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Read Ireland Book Reviews, May 2004
A Very British
Jihad: Collusion, Conspiracy and Cover-up in Northern Ireland by Paul
Larkin
In April 2003, the Stevens Report provided the first official acknowledgement
of collusion between loyalist armed groups and British security forces
in the murders of nationalists in Northern Ireland. Yet, as this book
demonstrates, such collusion and associated conspiracies have been a central
feature of the British response to the conflict in Ireland for more than
30 years. That response, argues the author, amounts to a Holy War, or
Jihad, in the name of Protestantism and the British monarchy. That war
has been swarthed in secrecy and denial, protected by notions of ‘national
security’ that pervade every corner of the legal system and the political
establishment of Britain. The author is an award-winning investigative
journalist. He made the first of many investigative films for the BBC
Northern Ireland’s current affairs programme, Spotlight, in February 1989,
about the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane. Since then he has covered
other controversial killings, Royal Ulster Constabulary cover-ups, the
burgeoning illicit drugs trade, the role of informers and agents, and
the notorious Portadown based ‘ratpack’. He has also produced a special
investigation into the Dublin/Monaghan bombings for Irish television.
The research for these films is the raw material of his book. Building
on his investigations, he presents a detailed, revealing and quite frightening
account of many aspects of Britain’s ‘dirty war’ in Ireland, and also
provides a unique insight into the dangers and political pressures facing
journalists who dare to investigate the unsavoury relationships between
the intelligence agencies, politicians, the police, the British Army and
loyalism.
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John B. (Keane)
by Gus Smith and Des Hickey
John B. Keane, playwright, poet and fiction writer, was born in Listowel,
Co. Kerry in 1928 and died in his hometown on 30 May, 2002. In this biography,
the authors chart the progress and Keane’s drama - and its reception by
critics and the public - and explore the man behind his work. John B.’s
beloved wife Mary, his family and his many friends in Listowel have contributed
their memories and their opinions of one of the great Irish writers of
his generation. The highs and lows of John B.’s personal life too play
their part, and his sometimes controversial opinions on the issues of
the day. (I have one hardback copy of this book remaining in stock, priced
at 25 Euro.)
Poems from the
Irish edited by Gabriel Fitzmaurice
This book is a dual-language anthology of poetry. Old favourites and cutting
edge contemporary poets sit easily together in this dual-language collection
of Irish poetry from the seventeenth-century to the present day. Irish
originals stand alongside Fitzmaurice’s masterful translations of the
work of such poets as Mairtin O Direain, Sean O Riordain, Maire Mhac an
tSaoi, Aogan O Rathaille, Michael Davitt and Cathal O Searchaigh.
Primate Robinson
1709-94 by A.P.W. Malcomson
Richard Robinson, archbishop of Armagh, 1765-94, remains an inscrutable
figure. His primacy has been associated with a new era in Church of Ireland
history, characterized by a greater concentration on ecclesiastical and
opposed to political affairs, and by an emphasis on building, improvement
and regeneration. In the absence of a surviving Robinson archive, and
in the face of a personality which seems to have geared itself to giving
as little as possible away, it is difficult to confirm or deny this popular
assessment. But Dr. Malcomson, who draws in this book on new evidence
not of Robinson provenance, suggests that a reassessment is necessary.
He argues that Robinson was not so much a man who stood above politics
as a poor politician, and that he failed to give the Church the political
leadership that was required of the primate. The author also questions
the actual extent of Robinson’s vaunted munificence, the importance of
his personal contribution to the building of modern Armagh, and the architectural
quality of some of his buildings. The picture that emerges is of a cold,
proud and distant figure, conscious of his primatial dignity, jealous
of rivalry, and possessive of the material benefits of his situation.
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The Burial at
Thebes: Sophocles’ Antigone translated by Seamus Heaney
Commissioned to mark the centenary of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 2004,
The Burial at Thebes is Seamus Heaney’s new translation of Sophocles’
great tragedy, Antigone, whose eponymous heroine is one of the most sharply
individualized and compelling figures in western drama. Faithful to the
‘local row’ and to the fierce specificity of the play’s time and place,
The Burial at Thebes honours the separate and irreconcilable claims of
its opposed voices, as they enact the ancient but perennial conflict between
family and state in a time of crisis, pitching the morality of private
allegiance against that of public service. Above all, The Burial at Thebes
honours the sovereign urgency and grandeur of the Antigone, in which language
speaks truth to power, then and now. (First editions available at normal
price for a limited time!)
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Brendan Kennelly:
A Host of Ghosts by John McDonagh
Brendan Kennelly is one of Ireland’s most important poets whose prolific
output extends to over forty volumes of poetry since the publication of
his first poetic work in 1959. This book offers a comprehensive introduction
to the broad corpus of his writing. Kennelly’s work relies principally
upon his unflinching desire to unmask the ideologies that underpin many
aspects of Irish life. He does this by adopting a series of narrative
voices, his collections combing contemporary Irish society to find the
important connections between language and identity, history and national
character, and the individual and the collective consciousness. At all
times Kennelly aspires to clarity of thought, memory and image and his
poetry consistently retains an accessibility and expression that appeals
to an ever-increasing audience.
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A Guide to Irish
Military Heritage by Brian Hanley
In the twentieth-century alone, Irish men and women fought in two world
wars, a revolution and a civil war in Ireland itself, in the armies of
Britain and the Commonwealth, the United States, and on both side in the
Boer War and Spanish Civil War; additionally they engaged in numerous
peacekeeping missions with the United Nations. This guide is designed
to assist those who wish to know more about this dimension of Irish history.
It lists archives and libraries and institutions that hold source material,
and provides contact details. It also catalogues the museums, heritage
sites and battlefields that are accessible to the public. It also contains
a comprehensive bibliography of Irish military heritage and a guide to
Irish military sources on-line.
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Granuaile: Ireland’s
Pirate Queen by Anne Chambers
Over 400 years ago, Granuaile became a legend. As both Pirate Queen and
Gaelic Chieftain, Granuaile (or Grace O’Malley), challenged the accepted
ideas of sixteenth century Ireland. She manipulated the turbulent political
environment, ignoring cultural conventions, to become one of the most
powerful leaders in the country. The invading English also talked about
this ‘most famous feminine sea captain.’ The meeting of the two Queens,
Granuaile and Elizabeth I, ensured that the legend grew until Granuaile
became celebrated as one of the most notorious Irishwomen in Elizabethan
England. Using State papers and manuscripts of the period, the author
reveals the woman behind the legend and the unique contribution she made
to Irish history.
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Midlife Irish
by Frank Gannon
Immigrants Bernard and Annie Gannon never talked about their Irish past.
So when Francis Xavier Gannon was growing up in 1950s New Jersey, his
parents’ native land was but a dim, distant mystery. Today Frank Gannon
is a middle-aged, irreverent Catholic who prefers Bruce Springsteen to
Celtic Moods, can’t dance a jig, and hates eating potatoes. Does that
make him a bad Irish-American? Or a typical one? With both parents dead,
there’s only one place Gannon could go to answer this question and find
the missing pieces of his own heritage - Eire. In a moving and uniquely
entertaining memoir, the author uncovers a 21st century Ireland full of
beauty and paradox. And he offers a stirring, poignant yet often hilarious
look at the bonds of family, and - from the Garden State Parkway to the
wave-battered cliffs of the Emerald Isle - the ties of home.
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Dictionary of
Irish Quotations by Sean Sheehan
This book contains a highly enjoyable and varied selection of interesting,
informative, intriguing, infuriating - and sometimes just witty - remarks
made by Irish people on a number of topical subjects. The quotations range
from the fifth century to the present day.
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James Joyce’s
Dublin by Ian Gunn and Clive Hart
‘Ulysses’ is one of the most realistic novels ever written. Commentary
on it has often focused on its important place in the history of modernism,
its break with narrative convention, its exploration of the dilemmas of
life in the twentieth century. In this book, published on the centenary
of the novel’s action, the authors examine instead the importance of its
basis in physical fact. The characters, many of them Dubliners appearing
under their own names, visit shop and pubs that can be precisely located
in the streets of Dublin. Despite refurbishment of the city in recent
decades, some of those establishments remain. This book offers a full
account of them all and analyses their significance in the narrative.
The book includes an analysis of Joyce’s use of Thom’s Official Directory
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; an account of the
characters’ movements episode by episode; an alphabetical list of the
postal addresses of characters and places; a timetable of corresponding
events; a note about unresolved problems; a detailed set of maps based
on originals from early in the twentieth century; and a selection of historical
illustrations, mainly of places and monuments that no longer survive.
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The Scenery and
Antiquities of Ireland by J. Stirling Coyne with drawings by W.H. Butler
This fine edition of a classic work, first published in 1842, traces a
journey through Ireland and reveals not only the beauty and grandeur of
the Irish countryside at that time, but also depicts, in wonderfully detailed
engravings, a wealth of fine architectural and historical landmarks.
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Yeats: Portrait
of an Artistic Family by Hilary Pyle
From the foreword: ‘Since the middle of the nineteenth century the Yeats
family have contributed on a virtually continuous basis to the cultural
life of Ireland, in writing, theatre, painting and printing. Thanks to
the generosity of the Yeats family and other individuals and corporations,
the National Gallery of Ireland today possesses the most comprehensive
collection of artworks by the family, embracing paintings, watercolours,
drawings, sketchbooks, embroidery and other media. This book has been
compiled to provide the visitor with a commentary on the collection, providing
a detailed analysis of the oil paintings, watercolours and drawings together
with more concise accounts of other material. The text is complemented
by a visual survey of the collection.’
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The Maze by Donovan
Wylie
The Maze prison in Northern Ireland was a model of repetitive and systematic
architecture. Its primary function was to contain and isolate. Opened
in 1976 at the height of the Northern Ireland conflict, it held both republican
and loyalist prisoners in its eight H-blocks. Through its history of protests,
hunger strikes and escapes, the Maze prison became synonymous with the
Northern Ireland Troubles. After the peace negotiations, it was finally
closed in October 2003. Donovan Wylie, renowned photographer, over the
period of a year, spent almost 100 days photographing the inside of the
prison. Gradually he came to understand the psychology of the architecture
and its ability to distort and diminish. His photographs are a testimony
to that experience.
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A History of
Irish Theatre 1601-2000 by Christopher Morash
This account of Irish theatre, newly published in paperback, winner of
the Theatre Book Prize 2002, traces an often forgotten history leading
up to the Irish Literary Revival. He then follows that history to the
present by creating a remarkably clear picture of the cultural contexts
that produced the playwrights who have been responsible for making Irish
theatre’s worldwide historical and contemporary reputation. The main chapters
are each followed by shorter chapters, focusing on a single night at the
theatre. This prize-winning book is an essential, entertaining and highly
original guide to the history and performance of Irish theatre.
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Irish National
Cinema by Ruth Barton
This account of Irish film, from the silent era to the present day, shows
how, in a country where the modern has long been regarded as a source
of suspicion, cinema has occupied a fraught position within Irish society.
Attacked by the Catholic Church for its detrimental influence on the faithful,
regarded by the left as a tool of capitalism and by the Republican movement
as a weapon of imperialism, it provided the battleground for the competing
discourses within the emergent State during the early years of the twentieth
century. At the same time, for the emigrant Irish, particularly in Britain
and America, the cinema articulated, responded to and fashioned their
experiences of departure and arrival. In this book the author argues that,
in order to understand the unique inheritance on which contemporary Irish
filmmakers draw, definitions of Irish culture and identity must engage
with the cinema of the diaspora. In her discussion of contemporary Irish
filmmaking, she further reflects on questions of nationalism, gender,
and the representation of the Troubles and of Irish history, as well as
cinema’s response to the legacy of the ‘Celtic Tiger’.
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Ancient Ireland:
An Explorer’s Guide by Robert Emmet Meagher and Elizabeth Parker Neave
This is a splendid guidebook to Ireland’s stunning antiquities - its passage
tombs, ring forts, castles, Neolithic settlements, and monastic sites.
With its witty and erudite explorations of Irish mythology, history, literature,
archaeology, and architecture, this book makes an excellent companion
on a journey around Ireland. Along with fascinating overviews of prehistoric,
Celtic and early Christian, and early medieval times, the authors give
the visitor concrete help in finding the most captivating sites that preserve
that history today.
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The Courthouses
of Ireland compiled by Mildred Dunne and Brian Phillips
This book details an important aspect of Irish living and working heritage.
The court buildings themselves represent a study over time of how Irish
society sees itself in the matter of the administration of justice, providing
both a functioning ‘working machine’ and forum for seeing that justice
is being done. For this reason alone they have a heritage value, as well
as in many cases, being simply beautiful and important examples of architectural
skill and imagination. The book is intended for all those interested in
Irish architectural heritage and the administration of justice and its
reflects the determination of all three bodies involved to conserve those
buildings of historic and architectural importance and to record for the
future an accurate record of the fabric of the Irish courts system.
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The Castles of
Leinster by Mike Salter
This book is a comprehensive guide to castles, fortified houses, bawns
and town defenses in the twelve counties of the eastern and south-eastern
parts of Ireland which make up the province of Leinster. An introduction
describing the development of castellated buildings of stone in Leinster,
dating from the late 12th century to the mid 17th century, is followed
by twelve gazetteers describing the history and architectural features
of over 350 such buildings in the counties of Carlow, Dublin, Kildare,
Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford and
Wicklow. The gazetteers are illustrated with many plans, drawings and
photographs, and there is a map showing the location of surviving buildings.
Lists at the ends of the gazetteers provide summary information on 300
other buildings, and also sites of lost castles.
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Newgrange: Temple
to Life A Re-Interpretation by Chris O’Callaghan
Despite the accepted fact that Newgrange is one of the most advanced Neolithic
constructions designed and built to manage the rays of the sun, many writers
persist with the 300 year old classification that Newgrange is merely
a passage grave, or burial chamber. In this book the author challenges
that claim, proposing that this commonly coined ‘passage grave’ description
seriously misrepresents what the leaders, astronomers, architects, engineers,
artists, builders and hundreds of workers achieved on the Newgrange ridge
over 5000 years ago.
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Living Under
Thatch by Barry O’Reilly
This book is a wonderfully illustrated celebration of traditional thatched
buildings in Ireland (with a special emphasis on those in County Offaly).
It explores the history of thatch, together with its future in a modern
Ireland and examines the problems and joys of living in one of Ireland’s
most recognizable icons - the thatched house.
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Shade by Neil
Jordan
Nina Hardy has been murdered. She died in the house where she grew up,
killed by George, her childhood friend. But her body is never found, and
she remains, a silent shade, watching the events of her own afterlife.
She watches her half-brother Gregory as he arrives to bury her, after
some thirty years away; and Janie as she attempts to elicit a confession
from George, her brother. Through them Nina will relive their lives together,
and somehow begin to make sense of the people they all became. This is
a story of imaginary friends and hayrides, of plays and school dances,
of a seemingly idyllic childhood by the mudflats of the River Boyne. But
the outside world cannot be kept at bay, and the fragile balance of their
friendship is soon interrupted. Ultimately they will be torn apart by
the outbreak of war, brought together again only to find that each other
has changed almost beyond recognition. This novel is at once an unforgettable
portrait of childhood, a powerful story in its many forms, and a moving
tragedy of lost innocence. Written with astonishing insight and perception,
it confirms Neil Jordan as one of the most mesmerizing voices in contemporary
Irish fiction. (First Editions Available at Regular Trade Price for a
limited time only)
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Sunrise with
Sea Monster by Neil Jordan
Originally published in 1994, this is a lyrical and tender book, written
with tremendous sensitivity. In the blinding morning sunlight, Donal Gore
stands in a monastery courtyard. He travelled to Spain to fight in the
Civil War. Captured and awaiting execution, time now slows for him. And
he is haunted by memories of his childhood, from setting fish lines in
the sea with his father, to the moment of his mother’s death. His was
a life of piano lessons, or a growing passion, and of betrayal. And soon
he will realise that this story has yet to find its end.
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Night in Tunisia
by Neil Jordan
First published in 1976, this collection of highly original short stories
won the Guardian Fiction prize and marked the debut of an outstanding
writer. In the seaside towns of Ireland, within the tiled Victorian walls
of Kensal Rise Baths, in Dublin on the day de Valera is buried, powerful
rites of passage take place - the end of childhood, the moment of death,
the end of a love affair. Each in turn reveals the extraordinary imagination
and insight that characterises both the fiction and films of Neil Jordan.
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An Irish Solution
by Cormac Millar
Seamus Joyce has got a few things on his mind. He has just been appointed
Acting Director of iDEA, the Irish Drug Enforcement Agency. His wife is
in hospital, dying of an unidentified ailment. And he is starting to question
the purpose of his own existence. It’s a tricky time at iDEA: an ambitious
new Minister for Justice is anxious to secure a few big scalps in the
Dublin drugs trade, and Joyce is expected to put himself on the front
line of the fight. Soon he begins to suspect that the police, in league
with the Minister, are bending the rules - and he still doesn’t quite
understand what the rules are. Why is money being paid into his bank account
from an unnamed source in Liedhtenstein? Why are his phones being tapped?
Andy why are a troubled schoolgirl and a diminutive nun accusing him of
being at the heart of a lethal conspiracy? This debut novel is a sly and
sophisticated work that establishes its author as one of the more interesting
crime writers to emerge recently.
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The Ultras by
Eoin McNamee
This novel is set in the 1970s when the covert war in Ireland was at its
height. Intelligence and military agencies competed for assets along the
Border, and their proxy assassins prowled the night. At the centre of
events was the mythic figure of Captain Robert Nairac, the Special Forces
operative who disappeared while on active service in 1977, never to be
found. Twenty-five years on and Blair Agnew, ex-Sergeant with a damaged
past, looks back and tries to separate fact from fiction in a bid to lay
his own ghosts to rest. But it is his teenage daughter who fully comprehends
the deadly allure of the hidden. This startling novel, based around the
compelling figure of Robert Nairac, once again drives at the complex heart
of post-war Ireland. A thrilling evocation of the world of men who find
themselves operating in the dark and clandestine margins of society, an
exploration of ideas of perception, corruption, and murder.
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The Dramatist
by Ken Bruen
This is the fourth Jack Taylor novel. The impossible has happened: Jack
Taylor is clean, sober, even the cigarettes are but a trace of smoke.
He’s dating a mature woman, and if not yet a citizen, he’s dancing close
to the illusion. Rumor suggests he’s even attending Mass. The accidental
deaths of two students appear random, tragic events. Except that in each
case a copy of a book by Synge is found beneath the body. Jack begins
to believe that ‘The Dramatist’, a calculating, ruthless killer, is out
there, enticing Jack to play. An old case, the swan killer, re-surfaces,
distracting Jack’s attention. An urban myth, the Pikemen, may be the cover
for a lethal band of vigilantes. The past, far from buried, is about the
strike with a ferocity to claim the one decency Jack has clung to. The
city of Galway, Jack’s refuge, source of renewal and torment, now demands
a sacrifice of the only love he’s maintained. This book is ‘Irish noir
with humour and guts.’
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Dispatching Baudelaire
by Ken Bruen
Throughout his life accountant Mike Shaw has played it safe, kept his
head down, and avoided risk. His girlfriend, Brenda, is a secretary and
their idea of a night on the town is to visit the local pizza parlour.
But when Mike meets Laura in a bar off The Strand, their lives are irrevocably
changed. Small, smart, sexy -and utterly dangerous - Laura instantly spellbinds
Mike and leads him into a world of moral depravity, dominated by the sinister
presence of her powerful and rich father, Harold Benton. Dressed in safari
suits, dining in West End restaurants, Benton drinks only the best of
wines and whiskies, imitates Richard Burton, and quotes French poet Baudelaire
at every opportunity. He is also without conscience, on a hell-bent mission
to mould others to his likeness. This book is about what can happen to
the blandest of men when seduced by money, power and sex. As the reader
follows Mike on his journey into the heart of darkness, he comes to discover
that there are few more dangerous animals than an Englishman off balance.
Set against the paranoia of the early 1990s post-Thatcher London, this
is yet another addictive page-turner from the prolific Irish author.
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The Catalpa Tree
by Denyse Devlin
When Jude is orphaned at fourteen her late father’s best friend, Oliver,
is all she has. It is a tough break for both of them. Jude always adored
Oliver, but that was before he became her guardian. And Oliver cherished
spirited young Jude to, but being responsible for her -especially when
she has known so much heartbreak - is a burden he could have lived without.
Over the years that follow, Jude tests Oliver in ways neither could have
expected. In time she learns to grieve for her past, looks to a brighter
future and even finds happiness with a man, though it may not be the lasting
kind. Through it all - despite it all, maybe - their unique bond grows
strong. When faced with one hard call too many, however, Jude and Oliver
must discover just how strong that bond it - and if it can ever be broken.
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11 Emerald Street
by Hugh O’Donnell
Until the moment when his head gets hurt in the crush at a hurling match,
Robbie leads an ordinary enough life for a young Dublin boy. Twenty-a-side
soccer in the street, adventures with his dog Bobby, daily battles with
Clicky Kelly’s gang, sins of the flesh and of the mind … His injury changes
everything. When he returns to consciousness, he believes that God has
given him the power to perform miracles. At first Robbie contents himself
with winning the spot-the-ball competition in the newspapers, but when
he is sent to the orthopaedic hospital for ‘observation’, Robbie comes
into his own. The other boys there are much sicker than he is - polio,
thalidomide, haemophilia - but he swears to himself that he’ll cure them
all. Then tragedy strikes closer to home and Robbie needs all his powers,
miraculous or perhaps just the fruits of a fertile imagination, to keep
his world intact. With a voice as real and Roddy Doyle’s Paddy Clarke,
Robbie is an enchanting character, and the world in which he lives, particularly
the hospital with its heart-rending inmates and lascivious nurses, is
brilliantly created. This book marks the debut of a formidable new Irish
writer.
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Moy Sand and
Gravel by Paul Muldoon
Winner of the Pulitizer Prize for Poetry 2003. This ninth collection finds
the poet working a rich vein that extends from the rivery, apple-heavy
County Armagh of the 1950s, where he was brought up, to suburban New Jersey,
on the banks of a canal dug by Irish navvies, where he now lives. (One
First Edition Hardback Remaining In Stock - Priced at 60 Euro)
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These Days by
Leontia Flynn
This collection represents on the most strikingly original Irish poetry
debuts in recent years. A Gregory Award winner, the poet - still in her
twenties - writes about Belfast and the north of Ireland with a precision
and tenderness that is completely fresh.
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