Read Ireland Book News - Issue 76
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War and Peace in Northern Ireland by Eamonn McCann (Paperback; 9.99 IRP / 15.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
Mention this author's name anywhere in Ireland, north or south, and most people will require no further introduction. Whether expressing his views inprint, on television, or from the back of a truck, his unmistakable blend of wit, wisdom and fiercely held socialist principles, has made him one of the most distinctive and respected figures on the political landscape. Whether one agrees or disagrees with him, his is an original voice that simply cannot be ignored. In 1987, having long since established himself as a formidable activist and commentator, he began contributing a regular column to the Dublin-based magazine, Hot Press, from his hometown of Derry. Titles 'As Seen From Above', the fortnightly column covered a broad canvas - from religion and politics to music and sport - but, inevitibly, focused primarily on the turbulent situation in Northern Ireland. Referring back to the start of 'the Troubles' and bookended by the landmark atrocities of Bloody Sunday and Omagh, this collection bring together the best of those columns to provide a passionate, provocative, sometimes witty and always scrupulously non-sectarian perspective on the North through changing times of terrible war and fragile peace. Published to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Civil Rights movement - in which the author played a prominent part - this book is essential reading for anyone interested in one of the major stories of our time.
Dis/Agreeing Ireland: Contexts, Obstacles, Hopes edited by James Anderson and James Goodman (Paperback; 16.50 IRP / 24.50 USD) [Add To Basket]
The 1995 Framework Document and the 1998 Belfast Agreement, and the new Belfast Assembly marked significant progress in the Northern Ireland conflict. But, while broadly welcomed, they swiftly became the new terrain for old disagreements. This book sets the conflict in its historical and contemporary contexts and argues that it is only through an Ireland-wide focus on other 'disagreements' - on issues of class, gender and other transnational concerns - that 'agreement' can be reached on the national conflict. Academics and activists from the North and South of Ireland, the Americas, Britain and Australia - Protestant and Catholic and neither, Nationalist and Unionist and neither - provide a comprehensive and wide-ranging collection of perspectives on the contexts of the conflict, the obstacles to a genuine settlement, and the hopes of constructing one. This book is a much-needed text on the politics of reconciliation in Ireland.
Irish Historical Documents since 1800 edited by Alan O'Day and John Stevenson (Paperback; 13.99 IRP / 22.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
This book reproduces the texts of the most notable documents and speeches in the course of Irish history from 1800 to the present day. Among the documents included are the Ulster Solemn League and Covenant of 1912; the Easter Proclamation of 1916; the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1922; the Manifesto of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association of 1968; and the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985. In addition to these major texts, the book also contains material such as the Fenian Proclamation of 1867; letters from lords lieutenant and other government officials in the 19th century and contemporary documents from the Famine which tell graphically of the human and social cost of that huge tragedy. This book is an essential reference tool for all student and researchers of modern Irish history.
Brendan Behan:A Life by Michael O'Sullivan (Paperback; 9.99 IRP / 15.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
Brendan Behan's unique, ebullient and sometimes angry voice was shaped in the Dublin tenement slums of his childhood, dominated by the left-wing republicanism of his family. By the age of 16, he was arrested for the possession of bomb-making equipment and sent to a British Borstal. Much of his early life was spent in and out of jail, a period which further helped shape his literary genius. Today his stature as a celebrated writer and wit, rebel and rake has been firmly established. 'God-branded' is how his London publisher described Behan's tempestuous personality. Yet, posterity tends to focus only on the hackneyed image of the archetypal Irishman and spectacular drunk. This biography sensitively explores the controversial subject of Behan's homosexual leanings and his extraordinary relationship with his wife Beatrice. It traces the rise and fall of Behan and his tragic end at the age of 41. This is an extraordinary exploration of the man behind the myth.
The Brothers Behan by Brian Behan with Aubrey Dillon-Malone (Paperback; 9.99 IRP / 15.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
Since Brendan Behan died, a lot of stories have grown up about him, maybe too many. Some of these are true, some have been juiced up, and some are mythical. They've been tailored to fit the man that the tellers think he was. This book, written with the active participation of one of the people who Brendan Behan best - his brother Brian - aims to cut through the mythology and get at the real Brendan Behan. He wrote with a passion and a unique insight into Dublin life, and into life in general, and his best works - including Borstal Boy and The Quare Fellow - are currently enjoying a renaissance of sorts. This book analyses Behan through his work and through his activities, and in particular through his relationship with his brother, and is the first truly accurate, authentic portrayal of this famous Irish writer, who died well before his time, and who left the literary world the poorer for his passing.
Technical Virgins by Elaine Crowley (Paperback; 6.99 IRP / 9.99 USD) [Add To Basket]
In her best-selling first volume of autobiography, Cowslips and Chainies, Elaine Crowley remembered her childhood in 1930 Dublin with great warmth and poignancy. In this delightful sequel she recalls her years as a young woman serving in the British Army ATS after the Second World War. This is a memoir of leaving disease-ridden Dublin for a world she imagined to be Tir na nOg of the young and healthy; of being a 'Paddy' in England; and of passionate friendships and romances. With her inimitable novelist's eye for detail, she weaves a fascinating tapestry of her years as a 'technical virgin', coloured by vivid descriptions of army rations (inedible, fashion, Maindenform bras, the miseries of the ATS uniform), social trends and sexual mores.
Red-Headed Rebel: Susan L. Mitchell - Poet and Mystic of the Irish Cultural Renaissance by Hilary Pyle (Paperback; 12.50 IRP / 18.99 USD) [Add To Basket]
The Titan-haired beauty, Susan L. Mitchell, described by W.B. Yeats as 'the nearest approach they have to a true poet', was friend of Lily Yeats, Seamus O'Sullivan and Constance Markiewicz. Her name was linked in Dublin society with that of painter and mystic, AE. Originally from Carrick-on-Shannon and raised by her Unionist aunts in Dublin, she rebelled against privileged society and Protestant Church in which she was reared. By a trick of fate she exchanged life as a gentlewoman in provincial Birr for that of journalist on Plunkett's far-sighted publications, The Irish Homestead and The Irish Statesman, at a time when Home Rule was imminent. Objective despite her republican views, contemporary politics and the literary world were lampooned by her at enthusiastic gathering of statesmen and fellow writers. Her life preceding her Republican renaissance, one of privilege and stability, is now revealed through previously unpublished correspondence and papers. Dublin in the tumultuous years from Easter week 1916, the signing of the Treaty and the Civil War, is seen through her eyes. Her satirical commentary, which cuts close to the bone, provides essential reading for a background to the present situation in Northern Ireland.
Joan Denise Moriarty: Founder of Irish National Ballet edited by Ruth Fleishmann (Paperback; 12.99 IRP / 18.99 USD) [Add To Basket]
Joan Denise Moriarty, founder of Irish National Ballet, made it possible for thousands of young people to receive dance training, offering the prospect of a professional career in Ireland for the most talented. Moriarty choreographed just over 100 original works, drawing on themes from Irish mythology and legend, fusing traditional dance forms with ballet. Her aim was to create an original Irish form of this European art. As the heart of this book is the contribution of Aloys Fleischmann, the musician and composer who was involved in the Cork Ballet from the first performance in 1947, and who traced the development of the professional companies up to 1985, the end of Moriarty's directorship of the Irish National Ballet. His account is based on his personal recollections and extensive collection of documents. Among the other contributors to this book are professional dancers, designers, teachers, family and friends who describe the excitement and the colour of the world opened up for them by Moriarty.
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