Read Ireland Book News - Issue 15
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1. Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape edited by F.H.A. Aalen, Kevin Whelan and Matthew Stout (hardback; 35 Irish pounds / 52.50 US Dollars approximately) [Add To Basket]
This handsome atlas explores the Irish rural landscape as an important element of national heritage. As with many parts of Europe, that heritage is threatened and Ireland is faced with the daunting task of balancing the needs of competing rural activities.
This book combines many different approaches to understanding the immense ecological, educational, aesthetic and economic significance of the landscape. Using state of the art computer cartography, the atlas analyses the assemblage of features, both physical and human, which gives the Irish landscape its distinctive character. It provides detailed analysis of field and settlement patterns, buildings, archaeological/historical monuments, demesnes, villages and small towns, woodlands and bogs, canals, roads, railways and industrial archaeology. Drawing on appropriate disciplines including geography, archaeology and history, the atlas shows how the intricacy, interest and beauty of the Irish landscape were generated by human activities over long periods of time, and how the landscape is presently managed.
The editors and contributors have incorporated a wide range of illustrative material including maps, paintings, photographs and remote sensing data, all reproduced in full colour throughout the book. A substantial explanatory text vividly summarises our growing knowledge of Irish landscape history while demonstrating its relevance in education and public policy. By analysing forces of current change, the atlas suggests ways in which desirable developments can be implemented in sympathy with inherited landscape character.
2. Ireland - Our Island Home by Kevin Dwyer (hc; 19.99 IRP / 30 USD) [Add To Basket]
An aerial tour around Ireland's coastline, this book takes the reader on a fascinating pictorial journey around the island of Ireland through aerial photographs taken between 1992 and 1996. Starting at Carlingford Lough in County Louth, the journey shows many of the coastal villages, harbours, anchorage's, beaches and rivers all linked by water. There are also aerial photographs of Dublin, Cork, Waterford, Limerick and Galway. Contains over 160 large full colour photographs.
3. Ireland: A Photographic Portrait with an introduction by J.P. Donleavy (hc; 19.99 IRP / 30 USD) [Add To Basket]
Ireland's unique beauty is captured in this sumptuous photographic portrait. The green hills and lush river valleys contrast with the wild, rugged coastline and the ancient grey stone walls that criss-cross the landscape. It is a tranquil country where sheep roam along deserted country roads and where ancient castles stand guard on a history rich in colour and incident.
The accompanying text is a perfect foil to the stunning photographs. In addition to providing a brief introduction to Ireland and its history, it also serves as an extensive travel guide to the island. It includes the best routes in the country for scenic journeys and ideal locations for city breaks or country retreats as well as places to stay.
4. Ireland from the Air by Peter Sommerville-Large and photography by Jason Hawkes (hc; 25.00 IRP / 37.50 USD) [Add To Basket]
A fascinating and revealing commentary by Peter Sommerville-Large combined with Jason Hawkes' expert aerial photography takes the reader on a striking bird's eye journey to the farthest reaches of Ireland, whose castles, cities, mountains, cliffs and fields are seldom seen except from ground level.
Captured in arresting aerial detail is the overwhelming variety of Ireland's landscape, from the lush valley and prosperous plains of Kildare, Tipperary and Wicklow, through the spectacular islands off the west and south-west coast to the complexities of the River Shannon and Lough Erne. As well as the traditional and romantic view of Ireland, Hawkes provides us with exhilarating new aerial images, be it a rock climber's view of Ben Bulben, the urban vitality of Dublin where the bridges for a ladder over the Liffey, or a herd of cows grazing peacefully near Lough Carra.
Appealing both to residents and visitors alike, together in words and pictures, this book captures both the expected and unexpected about a land which remains shrouded in mystery and alive with legend.
5. Dorothea Lange's Ireland by Gerry Mullins (hc; 19.95 IRP / 30.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
In September 1954 Dorothea Lange travelled to Ireland to document a society where tradition and ties to the land remained strongly intact. She stayed for several weeks, mostly in County Clare on the western seaboard, and took 2,400 photographs, the best of which are featured in this book.
Only a handful of her Irish images have been previously seen; yet those who know her work best believe the Irish photographs are some of her finest achievements. Her simple yet dramatic photographs depict men and women on their way to church, family members performing daily chores, village streets crowded with cattle on market day, and many other images of rural Ireland. Seemingly ordinary moments in life are presented by Lange in an unusually powerful and dignified manner.
This extraordinary body of work was uncovered at the Oakland Museum of California by author Gerry Mullins, whose text describes Lange's motivation to go to Ireland, her travels there, and the subjects of her photography. Her son, Daniel Dixon, accompanied her on the trip and contributes and essay to the book that gives insight in Lange's strong connection to the people of Ireland.
Special Offer
Out of Ireland: The Story of Irish Emigration to America by Kerby Miller and Paul Wagner (hc; original Irish price: 18.95 - special offer Irish price; 7.99 / 12.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
This book is a moving portrayal of Irish emigration to the United States. This sweeping historical epic involving millions of Irish men, women and children over a period of two centuries is personalised by the stories of several individual immigrants, using the actual letters they wrote home to Ireland describing their experiences in the New World. It is further brought to life by 110 riveting and rarely seen photographs and illustrations, the fruits of more than two years research in Irish and American archives.
Oppression by British landlords, vanishing economic opportunities, and a famine that killed more that 1 million people drove the Irish to America, often in the steerage of vessels so racked by typhus and dysentery that they were called "coffin-ships." In America, "the land of liberty so-called," as one immigrant described it, they faced urban poverty, industrial exploitation, and virulent anti-Catholicism.
Eventually, despite much collective suffering and many individual failures, the Irish were successful, achieving great prosperity and prominence in all walks of American life. The Irish brought labour, skills, capital and sheer energy to build the farms, cities, industries, and transportation network that laid the foundations of much of America's prosperity.
More than 7 million men, women and children came out of Ireland to create for themselves a new life in America. Their powerful story speaks to the hearts of their 40 million descendants - and to anyone who has ever dared to pursue a dream.
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