Read Ireland Book News - Issue 38
<-- [Back To Main Menu] Heritage of Ireland: A History of Ireland and Its People (hardback; 21.30 IRP / 31.95 USD) [Add To Basket]
This book is a celebration of Irish life and culture. This history of Ireland is as fascinating as the heroic myths enshrined in the Irish imagination. Beginning even before the arrival of the Celts, the stirring and often tragic events of Irish history are chronicled, from the impact of the Viking, Norman and Tudor conquests to the effects of the Reformation, the Famine and the political struggles of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Many elements of the Irish way of life are represented here ö beehive huts and country house, peasant cottage and Georgian city, myth and religion, bards and craftsmen, sport and industry. The Irish arts are strongly featured from Romanesque and Georgian buidlings to literary and musical traditions of seemingly inexhaustible vitality. Great writers such as W.B. Yeats, Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce and Samuel Beckett are skilfully profiled. And in music and dance, the harpist and fiddler of old Ireland appear as the ancestors of modern celebrities like James Galway, Sinead O'Connor and Michael Flatley.
Stunning illustrations complement an authoritative text that brings to life the splendid heritage of Ireland.
Celtic Goddesses by Miranda Green (paperback; 11.20 IRP / 16.80 USD) [Add To Basket]
Celtic goddesses presided over war, nature, animals, healing and fertility. Terrifying battle goddesses were often invoked in times of war; a Mother Goddess was venerated, often in triple form, and supplicated for fertility of animals and crops. Divine and semi-divine femals abound in Wlesh and Irish myths, often associated with themes of virginity and sexuality, promiscuity and destruction. The concept of partnership is prominent in Celtic religion and myth, and it is possible to trace evidence of the divine marriage in both European iconography and Irish story. Goddesses were often linked with animals: birds, dogs, bears, pigs, snakes and horses all hard their divine protectresses.
The author, one of the leading scholars of Celtic myth and religion, examines the significance of the female in Celtic belief and ritual as expressed in archaeological remains and written sources. The transformation from polytheistic paganism to monotheistic Christianity in the Celtic west is examines in a final chapter. This book is a stimulating study and contains 68 black-and-white illustrations.
The Giant Book of Celtic Myths and Legends (paperback; 3.99 IRP / 6.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
Two wonderful books combined that together provide a vivid portrait of the Celtic people who made their home, at the end of a great journey.
The first book, Celtic Myths and Legends, reveals the ancient stories in the true spirit, reflecting the feel and atmosphere of the age in which these tales of mythology and ancient lore were first told. From the distant past comes tales of golds, giants and heroes. Celebrate the excitement and variety of life at that time - the feasting and wooing, the hunting and hurling, the lust of battle, the blood and bravery of fights, and the honourable deaths.
The companion volume, Tales of Old Ireland, is a unique collection of stories of an Ireland which has all but disappeared. This is the Ireland before the automobile and the tourist - a country of long-suffering peasants, priests struggling with their consciences and eccentric Irish gentry. It reveals a strong tradition of storytelling and provides a vivid portrait of the Ireland of the past. These intriguing short stories include works from great Irish writers such as W.B. Yeats, James Joyce and Somerville and Ross.
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