Read Ireland Book Reviews, March 1999

Making Peace by George Mitchell
Fifteen minutes before five o’clock on Good Friday, 1998, Senator George Mitchell was informed that his long and difficult quest for an Irish peace accord had succeeded the Protestants and Catholics of Northern Ireland, and the governments of the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, would sign the agreement. Now Mitchell, who served as independent chairman of the peace talks for the length of the process, tells us the inside story of t he gruelling road to this momentous accord. For more than 2 years, Mitchell, who was Senate majority leader under Presidents Bush and Clinton, labored to bring together parties whose mutu al hostility after decades of violence and mistrust seemed insurmoun table: Sinn Fein, represented by Gerry Adams; the Catholic moderates, lead by John Hume; the majority Protestant party, headed by David Trimble; Ian Paisley ‘s hard-line unionists; and, not least, the governments of the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, headed by Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair. The world watched as the tense and dramatic process unfolded, sometimes teetering on the brink of failure. Here, for the first time, we are give n a behind-the-scenes view of the principal players the personalities who shaped the process and of the contentious, at times, vitriolic, proceedings. We learn how, as the deadline approached, extremist violence and factional intransigence almost drove the talks to collapse. And we witness the intensity of the final negotiating session, the interventions of Ahern and Blair, the late-night phone calls from President Clinton, a last-ditch attempt at disruption by Paisley, and ultimately an agreement that, despite subsequent inflammatory acts aimed at destroying it, has se t Northern Ireland’s future on track toward a more lasting peace.

A Dublin Memoir by Peter Sheridan
Snow is falling all over Dublin. It is half an hour to the start of the New Year. On the rooftop of 44 Seville Place, a ten-year-old boy clings to the steel pole of a television aerial. His father urges him to turn the aerial towards England. They boy reaches up and, in that moment, pictures from a foreign place beam into their home and change their lives forever. Thus begins an astonishing portrait of a Dublin family as they chart their way through the turbulent waters of the 1960s. From the first page we are drawn into their lives and their relationships. We exult in their triumphs and we cry at their disasters, but at no time is laughter far from the surface. By the book’s close, we are part of this extended family. Peter Sheridan has written a brave book. In exploring his past with such honesty and compassion, he reveals the confused adolescent in us all. As he makes his journey from boy to man, he shows us an individual and a society on the cusp of a profound change.

A Crooked Field by Colm O’Gaora
‘When the last of the mourners had been ushered out, their voices snagging on the nightwind and the sound of their feet clattering on the hard path that led down to the road where finally their shapes were claimed by the darkness, the house fell silent. Helen took the brush from where it has always stood behind the kitchen door and began to sweep the floorboards, the thick bristles upon that wood like the sound of fingers scraping beneath. She swept slowly, carefully, as though there were spirits present that should not be disturbed. The clocks had been stopped, the mirrors draped in brown felt, the curtains drawn. Candles burned on every ledge and surface, their ghostly wax forms like worn teeth in the darkening mouth of the room.’ A Crooked Field is a beautiful and haunting novel about the search for on e’s soul amidst the struggle between faith and reason. An outcast in his own land, forced to sell his beloved fields to pay for his wife’s funeral and the rearing of his young daughter, Conor Kelly is increasingly bitter at the life he has been pushed into. As his daughter, Helen, grows up, her attempts to move out of her father’s dark shadow beg in to drive them apart. A doomed relationship with a local boy takes Helen to London and its world of shadows, broken dreams, and lived out in exile. Here she meets an Irish Underground worker who brings her deepen into the heart of herself than she could ever have imagined. When she finally returns to face her father, she sparks a battle of wills which begins to turn only as Kelly weakens in the face of age, and Helen discovers a life she can finally call her own. In O’Gaora’s resonant prose the exiled communities and darkened streets of London are as vividly imagined as the narrow lives and fluid landscapes of Ireland.

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The Water Star by Philip Casey
‘They got off the trolleybus and Brendan headed straight to the newsagent s for cigarettes and a paper. Hugh crossed the road and waited for him. The rain had eased off, but in the distance the thunder still rolled away. It had forced them to stop work early, and they were drenched and tired. Brendan crossed through the traffic as if charmed, dragging on his cigarette, protecting his newspaper under his coat, and they walked by the low wall and railing of the flats in Wedmore Street, Hugh pushing himself to keep up. Brendan’s cigarette never left his mouth, and his eyes were squinted against the smoke. Between drags he rolled it along his lips.’ London 1950. Houses rise out from the desecrated landscape, their rooms laid bare in the cold city lights. Out of this fractured world people restore their scattered lives: Hugh, desperately lonely and lost in an unfamiliar city, struggles with his memories, and with his father, Brendan, whose dreams are founded on the Irish mountain that was their home. Brendan stands in his north London bedsit washing off the dust from the city’s building sites, stubbornly refusing to see his son’s youth and the hope t hat is offered by Sarah, the Irishwoman who teaches him to read. Then, it seems, Hugh’s life is overturned. He meets Elizabeth, a woman w ho has lived through the Blitz and whose nature seems to dissolve the despair that threatens his spirit. And he meets Karl, a German in exile, a man w ho shares his life with Elizabeth but buries the horrors of his past. Wilthese terrified lives at last find comfort in the fragile city that surrounds them? In a narrative that is both lyrical and passionate, the author captures his characters perfectly, shining light on lives rocked by war and loss and on relationships overshadowed by unspoken feelings. This is an extraordinarily intimate and sensitive exploration of people trapped between their isolation and hopes.

Play 50 Irish Ballads with Only 6 Chords volume 1
This series of book features the words and guitar chords of Ireland’s most popular songs and ballads. Included are: A Nation Once Again, Arthur McBride, Band Played Waltzing Matilda, Begarrman’s Song, Bunclody, Castle of Dromore, Connemara Cradle Song, Croppy Boy, Down by the Glenside, Easy an d Slow, Gay Galtee Mountains, German Clockwinder, Glendalough Saint, God Sa ve Ireland, Goodbye Mick, Grace, Gypsy, Highland Paddy, Hills of Connemara, Holy Ground, I Know My Love, In Dublin’s Fair City, Leaving of Liverpool, Let Him Go Let Him Tarry, Love is Pleasing, Lowlands of Holland, Mains Wh en You’re Young, Mary from Dungloe, My Lovely Rose of Clare, My Singing Bird , Nova Scotia, Old Maid in the Garret, Old Woman from Wexford, Paddy Lay Ba ck, Quare Bungle Rye, Rising of the Moon, Rocky Road to Dublin, Rose of Mooncoin, Sally Gardens, Snowy-Breasted Pearl, Sonny’s Dream, Spinninwhee l Song, Streets of New York, Teddy O’Neale, three Drunken Maidens, Weile Waile, Well Below the Valley, Wild Rover, Will You Come to the Bower?

Play 50 Irish Ballads with Only 6 Chords volume 2
Included are: A Bunch of Thyme, All For Me Grog, As I Roved Out, Bard of Armagh, Beautiful City, Black Velvet Band, Bold O’Donoghue, Boston City, Botany Bay, Boulavogue, Boys of Fair Hill, Butcher Boy, Cobbler, Curragh of Kildare, Fields of Athenry, Follow Me Up To Carlow, Galway Races, Golden Jubilee, Green Fields of France, Henry My Son, I Know Where I’m Going, I’ ll Tell Me Ma, I’m a Rover and a Seldom Sober, If I Was A Blackbird, James Connolly, Johnny I Hardly Knew Yeh, Jolly Beggar, Jug of Punch, Kelly the Boy from Kildare, Kerry Recruit, Lanigan’s Ball, Lard in the Clear Air, L ook at the Coffin, Mary Hamilton, Mary Mac, Mrs. McGrath, Nuirsheen Durkin, M y Own Dear Galway Bay, On the Banks of the Roses, Peggy Gordon, Raglan Road , Red is the Rose, Rose of Allendale, Shores of Amerikay, Song for Ireland, Still I Love Him, Town of Ballybay, Twenty-One Years, Waxie’s Dargle, West’s Awake

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Play 50 Irish Ballads with Only 6 Chords volume 3
Included are: Big Strong Man, Bog Down in the Valley-O, Bonny Boy, Carrickfergus, Dear Old Ireland, Dicey Reilly, Do You Want Your Old Lobby Washed Down?, Enniskillen Dragoon, Far Away in Australia, Foggy Dew, Good Ship Kangaroo, Hills of Kerry, Home Boys Home, I Never Will Marry, James Connolly, Juice of the Barley, Lark in the Morning, Matt Hyland, Mermaid, Merry Ploughboy, Minstrel Boy, Monto, Nancy Spain, New York Girls, Nightingale, Ould Orange Flute, Paddy Works on the Railway, Dingle Bay, Rare oul’ Times, Real Old Mountain Dew, Reilly’s Daughter, Rosin the Bow, Sally Brown, Sam Hall, Spancil Hill, Spanish Lady, St. Patrick was a Gentleman, Star of the County Down, Sullivan’s John, Sweet Carnloch Bay, Three Score and Ten, Water is Wide, Wearing of the Green, When You Were Sixteen, Whiskey in the Har, Wild Colonial Boy, Will You Go Lassie Go?, Working Man, Zoological Gardens.

Ireland the Songs Book One
A new 4-part collection of songs and ballads with words, music and guitar chords, with photographs from the famous Father Brown Collection. This volume includes: Arthur McBride, Avondale, Band Played Waltzing Matilda, Black Velvet band, Blackwater Side, Boston Burglar, Castle of Dromore, Ca van Girl, Danny Boy, Easy and Slow, Fiddler’s Green, Galway Races, Humour is on me now, Little Old Mud Cabin on the Hill, Monto, Orose do Bheatha ‘bhaile, Paddy’s Green Shamrock Shore, Peggy Gordon, Raggle Taggle Gypsies, Ride O n, Rocky Road to Dublin, Salonika, She Moved Through the Fair, Slieve Gallio n Brase, Spancil Hill, St. Patrick was a Gentleman, Three Flowers, Three Lovely Lassies from Kimmage, Van Diemen’s Land, Zoological Gardens.

Ireland the Songs Book Two
This volume includes: A Place in the Choir, Boys of Fairhill, Buachaill on Eirne, Bunch of Thyme, Cruiscin Lin, Dear Little Shamrock, Deep in the Canadian Woods, Good Ship Kangaroo, Grace, I am a Little Beggarman, If I Was a Blackbird, In Dublin’s Fair City, Juice of the Barley, Lark in the Morning, Leaving of Liverpool, Meeting of the Waters, Nightingale, Ould Triangle, Patriot Game, Queen of Connemara, Rose of Mooncoin, Sally Gardens, Shores of Amerikay, Slibh na nBan, Siuil a Ghra, Sun is Burning, Wearing of the Green, Well Below the Valley, Whiskey in the Jar, Will You Go Lassie Go.

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Ireland the Songs Book Three
This volume includes: Banks of Sicily, Bantry Girls Lament, Believe me if all those Endearing Young Charms, Carrickfergus, Cold Blow and the Rainy Night, Come to the Bower, Connemara Cradle Song, Dark Eyed Sailor, Dicey Riley, Dutchman, Finnegans Wake, From Clare to Here, Galway Bay, Gaol of Clonmel, Green Glens of Antrim, Harp That Once, I’m Sitting on the Stile, Killarney, Low-Backed Car, Minstrel Boy, Mountains of Mourne, My Singing Bird, Never Wed an Old Man, Nora, Old Skidereen, Raglan Road, Snowy Breas ted Pearl, Spinning Wheel, Valley of Knockkanure, West’s Awake.

Ireland the Songs Book Four
This volume includes: Banks of My Own Lovely Lee, Biddy Mulligan, Bound D own for Newfoundland, Bunclody, Cliffs of Dooneen, Come Back Paddy Reilly, Croghan’s Grove, Dirty Old Town, Emigrant’s Letter, Flight of Earls, Foggy Dew, General Munroe, I’m A Rover, Joe Hill, Last Rose of Summer, Little Skillet Pot, Love Thee Dearest, Lowlands Low, Master McGrath, Meet me at the Pillar, Mermaid, Merry Ploughboy, Muirsheen Durkin, Nova Scotia, Now I’m Easy, Only Our Rivers Run Free, Sam Hall, Shoals of Herring, Spanish Lady , Star of the County Down.

Sam Henry’s Songs of the People
This book makes the music which Sam Henry collected over his life time. It comprises nearly 690 selections, thoroughly annotated and indexed. It is a treasure for anyone who performs, composes, studies, collects or simply enjoys folk music. It is valuable as an outstanding record of Irish folk songs before World War II.

Cassa by Lilian Roberts Finlay
This book is a sensitive story of a family and a house, of friendship, betrayal and romance. The Blakes, a wealthy Dublin legal family, have lived in ‘Firenze’ for a hundred years, a great old house set in thirty acres o n the south side of the city. In changing times, as their country road is transformed into a six-lane dual carriageway, two very beautiful but very different sisters grow up. Wealth and property, family and love, hatred and betrayal are just some of the elements of this engrossing novel, set against the backdrop of the transformation of Dublin between the 1950s and the 19 80s.

The Cork Cook Book edited by Nuala Fenton, Angie Shanahan and Damhnait Sweeney
Cork is widely regarded as Ireland’s culinary capital. Its reputation for fine food has grown steadily over the past 20 years, from the high standards set by such establishments as Ballymaloe House and the Arbutus Lodge. Th e emphasis has always been on the use of fresh, locally grown produce and exacting standards in training. This, combined with good business acumen , has contributed enormously to the development of Cork’s reputation as a centre of excellence for food. This book is a collection of recipes from 30 of the Cork’s most talented chefs from innovative and exciting establishments in Cork City and County. (All the proceeds for the sale o f this book will benefit the Cork Simon Community who care for the homeless .)

C.S. Lewis at Home in Ireland by David Bleakley
The author was born close to the Lewis family home in Strandtown, Belfast and his association with C.S. Lewis was greatly strengthened during his student days at Oxford in the 1940s. Since then he has done pioneer work in the promotion of Lewis Studies in Ireland, with particular reference to Lewis’ Irish background. The book brings C.S. Lewis ‘back home to Ireland.’ It recounts his life in Ireland, the County Down and the ‘village’ of Strandtown. It places Lewis is his local setting among the people and places he knew. It also explores his Irish circle at Oxford.

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Trams of the Hill of Howth: A photographic tribute by James Kilroy
The Hill of Howth trams were the last electric trams in Ireland and had particular appeal to tramway enthusiasts as they were the last ‘open-toppers’ to operate in these islands. There can have been few pleasures to compare with sitting on the open top deck of a Howth tram, enjoying the sea air and the spectacular views from the Summit over Dublin Bay and the Irish Sea. This book is a loving tribute to these fondly remembered cars from one who has painstakingly restored car No. 9 at Howth Transport Museum. He includes much of the local history of his native Howth peninsula and describes the history of the Clontarf and Hill of Howth Tramway which connected the peninsula to Dublin. The second half of the book is a full colour portrait of the Hill of Howth Tramway in the 1950s.

The Last Years of ‘The Wee Donegal’: The County Donegal Railways in Colour, 1950-59 by Robert Robotham
The County Donegal Railway was the largest narrow gauge system, not only in Ireland but in the whole British Isles. The lines’ attractive livery of geranium red and cream made its trains very photogenic, especially in colour, and it has always been a very popular line with enthusiasts. County Donegal Railway rolling stock was always well-maintained and the system w as run in an efficient and professional manner with a mixture of diesel and steam traction. Indeed, by 1950, the County Donegal Railway had become t he first railway in the British Isles to run its entire passenger timetable by diesel traction. This book draws on the work of well-known photographers as well as the extensive ColourRail archive, to produce a stunning full colour album that captures the atmosphere of ‘the Wee Donegal.’

When the Normans Came to Ireland by Maurice Sheehy
The Norman invasion of 1169 was an event of enormous importance in Irish history. When the Normans came to Ireland they established a political structure that was to last for almost 8 centuries: a structure that was totally alien to the native identity at the time. The author calls the Norman invasion a ‘crusade’ because in his opinion it was a distinctly Christian venture, a victory for the Papacy as well as the Normans themselves. The motivation for this crusade was to his mind only slightly more sophisticated than that which sent armies against the heathen during the same era. Ireland of the 12th century was culturally isolated from t he rest of the world, its population regarded as ‘alien’. Europe of the day had a legal and philosophical structure that underpinned the institutions of the Church and state and the duties and responsibilities of individuals. The Irish were almost totally unfamiliar with all this. They had their own unique language and their own separate and largely unwritten understanding of man and his place in the world. This book deals in depth with the manifestations of this powerful Irish cultural identity and the conflicts that arose between them and the structure imposed by the Normans.

Allyn’s Embarrassing & Mysterious Irish Adventures by Carol McGinley
This children’s novel, for the age group of 9-12, combines zany humour, suspense, and details about Irish history, geography and culture. While enjoying the Gallaghers’ embarrassing ‘predicaments’ early in the book, readers become attached to 12 year-old Allyn and 9 year-old Mitchell and then experience the beauty and culture of Ireland through their eyes. An Allyn, Mitchell, their mother and aunt travel throughout Ireland, a mystery unfolds, involving international criminals and Allyn’s favourite pop-country star; the climax occurs at his concert in Ireland. While Allyn and Mitch ell uncover clues, facts and photos about Irish history, the land and the people are woven into the suspense of the story educating in the context of a very entertaining fiction.

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Big Fellow, Long Fellow: A Joint Biography of Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera by T. Ryle Dwyer
Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera were the two most charismatic leaders of the Irish revolution. This joint biography looks first at their very different upbringings and early careers. Both fought in the 1916 rising, although it is almost certain that they did not meet during that tumultuous week. Their first encounter came when Collins had been released from jai l after the rising but de Valera was still inside. Collins was one of those who wanted to run a Sinn Fein candidate in the Longford by-election of 19 17. De Valera and other leaders opposed this initiative but the Collins group went ahead anyway and the candidate narrowly won. The incident typified the relationship between the two men: they were vastly different in temperament and style. But it was precisely in their differences and contradictions that their fascination lay. In this book the author examines the years 1917-1922 through the twists and turns of their careers. This book is th e first attempt to examine both men in a comparative light. It is an important contribution to our understanding of a crucial period in the making of modern Ireland.

Brother Against Brother by Liam Deasy
This is a moving account of the Irish Civil War. The author recounts in detail the Republican disillusionment with the Truce and later with the Treaty, how the Republicans were hopelessly outnumbered, hunted and killed, especially in Munster, before they were finally broken and defeated. For the first time, Deasy recalls the circumstances surrounding his much-criticised order appealing to his comrades to call of the Civil War an order that saved the lives of hundreds of prisoners. In a special chapter, he recounts his involvement in the ambush at Beal na mBlath, in which his close friend Michael Collins, met his death on 22 August 1922. This book gives a rare and profound insight into the brutal, suicidal war that set father against son and brother against brother.

Ireland 1905-25 Volume 1 Text & Historiography by Russell Rees
This book is a new, incisive and highly readable account of Irish history in the first quarter of the 20th century. Drawing together the most recent scholarship on this period, Dr. Rees presents a balanced and compelling narrative, with a useful historiographical section at the end of each chapter.

Ireland 1905-25 Volume 2 Documents & Analysis by A.C. Hepburn
This book complements the narrative of the first volume with a fascinating collection of contemporary letters, articles and constitutional documents, selected and edited by Dr. Hepburn who adds a highly informative commentary on each.

Memoir: My Life and Themes by Conor Cruise O’Brien
In this searching memoir, Conor Cruise O’Brien, perhaps one of Ireland’s most controversial public figures, traces the forces that have shaped the past 80 years of his own life with the clarity, passion, power and wit that have made him a scholar, writer and intellectual of international reputation.

Deeds Not Words: Irish Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen in Two World Wars by David Robertson
This book was launched by Professor John A. Murphy on November 11, 1998. This date marks the 80th anniversary of the end of The Great War and the joint dedication of the island of Ireland Memorial at Messines in Belgium by President Mary McAleese and H.M. Queen Elizabeth II. At the launch, Professor Murphy said: Because of the prevailing ideology in the Irish St ate after independence, the participation of Irish soldiers in both World War s has remained a neglected, if not discouraged subject until relatively recently. This book helps to redress this neglect. It enriches the heritage of Wilson’s Hospital School, and makes a significant contribution to Ireland/World War studies. In undertaking this work, the author has shown commendable initiative, borne out by painstaking research.’

Oxford Companion to Irish History edited by S.J. Connolly
This indispensable and widely acclaimed work of reference offers a comprehensive guide to the significant events, issues, people and places of Irish history. Over 1,800 entries cover the 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 of the United States and Australia. It provides a fresh approach to Irish history: Aer Lingus , ballads, boxing, insanity, motor cars, prostitution, wolves and women fin d a place alongside more traditional entries like Michael Collins, Home Rule, partition, and St. Patrick. Designed to meet the needs of all readers, i t provides concise definitions and reliable factual information together with in-depth analytical essays on general themes and issues.

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