Read Ireland Book News - Issue 59
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The Williamite War in Ireland 688-1691 by Richard Doherty (Paperback; 14.95 IRP / 22.50 USD) [Add To Basket]
This book is an account of the war that convulsed Ireland from 1688 to 1691, the echoes of which can be heard to this day. This is a military historian's view of that war which describes the major battles and sieges, including the Boyne, Aughrim, Derry and Limerick, as well as actions that are not so well known such as the sieges of Carrickfergus, Charlemont and Athlone. In these pages the reader also meets some of the principal commanders, including the two kings who fought at the Boyne and men such as Tyrconnell, Ginkel, Kirke and Solms. Above them all tower the names of Marlborough and Sarsfield, while the talent of the duke of Berwick begins to flower during the war. The author challenges some of the accepted myths of the Williamite war, including those surrounding the siege of Derry, and he also analyses why the final victory went to the Williamites rather than to the Jacobites, concluding that the reasons were entirely military and political rather that as a result of any moral superiority of the victors.
Dublin's Literary Pubs by Peter Costello (Paperback; 5.99 IRP / 8.99 USD) [Add To Basket]
For generations Dublin's pubs have been one of the city's treasures. They are at the heart of its social life, as central to the city as cafes are to Paris - a home from home for Dublin's famous writers. On this wonderful tour through the streets of Dublin you'll learn about the life and customs of pub life, meet the wits and the characters, and revel in the uniquely Irish atmosphere. With a little literature, some history, and an abundance of craic, this very entertaining volume allows the reader to follow the occasionally stumbling footsteps of Irish literary legends such as Brendan Behan and Patrick Kavanagh as well as fictional creations such as Leopold Bloom and the Ginger Man.
Manus O'Connell's Life of Colum Cille edited by Brian Lacey (Paperback; 9.95 IRP / 15.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
From c.1510 Maghnus O Domhnaill was a leading political figure in the north-west of Ireland. Between 1537 and 1555 he was chieftain of Tir Conaill. In 1532 he completed the greatest cultural achievement of his life, the composition of the Beatha Colaim Chille or 'Life' of the sixth-century monastic who Manus claimed as his 'high saint and kinsman in blood'. The 'Life' is an extraordinary work, running to nearly 100,000 words of verse and prose, written, for the most part, in clear, elegant Irish. It is a compendium of all that we known or more correctly believed about Colum Cille in Manus' day. Like the life of Manus himself, the Beatha Colaim Chille is being recognized increasingly as an example of the extension to Gaelic Ireland of Renaissance ideas and standards. Although the Beatha is not our best source for reconstructing the life of Colum Cille, it does provide an insight into the beliefs, pratices and cultural institutions of Gaelic Ireland in the early part of the 16th century, prior to the onset of the Reformation and the Tudor conquest.
A Wexford Childhood: 1915-1930 by Mary Finn (Paperback; 5.95 IRP / 9.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
This book is a moving and highly evocative account of an idyllic childhood spent in rural Ireland during the years between the two World Wars. With rare power and beauty, the author succeeds in capturing what it was like to be young when farming and seafaring were still largely self-sufficient, mutually supportive community endeavours based on sound ecological principles. Viewed through the eyes of a bright and unusually perceptive child, Mary Finn's often poignant yet humorous book resonates with memorable descriptions of the rich assortment of characters who once populated her world, as well as the colourful rituals and seasonal rhythms of Irish country life.
Writing Ulster Issue 5: American & Ulster: A Cultural Correspondence edited by Bill Lazenblatt (Paperback; 5.95 IRP / 9.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
This issue of Writing Ulster explores the cultural connections between Ulster and America. It contains articles by Americans about Ulster, or about Ireland in general, as well as articles by Ulster folk about America. From Oxford, Mississippi, James Mullan provides a novelist's perspective on Irish immigrant experience, whole Matt McKee of Larne, County Antrim, looks somewhat sceptically at claims that Davy Crockett was of Ulster extraction. Frank Ormsby conjures images of those 'Yanks' who were billeted here during the war, on one of their nostalgic return visits, while Douglas Carson muses on the possibility that John Wayne might have ended up as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland! Sophie King evokes memories of American film and its significance to her girlhood in Belfast, and Jenny Cornell analyses representations of the Troubles and television drama, while her short story set in Belfast points to a more positive future. Music as a medium of cultural interaction does not go unnoticed, with essays on fiddle-playing by Hilary Bracefield and on Jazz influences on his own work by celebrated Ulster poet Michael Longley. Maureen Murphy details the lives of Irish servant girls in America as recorded in the literature of the 19th century, while Paul Muldoon reflects on his life in Hopewell, with a New Englandly haiku. The Americanisation of Ulster is observed in Lee Wright's discussion of design features in the province, while Jerushia McCormack looks more sceptically at the same process as it affects Irish life in general. The book also contains new poetry from: Fred Johnstone, Richard Godden, Robert Graecen, Danny Barbare, and Bev Braune.
New in Paperback This Week:
The Untouchable by John Banville (Paperback; 6.00 IRP / 9.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
John Banville, born in Wexford in 1945, is one of Ireland's finest writers - and this is perhaps his finest novel. It is engrossing and exquisitely written. One critic stated that Banville is the 'most intelligent and stylish novelist currently working in English.' It tells the story of Victor Maskell, a former spy who has been betrayed. After the announcement in the British House of Commons and the hasty revelations of his double life of wartime espionage, his disgrace is public, his knighthood revoked, and his position as curator of the Queen's pictures terminated. This book explores Maskell's life in an attempt to answer the questions: For whom has he been sacrificed? To what has he sacrificed his life?
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