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Read Ireland Book Reviews, April 1998
Irish Waterside
Walks by Michael Fewer
With its numerous rivers and lakes
and its extensive canal system, Ireland has a wealth of waterside walks.
The author has gathered together 58 of the best walks throughout the length
and breadth of the country. Intended mainly for families and casual walkers,
the book includes walks and strolls of anything from half an hour to five
hours’ duration. Along the way, the author describes interesting aspects
such as the local wildlife, history and architecture, and also recommends
good spots for picnics, swims, etc.
Hitler’s Irish
Voices: The Story of German Radio’s Wartime Irish Service by David O’Donoghue
This book tells the story of Dr Adolf
Mahr, the Austrian-born director of the National Museum of Dublin. A member
of the Nazi party, he was promoted to the top museum job in 1934. He left
Dublin in 1934. Officially on leave of absence, he spent the war years
in Berlin working on the Irish desk at the German Foreign Office, as well
as establishing and directing German Radio’s nightly Irish service, known
as Irland-Readaktion. The book examines in detail the reasons for the
establishment of the radio service, what it broadcast, and who listened
to it. This incredible story based on detailed research in Ireland, Germany
and Britain uncovers for the first time one of the most sensitive issues
concerning Irish-German relations in the Second World War.
A Name for Himself
by Catherine Dunne
This novel is a study of one man’s
struggle to find a sense of belonging. Farrell hated P.J. Browne on sight.
When he fell in love love with Browne’s daughter he hated him even more.
Grace is beautiful, vulnerable, sophisticated and way out of Farrell’s
league. But he woos and wins her and, for a while, their love seems unassailable,
a refuge from the world and from their pasts. But each of them has old
ghosts, which refuse to lie down. The pull of Farrell’s childhood is too
powerful, his love for Grace too strong. This novel, from the author of
the highly acclaimed novel ‘In The Beginning’, confirms the author as
a novelist with a gift for turning ordinary lives into compelling fiction.
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Round Ireland with
a Fridge by Tony Hawks
In attempting to hitch-hike around
Ireland with a fridge, the result of a bet that he could not circumnavigate
the island, the author was led to one of the best experiences of his life
recalled in this book. Joined by his trusty-companion-cum-domestic-applicance,
he found himself in the midst of a remarkable adventure, at times emotional,
at times inspirational, but more ofthen than not, downright silly. This
book is the record of the unlikely pair’s fortunes as they made their
way from Dublin to Donegal, from Sligo through Mayo, Galway, Clare, Kerry,
Cork, Wexford, Wicklow and back to Dublin again. It is a very inspirational
story.
Irish Literary
Movement by A. Norman Jeffares
This generously illustrated book provides
an accesible introduction to the lives and works of leading 20th-century
Irish writers. In the early decades of the century, a brilliantly gifted
generation transformed literature in Ireland and made an influential contribution
to the wider world of letters. Such writers as Flann O’Breien and the
Nobel lauretes Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney carried on the tradition
of the Literary Revival in later generations. All the major names are
here: Joyce, Yeats, O’Casey, Shaw, Synge, George Moore and many others.
Each short article is illustrated and the author discusses these protraits
and paintings as well as the work and influences of the subjects themselves.
Another Country:
Growing Up in ‘50s Ireland by Gene Kerrigan
In his highly addictive style, journalist
Gene Kerrigan effortlessly reconstructs the Ireland of the 1950s and early
‘60s in which he grew up. An adult world of obsolute moral certainties,
casual cruelties and mass emigration; for children an age of innocence,
but an innocence hemmed in by fear and guilt. In this humorous memoir,
he tells of a world that now seems as distant as another country. The
details of school, street anf family life, of Christmas, First Communion,
school violence, CIE Mystery Tours and the arrival of televiison, are
woven with the political background of the day, and recollections of the
impact of major figures: Michael O Hehir, Lemass, Dev, JFK, not to mention
Hector Grey, Shane, davy Crockett and Au die Murphy. This book is an acocunt
of a happy childhood in a country that was itself far from happy.
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Irish Rebellions:
1798-1916: An Illustrated History by Helen Litton
Using newspaper reports, speeches,
eyewitness accounts and a mass of photographs and illustrative material,
the author turns her accessible style to the major events of 1798, 1803,
1848, 1867 and 1916. She introduces the reader to the people involved
Wolfe Tone, Robert Emmet, Anne Devlin, Thomas Davis, James Stephens, Patrick
Pearse. She discusses the United Irishmen, the Young Irelanders, the Fenian
Brotherhood, and the Easter Uprising. This book is a clear and informative
survey of the most well-known rebellions in Irish history.
Brandon Book of
Irish Short Stories edited by Steve MacDonagh
The reputation of Irish short story writing, associated with the great
names of James Joyce, Sean O’Faolain and William Trevor is long established.
What this collection demonstrates is the vibrancy of Irish writing today,
featuring many of the outstanding writers who have emerged during the
last 20 years. Variety and diversity are hallmarks of the present generation,
reflecting in some instances a casual internationalism, in others, a sharp-edged
representation of a society in rapid transition. The writers included
in this handsomely-produced collection are: Sara Berkeley, Jennifer Cornell,
Roddy Doyle, Brian Leyden, Bernard MacLaverty, Dermot Bolger, Philip Davison,
Ciaran Folan, Molly McCloskey, Patrick McCabe, Mary O’Donnell, Patrick
Quigley, Marina Carr, Ursula De Brun, Desmond Hogan, Mike McCormack, Philip
MacCann, Glenn Patterson and Lucille Redmond.
Going to the Well
by Alice Taylor
Alice Taylor is the author of the
best-selling memoir, To School through the Fields. This new collection
of poetry, her first for ten years, will delight her many readers. In
her poetry she reflects the same concerns as in her memoirs and fiction,
but in this new book there is also a strong religious element, focuses
in particular on a series of reflections on a visit to the Holy Land.
There is humour, too, and she observes with a wry affection the varieties
of human experience encountered in country life today. For her the themes
are small and intimate, drawn from patterns of everyday life.
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Celtic Names for
Children by Loreto Todd
The definitive guide to Celtic names more than 2000 names from Ireland,
Scotland, Cornwall, Wales and the Isle of Man. All over the world parents
are choosing Celtic names for their children. Some are drawn from ancient
legends, others commemorate places or saints, and all provide a glimpse
of the richness of Celtic tradition. This book contains over 2000 alphabetically
listed names for boys and girls; associated myths and legends; helpful
pronunciation guides; cross-references and comprehensive index; most common
variant spellings; commentary on the origin and meaning of most entries.
A Glassful of
Letters by Evelyn Conlon
Friendship, love and isolation both self-imposed and involuntary and the
quiet bravery of one woman are at the heart of this novel from one of
Ireland’s most distinctive and energetic voices. The time is the recent
past, a period of unprecedented re-examination in Ireland. Diverse but
tightly knit, the men and women of this novel are related to each other
by family ties or by the simple fact of living in the same Dublin street
and their skilfully interlinked stories reflect the pressures and pleasures
generated by rapidly changing social values. Flexibly shifting from straight
narrative to a chain of lively, intimate correspondence, this novel is
outstandingly warm and intelligent.
A Pocket Book
of the Banshee by Patricia Lysaght
The banshee or messenger of death
has existed in Irish folk belief for centuries. A female spirit, her unearthly
wailing is heard by family and friends of a dying person. Traditions about
the banshee are widespread among the Irish at home and abroad. This book
traces the origin of those traditions, their development and current expression
in myth and folklore. It explores death and mourning as expressed through
belief in the banshee.
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The Blasket Islands:
Next Parish America by Joan and Ray Stagles
The beautiful Blasket Islands off the southwest coast of Ireland, though
now deserted, once sustained a thriving community. It was a hard life,
struggling to make a living from poor land and the stormy waters of the
Atlantic Ocean. But the islanders also had a unique tradition. Dependent
on each other for survival and entertainment, they developed a rich culture
of storytelling that produced the literary talents of Thomas O Criomhthain,
Peig Sayers and Maurice O’Sullivan, and attracted Celtic scholars from
all over the world. The authors of this book were fascinated by the Blaskets
from their first visit in 1966, and spent many years compiling a history
of the island. They spoke to ex-islanders, traced family genealogies,
and researched the housing and intricate field systems. This book is the
result of that research and includes a moving account of the trauma of
the Famine in the 1840s and the slow erosion of the islands’ unique culture
to that bleak day in 1953 when the Blaskets were finally abandoned. It
is illustrated with maps and evocative photographs.
The Oxford Companion
to Irish History edited by S.J. Connolly
This book offers a radically new introduction, comprehensive yet accessible,
to all aspects of the fascinating and complex history of Ireland. Written
by a team of 87 specialist authors, its 1800 entries cover this history
of Ireland and its peoples, from earliest times to the late 20th century,
and Ireland’s impact beyond its shores, in shaping countries as far apart
as the United States and Australia. It redefines Irish History, offering
a fresh approach to the varied subjects of Aer Lingus, ballads, boxing,
insanity, motor cars, prostitution, and teacher training find a place
alongside more traditional entries like Michael Collins, Home Rule, partition,
and St. Patrick. It is designed for reading and reference, to meet the
needs of all readers from scholars and students to anyone with an interest
in Ireland, providing concise definitions and reliable factual information
together with in-depth analytical essays on general themes and issues.
Its entries are arranged A-Z and fully cross-referenced, while a useful
topical index guides the reader to related entries. This book is a groundbreaking
new guide to all aspects of Irish history!
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How to Murder
a Man by Carlo Gebler
“All histories are really murder stories. Sometimes they are epic and
there are generals, and battlefields, and regiments of cavalry and foot,
and sometimes they are just small, domestics, and there are pairs of men
and alleyways and pistols in the back pocket. Either way, measurement
of victory is always the same: he who murders most, wins. “Mickey Laffin
sat in a car with his friend McGuinness, the publican. The driver, sitting
up on the seat behind the pony with the reins firmly in his hands, was
Joseph O’Duffy. Mickey and his friend McGuinness had left the courthouse
in Monaghan town an hour earlier. Now they were coming along a road, which
cut through a bog. It was evening.” In January 1854, one of the lean and
terrible years following the Great Famine in Ireland, a new land agent
is appointed to bring order to the great and decaying estate of Beatonboro’,
Country Monaghan. Thomas French is a man with a considerable reputation
for fairness, but also for his unusual and highly effective methods of
dealing with debt-ridden tenants. As he travels north to take up his new
position, however, he has no inkling that his determination will prove
no defence against the suspicion and terror concealed beneath the mild
beauty of the landscape. For Monaghan is a county in the grip of fear
as well as poverty; populated by families made bitter by the injustice
of their landlords, and disfigured by decades of violence and intimidation
by the legendary Ribbonmen, a terrifying clandestine organisation existing
to defend the ancient rights of tenants with merciless savagery and the
cruellest torture. For those caught in their stranglehold and few can
escape it there is no hope of a life free from extortion and terror. As
the author follows Thomas French into the heart of this lethal territory,
he evokes an atmosphere of menace and fear with extraordinary power, exposing
the roots of a prejudice, which still echoes notoriously in the Ireland
of today. Carlo Gebler is the author of several works of fiction and non-fiction,
including his highly acclaimed novel, The Cure. He is writer-in-residence
at Her Majesty’s Prison, Maghaberry, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
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