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Read Ireland Book Reviews, April 1999
Ireland: A Natural
History by David Cabot
This book conveys all aspects of the
natural history of Ireland, from biological history, geology and climate,
through to nature conservation. David Cabot, an expert in his field, provinces
a comprehensive view of al l the different types of habitat to be found
in Ireland, from the peatlands and fens, to the mountains and uplands;
from broad-leaved woodland to coastal zones. The book examines the rich
variety of flora and fauna to be found living there. The final chapter
covers nature conservation, addressing the history of the conservation
movement in Ireland its successes and failures and the needs for the future.
This fascinatin g and highly detailed study for the first time brings
together the complete sto ry of the extraordinary flora and fauna of Ireland.
Discovering Celtic
Christianity by Bruce Reed Pullen
This book combines the ancient spiritual
movement with a modern pilgrimage. Readers will trace the gradual development
of the Celtic forms of Christianity and deepen their faith through their
own spiritual journey. Perfect for those who love to travel or wish they
could travel, this book brings to life the saints and illustrates the
places where Christianity blossomed through exciting narrative and vivid
photography. Learn more about the Celtic way of life and how such people
as Patrick, Brigid, Colu mba and Kevin practiced it throughout Ireland
and the British Isles. Find ou t how people today have received great
spiritual inspiration from these peo ple and places and have discovered
the relevance of Celtic Christianity in th eir own lives.
Cast a Cold Eye
by Michael B. Yeats
Michael Yeats, only son of the poet William Butler Yeats, takes the reader
on a journey through his family and political life. Using anecdotes and
personal memories he describes a childhood spent between Dublin, Switzerl
and and Galway. Famous characters from Irish history, such as Lady Gregory
and George Russell, were a part of his childhood. We see the great poet
through the eyes of his son, and we get an insight into an unusual family
life. Michael Yeats became a supporter of Eamon de Valera while still
at school , and began to take a more active role in politics while at
Trinity College , Dublin. He joined Fianna Fail in 1943, and was nominated
to the Seanad by de Valera in 1951. So began a career in politics that
lasted until he retired some 30 years later. His political life spanned
a time of great change. He ‘casts a cold eye’ on some of those who have
shaped our country’s political history Eamon de Valera, Noel Browne, Sean
Lemass , Liam Cosgrave and Jack Lynch to name just a few and he paints
his own personal picture of events and personalities. On Ireland’s entry
to the E.E.C. in 1973, he became on of the Fianna Fail members of the
European Parliament, where he embarked on a career in European politics.
In this book he looks back at a lifetime spent as a ‘Party hack’ and discusses
th e fundamental changes he has witnessed, affecting the whole fabric
of Irish society.
Folktales of Ireland
edited by Sean O’Sullivan
Few countries can boast such a plenitude
of traditional folktales as Ireland. In 1935, the creation of the Irish
Folklore Commission set in motion the first organized efforts of assembling
and studying a multitude of folktales, both written as well as those of
the Irish oral tradition and has collected well over a million pages of
manuscripts. This book offers chi ef archivist Sean O’Sullivan’s representation
of this awe-inspiring volume. These tales represent the first English
language compilation of Gaelic folktales.
A Song for Mary:
An Irish-American Memory by Dennis Smith
This memoir delivers poignant reminiscences of the author’s big-city Irish
upbringing filled with love and loss and fierce ethnic pride. In the absorbing
tradition of Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes, Smith mixes humour in the
face of adversity with moving insight as he tells what it was like to
be young, Irish, Catholic, and poor. It is a tale in which the presence
of Dennis’s courageous mother, Mary, is never far off, and the mystery
of what has happened to Dennis’s father underlies all. As Dennis ages
from seven to twenty-five, we see him learn life’s indelible lessons how
to dodge the slaps of crotchety nuns, wallop a punching bag, refuse to
‘take crap’ from anyone, steal a longed-for-kiss, and finally, stare into
death’s face. Street denizens, truant, and hard-living thrill seeker,
Smith was, in many ways, a young man slated for failure. For his salvation,
he could count on only his mother, who at a cost to her own dreams, sometimes
hilariously, always lovingly, pulled him by the ear int o adulthood; and
his Irish-Catholic roots which even in his darkest moments whispered to
him of success, of the power of faith and family and the force of the
written word.
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Legendary Fictions
of the Irish Celts collected and narrated by Patrick Kennedy
Patrick Kennedy collected these Irish
legends and tales around the middle of the 19th century ‘lest they should
be irrecoverably lost’. Some of them were first published in the Dublin
University Magazine in 1862, and the first edition of the complete work
came out in 1866. The present reprint is a facsimile of the 2nd edition
of 1891. It consists of 4 parts: Household stories; Legends of the ‘Good
People’, Witchcraft, Sorvery, Ghosts and Fetches Ossianic and other Early
Legends; and Legends of the Celtic Saint s. The author stated that the
greater part of the stories and legends are ‘given as they were received
from the storytellers with whom our youth was familiar No story in the
present collection is copied either in substance or from any writer of
the present or past generation.’
Policing Northern
Ireland: Proposals for a New Start by John McGarry and Brendan O’Leary
Police reform, one of the most hotly
debated issues in Northern Ireland, is at the heart of the Good Friday
Agreement. This timely and refreshingly dispassionate book examines the
status quo and puts forward reasoned proposals to help create representative,
impartial, decentralised, demilitarised and democratically accountable
policing services proposals which respect the identities and ideas of
unionists, nationalists and others. The authors, acclaimed commentators
on Northern Ireland, address tough questions: how to make the police representative
of Northern Ireland’s population, in national allegiance, religious origin,
and gender; how to reconcile the need for ‘downsizing’ with the need for
new recruits; how t o deal with symbolically divisive titles, uniforms
and working environments ; how to combine decentralisation, democratic
accountability and operational autonomy; and how to demilitarise policing.
Clear-headed and incisive, t his book is essential reading for anyone
interested in the policing of a historically divided territory and the
full and fair implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
1916: A Novel of
the Irish Rebellion by Morgan Llywelyn
We have two hardback copies, autographed
by the author, at the very special price of 8.99 Irish pounds (about 14
US dollars) of this wonderful historical novel which was our Fiction Book
of the Month on its initial publication.
Lewis’s Cork: A
Topographical Dictionary of the Parishes, Towns and Villages of Cork City
and County
The Topographical Dictionary of Ireland
by Samuel Lewis was first published in 1837 and contained statistics from
the first complete census of Ireland which had been conducted in 1831.
It described agriculture, industry, fishing, mineral resources, buildings,
schools, churches and the people i n two volumes, covering the whole of
Ireland and totalling 1400 pages. This volume gathers together all the
entries on Cork City and county and is possibly the most comprehensive
description of Cork in pre-famine times.
The Skellig Story
by Des Lavelle
This book is the story of two of the
world’s most stunning and unspoilt islands, Skellig Michael and Small
Skellig. The book describes the extraordinary isolated Early Christian
monastic settlement, with its stone ‘beehive huts’ and abundant bird life
with over twenty thousand pairs of gannets, and tells the history, legend,
geology, plant life, seabirds, the lighthouse, the seals, the underwater
world. A comprehensive and accessible book on a unique and fascinating
place.
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In the Legion
of the Vanguard by John A. Pinkman edited by Francis E. Maguire
John Pinkman was born of Irish parents
in Liverpool in 1902. In this dramatic and passionate memoir, he tells
of his childhood and youth in a close-knit, strongly nationalistic Irish
Catholic community in Liverpool. Gifted with a remarkable memory, he provides
a vivid depiction of his schooling and his subsequent apprenticeship in
Liverpool’s docklands. He joined a Sinn Fein club at the age of 16 and
the Liverpool Company of the Irish Volunteers two years later. Pinkman
gives a gripping account of the activities of the Liverpool Company prior
to the Truce. Arrested and sentenced to five years’ penal servitude in
Dartmoor Prison for ‘Sinn Fei n activities,’ he describes the life he
and others endured in England’s mos t dreaded prison. On his release following
the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, he joined the elite Dublin Guards Brigade
of the Irish National Army under Michael Collins on its formation early
in 1922. He presents an eyewitnes s account of the fighting during the
Civil War in Kilkenny, Dublin and Munster, supplying new and controversial
information on the death of Cath al Brugha, the assassination of Michael
Collins, and the role of Erskine Childers, challenging the received wisdom
of these and other events of th e Civil War. His gripping account, told
with candour, honesty, and humour, provides new and startling insights
on this key period of Irish history. This account is a valuable contribution
to source material for the War of Independence and Civil War. 1798 Diary
by Ruan O’Donnell
War of Independence
and Civil War. 1798 Diary by Ruan O’Donnell
In this book, published from the author’s
column in the Irish Times, historian Ruan O’Donnell charts the course
of the 1798 Rebellion from wee k to week, county by county. His weekly
column is complemented by addition al material for this book. O’Donnell
places the striking eyewitness account s of key protagonists in their
appropriate historical context and has added an introduction, chronology
and glossary of terms. Many obscure and neglected sources have been drawn
upon to create an authoritative and balanced overview of 1798 from all
perspectives. All the major engagements and personalities are discussed
in this comprehensive yet highly readable study of the Rebellion.
A Makeshift Majority:
First Inter-party Government, 1948-51 by David McCullagh
This is the first full length study
of one of the most intriguing governments in Irish history. The first
inter-party government, which held power from 1948 to 1951, was not only
Ireland’s first coalition, it was also the most diverse, made up of five
parties and a group of Independents. It’s easy to see why Sean Lemass
dismissed it contemptuously as a ‘makeshift majority’ but despite that,
the government managed to last for three and a half years. The government
is best known for two controversial episodes the declaration of the Republic
and the Mother and Child Crisis. The author delves deeper, explaining
the forces which brought this first coalition into being, the strategies
employed to make the partners stick together, and the reasons for its
final collapse. He also sheds new light on the declaration of the Republic,
the government’s approach to Northern Ireland, economic policy, attempts
to improve social welfare, and of course the Mother and Child Scheme.
Killybegs: Then
and Now by Donald Martin
Once a small fishing village on the
north-west coast of Ireland, Killybeg s has become one of the most important
fishing ports in the country. This book is a chronicle of how this beautiful
little town, with Donegal Bay a t its feet and the towering mass of Crownarad
at its back, has changed over the years. An unforgettable picture of the
town, the harbour and the people of Killybegs.
Home Farm: The
Story of a Dublin Football Club 1928-1998 by Dr. Brendan Menton
This book tells the story of Home
Farm football club. It reveals that the Club has given great service to
the community in many respects. It has also built up an enviable international
reputation for dedicated work for youth welfare through football and has
won fame in the sporting world. Home Farm players have won full senior
international honours for Ireland as well as innumerable honours at all
other levels in the game. But it goes beyond achievements on the football
pitch. Many of its former players earned distinction in other sports and
in non-sporting fields. This book record s these achievements.
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Death of a Hero:
Captain Robert Nairac, GC and the Undercover War in Northern Ireland by
John Parker
Mystery shrouds the disappearance and death of Grenadier Guards Captain
Robert Nairac, GC, kidnapped and murdered by the IRA in May 1977. More
than twenty years later after his death, his story still haunts the imagination,
not least because of Nairac’s extraordinary courage and the fact that
his body was never found. In January 1976, at the height of the vicious
undercover war with the IRA , Robert Nairac, aged 29, commenced his undercover
work. A devout Catholic , student of Irish history and robust singer of
Irish rebel songs, he was released from his duties with the Grenadier
Guards and seconded to the Special Air Service with the specific task
of intelligence liaison. With his black Labrador for company, he was posted
to the most dangerous area of operations, South Armagh. Here he was plunged
into the murkiest of intelligence worlds, awash with dirty tricks, and
river by the internecine rivalry between MI5 and MI6. After months of
operations, he was snatched from a South Armagh pub where he had arranged
to meet a contact; he was driven across the border into the Irish Republic,
interrogated and shot. This book tells the full story of his life and
death.
Fatal Encounter:
The Story of the Gibraltar Killings by Nicholas Eckert
On March 6, 1988, acting on Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher’s authority, members of Britain’s Special Air
Service shot dead three unarmed Irish Republican Army operatives in Gibraltar.
Their deaths set off a chain reaction of violence in Belfast that ultimately
claimed eight lives and left three young men serving life sentences in
prison for murders they did not commit. Now, after ten years of willed
forgetfulness and cover-up, Nicholas Eckert has ripped open the badly
healed wound of the Gibraltar killings with this detailed expose. Drawing
on a mountain of source material, this book explains what really happened
on the Rock and why the killings there still haunt Ireland and Britain.
Resurrecting the full horror of ‘Mad’ March 1988, it is a haunting and
totally damning indictment of both the SAS and the IRA.
Northern Ireland’s
Troubles: The Human Costs by Marie-Therese Fay, Mike Morrissey and Marie
Smyth
Northern Ireland’s armed conflict
has left a deep and lasting scar on its people. The results of an extensive
survey undertaken by the Belfast-based The Cost of the Troubles Study,
this volume provides the first in-depth analysis of the impact of armed
conflict on the people of Northern Ireland. Summarising the geographical,
religious, gender and age distribution of deaths, the authors provide
a thorough understanding of political violence in Northern Ireland and
an examination of the economic and social issues. Included in an outline
of the main protagonists, a chronology of key events, and a profile of
the victims and perpetrators of violence, including an assessment of the
impact of the Troubles on children.
Do Schools Differ?
By Emer Smyth
Education has profound consequences
for life chances among young people i n Ireland, However, relatively little
is known about the impact of schools of their pupils. Do schools really
differ? What school characteristics help to enhance educational achievements?
How could schools reduce their drop-out rates? Are pupil stress levels
higher in some schools than others? Do schools just affect ‘points’ or
can they influence personal development among pupils? This book draws
on a national survey of over 100 schools and detailed case-studies of
six schools to address these questions. It identifies school factors which
are associated with enhanced academic and personal/social development
among pupils and discusses the implications f or educational policy.
The Irish and
the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 by Robert A. Stradling
The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War threw Irish politics north and south
of the border into turmoil. Tragic events in Spain aroused emotive responses
across the spectrum of Irish society. In contrast to most other communities
of the British Isles, citizens of the Irish Free State were mainly pro-Franco.
But many on the left felt a strong identification wit h the plight of
the Spanish Republic. Ireland sent organised bodies of men to fight on
opposed side in the Spanish Civil War. The International Brigade volunteers
were led by the IRA warrior, Frank Ryan. Their rivals, who became a battalion
of Franco’s Foreign Legion were mostly members of the semi-fascist Blueshirts,
and we re commanded by the ex-leader of that movement, General Eoin O’Duffy.
In late 1936, two enemy crusades Communist and Catholic left Ireland to
fight it out in Spain. This book relates the two ‘crusades in conflict’
to their political and cultural background in 1930s Ireland. It examines
the personal and ideological motives of the volunteers, and follows their
marches across t he battlefields of Spain. In a conclusion which gets
to the heart of the tragedy in Spain, as experience by outsiders, the
book ends with an assessment of the meaning and significance of the sacrifices
involved. Illuminated by personal histories, this lively, well-written
book gets to the heart of this tragic ‘last crusade’.
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Great Irish Voices:
Over 400 Years of Irish Oratory edited by Gerard Reid
Amongst the multitude of speeches, sermons and addresses annually delivered
by Irish men and women, only a few are permanently preserved. The remainder
are forgotten. The main objective of this compilation is to bring together
a selection of speeches, sermons and addresses from some of Ireland’s
greatest statesman and women over the last 400 years. They are arranged
in chronological order, with an introduction giving the background to
each one. Brief biographical notes are also given on each speaker at the
back of the book. The orations chosen are always interesting in themselves
and many of them prove enlightening views of historical events. For instance,
Ireland’s stance, (both North and South) during World War Two can be readily
seen b y reading Eamon de Valera’s, Lord Craigavon’s and James Dillon’s
speeches a t the time. The great speakers of the Irish past are represented,
with Grattan, Burke, O’Connell and Parnell each given considerable attention.
The great Irish lawyers are also well represented with John Philpot Curran’s
speech at Archibald Hamilton Rowan’s trial being the most notable. However,
no compilation of Irish speeches would be complete without church sermons
, Jonathan Swift’s being the highlight amongst them.
Tipperary in the
Year of Rebellion 1798 by William J. Hayes
Charles Kickham stirred the ghosts
of 1798 in his beloved valley of Slievenamon a generation after the Rebellion.
It was in that lovely valley that the principal symbolic stand was made
by a group of Tipperary’s Unitedmen in July 1798. William Hayes recounts
that tragic episode as we ll as unfolding all the main events that occurred
in Tipperary in that fated Year of Liberty. Despite brutal repression
Tipperary remained defiant and even more seditious as the new century
opened, and as the seeds of democracy gradually took root.
Celtic Christianity:
Making Myths and Chasing Dreams by Ian Bradley
The current fascination with Celtic
Christianity is the latest manifestation of a lingering love affair stretching
back over the last 1300 years. This book explores how the native Christian
communities of the British Isles from the fifth to the tenth centuries
have been idealised and appropriated by succeeding generations who have
projected their own preconceptions and prejudices on to a perceived ‘golden
age’ of Celtic Christianity. The author describes and analyses five major
movements of Celtic Christian revivalism, starting with the world of the
seventh- and eighth-century hagiographers who created the cults of the
Celtic Saints and ending with the first full analysis of the current revival
of interest in Celtic Christianity. Through the course of the book the
reader is provided with a fascinating study of the chasing of dreams and
the making of myths. This is the first comprehensive and chronological
survey of the development of the ‘concept’ of ‘Celtic Christianity’ and
contains a rich collection of sources with illustrations throughout.
Cultural Traditions
Dictionary by Gary Law
Rosaries and rugby, sashes and sessions,
the Battle of the Boyne and the hound of Ulster these are some of the
many symbols associated with the religious and political cultures in Northern
Ireland. Deeply rooted in history, the symbols are often used to reinforce
and distinguish community identity. This extensively illustrated dictionary
provides over 200 lively and informative definitions of the key symbols
and expressions particularly relevant to the people of North. Specially
commissioned by the Cultural Diversity Programme of the Community Relations
Council in response to the increasing curiosity about ‘other’ cultural
traditions in Northern Ireland, and as a contribution to the knowledge
and understanding of cultural diversity throughout Ireland.
Irish Archaeology
Illustrated edited by Michael Ryan
Who were the first inhabitants of
Ireland and how did they live? What do we know of their houses, weapons,
tools, food? When did farming begin and how did it differ from today?
Who constructed the great stone tombs dotted about the countryside? What
do we know of the Iron Age peoples? Who were the Vikings and what legacies
did they leave behind? How were the beautiful manuscripts of medieval
Ireland put together and where did the materials come from? In this book
37 authors come together to try to answer these and many other questions.
In a clear and concise fashion they provide a kaleidoscopic view of Irish
archaeology, from the first settlers right through to early modern times.
Also contains plentiful and brilliant illustrations.
The Bitter Word:
Ireland’s Job Famine and its Aftermath by Mike Allen
As General Secretary of the Irish
National Organisation of the Unemployed, the author is uniquely placed
to understand the ‘bitter word’: unemployment. In this engaging and authoritative
analysis he challenges the assumptions of comfortable Ireland and shatters
myths. He demonstrates how many of our citizens have been compelled to
lead stunted lives in the shadow of the Celtic Tiger and argues with passion
and clarity that there is a debt which now must be repaid.
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From the Inside:
A Priest’s View of the Catholic Church by Tony Flannery
This is a book about the beleaguered
Irish Catholic Church by a member of the preaching order of the Redemptorists.
Once noted for their hellfire sermons, they have been in the forefront
of the drive for necessary change if the Church is to have any hope of
enduring. Part biography , part appraisal, this entertaining and lively
book looks at the inadequate training of priests both in the sexual and
spiritual area, the aftermath of Humanae Vitae and the great social debates,
how confession was often used as a means of control, the general decline
in all areas of Church life, and, of course, the scandals of recent years.
This book is essential reading for all who care about the Catholic faith
and they can take heart in the author’s optimistic suggestions for a cure
of what seems to many a terminal illness.
The Vision of
Peace: Faith and Hope in Northern Ireland by Mairead Corrigan Maguire
The author, along with Betty Williams
and Ciaran McKeown, organised some of the largest peace demonstrations
in the history of Northern Ireland and co-founded the Community of Peace
People to carry on the array of peacemaking initiatives which grew out
of these rallies. This book features the first ever collection of Maguire’s
writings, speaking engagements and documents her participation in grassroots
peace initiatives. She remains an advocate for peace and justice world-wide
and was awarded the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize for her work.
A Treasury of
Celtic Design by Courtney Davis
This beautiful and versatile treasury
of over 100 designs will prove an invaluable source of inspiration to
everyone with an interest in the Celtic Heritage, not least to artists
and designers both amateur and professional. Rich and exciting, these
designs encompass a wide range of knotwork, spirals, key patterns and
zoomorphic subjects. A wealth of full- and half-page rectangles, motifs
and medallions plus frames, borders and corn ers are all rendered with
exquisite finesse by the renowned Celtic expert and artist. The redolent
symbolism of such designs and motifs never seem to fade or date.
The Passion of
Jerome by Dermot Bolger
Dermot Bolger’s powerful new play
is the story of a haunting; the story o f an ordinary man suddenly forced
to confront both his own demons and the trapped poltergeist spirit of
a dead boy. Jerome Furlong is a successful businessman, whose life has
been carefully constructed from layer upon layer of lies. That is until,
in the squalid flat he is using to have an affair, he is suddenly confronted
with a manifestation of the supernatural beyond both his comprehension
and control. This play premiered on the Peacock stage of the Abbey Theatre,
Dublin in February 1999.
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