Read Ireland Book Review
Issue 162
Galloway Street: Growing Up Irish in Scotland by John Boyle
Paperback; 9.99 IEP / 13.50 USD / 8.50 UK; 224 pages; Doubleday. [Add To Basket]John Boyle was born and raised in Scotland but he could never feel Scottish. His parents were poor immigrants from the west of Ireland who came to Scotland to find work and eventually settled in Paisley, where John was the first of six children. This book beautifully captures the poverty and the rough humour of the Boyle family's life in the Paisley tenements, the songs and stories of their Irish Catholic relatives and the often uneasy relationships with their Scottish Protestant neighbours. It also shows how John is marked at the age of ten by an extended stay with his spinster aunt on the remote island of Achill, as he begins to understand the life his parents left behind. This is a book about exile and belonging, about the poignancy of growing up Irish in Scotland, so close to the place your mother still calls home. It is a truthful, funny and moving evocation of a unique place and time, experienced through the eyes of a child.
Special Relationships: Britain, Ireland and the Northern Ireland Problem by Paul Arthur
Paperback; 23.80 IEP / 30.00 USD / 18.99 UK; 334 pages; Blackstaff [Add To Basket]Although recent events are testing its durability, the Good Friday Agreement on 1998 has been hailed as a triumph of Anglo-Irish diplomacy. But why did it take thirty years of intense conflict to reach an understanding of the problem before a solution could be implemented? In this ground-breaking book, centuries-old misperceptions between the two islands are scrutinized and recent seismic shifts examined, including the changing nature of Irish nationalism and the role of Irish-America in both shaping and resolving the conflict. This is a wise and accessible study by a distinguished observer, persuasively demonstrating how even the most intractable conflicts can be made more malleable.
Unionist Politics and the Politics of Unionism Since the Anglo-Irish Agreement by Feargal Cochrane
Paperback; 17.95 IEP / 22.50 USD / 15.00 UK; 445 pages; Cork University Press [Add To Basket]This book is a revised edition of the first and still most comprehensive study of unionist politics since the Anglo-Irish Agreement and sets out to explain the dynamics which underpin contemporary unionist political behaviour. An understanding of the mindset, fears, objectives of the largest political community in Northern Ireland is crucial to any attempt to address and resolve the political conflict in the region. The book concentrates on the period preceding the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 15 November 1985 through to the forum elections and multi-party talks of July 1996. This revised edition contains a new chapter that examines divisions within unionist politics during the negotiations that led to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. It looks in detail at David Trimble's leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party and the difficulties he has faced in selling the GFA within his party and within the wider unionist electorate.
Irish Writing in the Twentieth Century: A Reader edited by David Pierce
Paperback; 25.00 IEP / 31.50 USD / 20.00 UK; 1351 pages; Cork University Press [Add To Basket]This reader offer a comprehensive and pleasurable introduction to modern Irish literature in a single volume. It contains over 400 pieces, including letters, diaries, newspaper and journal articles, songs, poems, critical essays, literary profiles, entire plays and short stories as well as extracts from novels and other longer works. Texts which until now have been out of print or difficult to locate are made easily accessible in this book. Arranged chronologically by decade, from the 1890s to the 1990s, each decade is divided into two different types of writing: critical/documentary and imaginative writing, and is accompanied by a headnote which situates it thematically and chronologically. The book is also structured for thematic study by listing all the pieces included under a series of topic headings. The wide range of material encompasses the writings of well-known figures in the Irish canon and neglected writers alike.
Historic Pubs of Dublin by Aubrey Malone
Paperback; 11.99 IEP / 14.50 USD / 10.00 UK ; New Island Books; 224 pages, with colour photos throughout [Add To Basket]Dublin's pubs are its defining experience as the most celebrated drinking city in the world. Apart from being watering-holes, many were also once grocers, borders, trading and meeting places. Others are the very stage on which the drama of Irish history have been played out. The story of Dublin's pubs forms a social history of the city itself with a cast of hundreds. Not just the famous either - Daniel O'Connell, Charles Parnell, Michael Collins, James Joyce, Flann O'Brien, Brendan Behan - but the unsung heroes of Dublin drinking culture too: legendary brewers, barmen, publicans and drinkers. The author of this book takes the reader on an easy-to-follow tour of the 60 finest historic bars Dublin city has to offer. With sections on the city centre, Stephens Green, Temple Bar, North and South-side Dublin and further afield, it is a practical guide for the visitor and Dubliner alike. There are maps and specially-commissioned photography from Dublin-based photographer Trevor Hart to bring the pubs gloriously to life.
Guide to Irish Gardens by Shirley Lanigan
Paperback; 14.99 IEP / 17.50 USD / 11.50 UK; O'Brien Press; 425 pages, with colour insert [Add To Basket]This book is the most comprehensive guide ever to the gardens of Ireland. From tiny town gardens to the walled gardens and sprawling acres of historic country houses, the author takes the reader into every county of Ireland on a tour of over 300 gardens which are open to the public. The gardeners share the secrets of their success and give ideas for colour combination, low-maintenance plants, unusual planting schemes, even for slug-control ducks! Explore the gardens' history, design, plant types and unusual features; locations - from sub-tropical to seaside, wind-battered, boggy and rock-strewn; perfect lawns, topiarised hedges, bluebell woods, sculpture trails, sensory gardens and potagers; designs - from the minimalist to glorious riots of colour and scent. Whether you are an avid garden visitor or an enthusiastic gardener in search of inspiration, this is the book for you.
The Irish Act of Union by Patrick Geoghegan
Paperback; 13.50 IEP / 17.50 USD / 10.50 UK; 290 pages [Add To Basket]The union of 1800-1801 created a single United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It lasted until the Treaty of 1922 gave birth to what is now the Republic of Ireland; it continues to obtain Northern Ireland. The author's survey examines the passing of the Act of Union in greater detail than ever before, drawing on newly discovered secret service papers in the Public Record Office in London. These papers settle the long-running controversy about government bribery and the passing of the Act of Union. Geoghegan's analysis shows beyond a doubt that there was considerable bribery involved. He also connects the passing of the Act of Union to the collapse of William Pitt's ministry in 1801. This is a connection never made before: it gives a depth and context to this book that makes it stand apart.
Reading the Irish Landscape by Frank Mitchell and Michael Ryan
Paperback; 20.00 IEP / 25.00 USD / 17.50 UK; Town House; 392 pages, with b/w photos [Add To Basket]This is the third revision of this seminal work, first published in 1986. Co-authored by the original author Frank Mitchell and now with Michael Ryan, the result is a stunning collaboration between masters giving all the elements of the original book, modified, updated and further enhanced by the inclusion of a new narrative of Irish archaeology from the Stone Age to the Norman Invasion. Together they have successfully undertaken the daunting task of giving in one book the story of the shaping of the land from the beginning of time until the present, by all the varying forces of nature, sea, climate, man and machine. The story takes in the shaping of the crust, the movement of glaciers, the first men and their primitive agriculture, the rise of the monasteries of the Early Christians and the castles of conquest, the devastation of war, urban growth, modern agriculture and afforestation, all set against the backdrop of the landscape, arguably one of Ireland's most precious resources.
Gardens of Ireland: A Touring Guide to Over 100 of the Best Gardens by Terence Reeves-Smith
Paperback; 21.00 IEP / 26.50 USD / 17.50 UK; 144 pages, with colour photos; Mitchell Beazley [Add To Basket]This book is for everyone who enjoys visiting and touring gardens. In this book the author explores over 100 of the most beautiful Irish gardens, highlighting their most striking features and revealing charming aspects that will delight every gardener. From the imposing formal terraces of Powerscourt near Dublin to the mixed planting of Glenveagh Castle's pleasure garden set in the wild Donegal landscape, this guide reveals breathtaking sights awaiting travellers in Ireland. The book also includes at-a-glance symbols which denote garden features and provide key facts for the visitor; maps which who the position of every garden; highlights of nearby cultural sights of interest; and exquisitely drawn three-dimensional garden plans.
Character Building: A Guide for Parents and Teachers by David Isaacs
Paperback; 11.99 IEP / 14.50 USD / 10.00 UK; 273 pages; Four Courts Press [Add To Basket]In this book the author, a prominent Irish educationalist, offers ideas and suggestions on how parents and teachers can help children's all-round development. The emphasis is on character building, approached from the viewpoiint of moral habits. Professor Isaacs takes twenty-four virtues and discusses how the child - at different ages - can be encouraged to be obedient, industrious, sincere, prudent, generous, optimistic, sociable and so on.
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