radiating from Belfast in the late 1940s. It is illustrated throughout with contemporary photographs.

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Jews in Twentieth-Century Ireland: Refugees, Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust by Dermot Keogh
This book analyses the relationship between the Irish state and the Jewish community in the 1930s and throws new light on the rise of anti-Semitism and on Nazi propaganda activity in the pre-war years. The anti-Semitism of the Irish envoy in Berlin, Charles Bewley, is evaluated in the context of the country’s restrictive refugee policy. Particular emphasis is placed on the friendship between the Taoiseach, Eamon de Valera and Chief Rabbi of the Irish Free State, Isaac Herzog, which endured through the war years. The author assesses Ireland’s humanitarian record during the Holocaust and its aftermath and examines the place of the Holocaust in the memory of Irish people, and finally traces the history of the Irish Jewish community from the 1950s to the 1990s.

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The Big House in Ireland by Valerie Pakenham
The Big House has haunted the Irish landscape and imagination for nearly four hundred years. This book attempts to recreate the world of the ‘Big House’ from the words of those who lived there - or stayed there - quoting from letters, diaries, memoirs, household accounts and travellers’ tales. The author has been able to draw on a huge reservoir of private collections of family papers, many of them hitherto unpublished. Part of the book is devoted to the private lives of those who lived there, many of them as racy as the stock characters of Irish fiction: duels, adultery, abduction, family feuds - and extravagant hospitality leading to gout and insolvency. It also deals with their relations with their retainers and with their servants. Another section of the book deals with the relationship of the ‘Big House’ with the world outside its gates, including its response to the horrors of the Great Famine, to the Land War of the 1830s, and to the Troubles of the early 1920s which led to the burning of over seventy country houses and the collapse of the Ascendancy world. The last chapter deals with the survivors who chose to stay on and the astonishing renaissance of the Irish country house in the twenty-first century. This book is sumptuously illustrated throughout with contemporary paintings, drawings, photographs and caricatures, as well as superb new photographs by Thomas Pakenham.

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