Read Ireland Book News - Issue 34
<-- [Back To Main Menu] The Ireland Anthology edited by Sean Dunne (hardback; 19.99 IRP / 30.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
This book is the most ambitious one-volume anthology of prose and poetry to appear in over 30 years. There are more than 200 separate entries, drawn from indigenous authors as well as from those who have visited Ireland, and covering the whole span of written Irish history. As a result, works by Jonathan Swift and Maria Edgeworth and William Butler Yeats are represented alongside authors as diverse as the medieval Welsh monk Giraldus Cambrensis, the Elizabethan poet Edmund Spenser, and the French dandy Chevalier de La Tocayne. There are also extracts from the works of distinguished contemporary writers like Seamus Heaney, Eavan Boland and Colm Toibin.
Altogether this great Irish stew accommodates ingredients of all sorts in a happy mixture. Try a recipe for brown bread by Myrtle Allen, and delight in the description of an 18th century garden by Mrs. Delany. Read an extract from the inauguration speech of President Mary Robinson, or dip into pieces on sport, rock music or even the joys of Guinness. For all who love Ireland, and especially its tradition of outstanding writing, this anthology is irresistible.
The Lie of the Land: Irish Identities by Fintan O'Toole (hardback; 9.99 IRP / 15.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
Moving statues in a rural church, millionaires with global dreams, country-and-western fans slaughtering sheep at the Halal in Ballyhaunis: images of the real or the surreal? The blurred distinction between the two says much about the contemporary state of Ireland, and about the ways in which a country constantly builds and rebuilds its own identity.
From its sometimes confused sense of place, caught somewhere between Europe and America, Ireland has redefined itself in the 1990s. Often of necessity (the Irish church forced to confront paedophilia among its own ranks, for example), occasionally through sheer will and bravado, Ireland has changed to such an extent that it can now boast a greater per-capital GDP than the UK and a real place in the global economy. But the legacy of John F. Kennedy's visit and the relentless wave of emigration it signified, as well as the arguments over nationalism, sexual politics and the Church, remain, creating a diverse, energetic and socially engaged community.
This book is a highly pleasurable collection of essays covering these subjects. It is drawn from journalist and columnist Fintan O'Toole's best writings of the last two decades. Its portraits of people and its reports of social and political upheaval reveal a country still in search of itself, but more at ease with the complexities of its own make-up; a country whose buried memories, tourist myths and current contradictions might now be reworked to forge a truly modern Irish identity.
Lost Magic of Christianity: Celtic Essence Connections by Michael Poynder (paperback; 8.99 IRP / 13.50 USD) [Add To Basket]
This book is a popular and accessible introduction to the development of Celtic Christianity in Ireland. It brings forward the ancient wisdom tradition encapsulated in the Stone and Bronze Ages, into early Celtic 'agnostic' Christianity. This was a time when the God and the Christ energy was accepted as universal and essentially of 'nature' - and our connectedness to it. It shows how the church, through the dogma of its patriarchal system, has deliberately taken away from us our personal inner mythology. The cosmic eternal spirit Christ within ourselves has been lost in clouds of spiritual materialism and manipulation by a debased male priesthood.
Working and Living in Ireland by Eugenie Houston (paperback; 10.95 IRP / 16.50 USD) [Add To Basket]
This book is written by a returned emigrant and provides invaluable advice on how to get a job in Ireland, along with detailed information on dozens of Irish-based companies recruiting in 1998, with full descriptions, contact numbers and addresses.
The ideal navigational aid, this book also looks at the host of social, cultural and practical considerations that need to be taken into account if you are to make a comfortable adjustment to this new environment.
Packed with practical tips and useful information, this book is a must for anyone planning a move to Ireland - and for anyone who wishes they were!
Irish Game Fishing by Paul Sheehan (hardback; 22.00 IRP / 33.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
This book is a delightful evocation of angling in the beautiful rivers and loughs of Ireland. The Irish game angler is privileged, because he fishes for native salmon, sea trout and brown trout according to the cycle of the seasons. This is traditional angling with none of the artificial character of fishing for stocked fish in controlled environments. More people are travelling to Ireland for the experience of this authentic sport on waters that have become more accessible in the latter part of this century.
The author offers guidance on a range of rivers and loughs, from all over Ireland. He also describes the when of Irish fishing, the most opportune times to fish particular waters, or for certain species. These seasons are an important aspect of Irish life: at times they mesh with local traditions to form popular festivals, as in the weeks of the mayfly on the wester loughs, of the grilse runs of summer in spate rivers. He also gives a wonderful flavour of fishing on the island in relating experiences, his own and those of his friends, which describe not just the sport, but also the sense of place which is central to the character of Irish angling.
This book will undoubtedly appeal to all anglers who wish to return to authentic sport in wild places.
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