Read Ireland Book Review
Issue 179
Gallows Speeches from Eighteenth-Century Ireland by James Kelly
Hardback; 20.00 IEP / 22.50 USD / 17.00 UK / 25.40 EURO; Four Courts Press, 288 pages [Add To Basket]This book collects the 'gallows speeches' of over 100 offenders from late 17th and early 18th century Ireland. In these, a series of fascinating and ill-documented life histories emerge from an under-explored era in Irish history. They cover the full range of ages, social class and crimes committed. This collection presents the texts of those speeches that survive in the holdings of the main research libraries in Ireland, Great Britain and the United States.
Four Roads to Dublin: A History of Rathmines, Ranelagh, and Leeson Street by Deirdre Kelly
Paperback; 14.99 IEP / 17.50 USD / 12.50 UK / 19.10 EURO; O'Brien Press, 255 pages, with b/w photos throughout [Add To Basket]In ancient times, four roads led into Dublin from the southwest, and what is now Rathmines and Ranelagh was then a dangerous no-man's land between the walled city and the Wicklow Mountains. Fear of the 'mountain enemy' inhibited settlement until the eighteenth century when the tiny villages of Rathmines, Cullenswood and Ranelagh began to develop. Intense growth over the following century created on of the most exciting and attractive areas in Dublin. Famous writers and artists, including James Joyce, Sarah Purser, Jack Yeats, Katherine Tynan, Frank O'Connor and Walter Osborne lived there. This book describes the area - streets, buildings, people and its part in Irish history.
West Cork: A Sort of History, Like … by Tony Brehony
Paperback; 9.95 IEP / 11.50 IEP / 8.50 UK / 12.70 EURO; AB Books, 154 pages [Add To Basket]Journalist, short-story writer and broadcaster Tony Brehony looks back down through the swirling mists of history, fable, myth and tale which all makes up the glorious heritage of his native West Cork. In this book, which he himself hesitates to call a history, he takes the reader back on a fascinating tour of the principal towns and villages of West Cork recalling many forgotten incidents and recording little known anecdotes about their origins, growth and development.
The Grand Tour of Kerry compiled by Penelope Durrell and Cornelius Kelly
Paperback; 9.95 IEP / 11.50 IEP / 8.50 UK / 12.70 EURO; Cailleach Books, 230 pages, with b/w illustrations throughout [Add To Basket]This book is County Kerry, Ireland, as seen through the eyes of over sixty visitors. For centuries, travellers have been visiting County Kerry and writing about its legendary beauties. This anthology brings together their impressions - from Giraldus Cambrensis in the 12th century to Robert Mitchum nearly 800 years later. In between, William Wordsworth, George Bernard Shaw, Kate O'Brien, Brendan Behan, J.P. Donleavy, and numerous others take to the highways and byways of the Kingdom. They regale the reader with their adventures, share their impressions of the area, and provide a vivid picture of Kerry and its inhabitants. Illustrated with historical photographs, etchings and portraits, this book is both a journey through the county and a trip back in time.
The Irish in Australia: 1788 to the Present by Patrick O'Farrell
Paperback; 17.50 IEP / 20.00 USD / 16.00 UK / 22.25 EURO; Cork University Press, 363 pages, b/w photos [Add To Basket]Originally published in 1986 in Australia, this is a new and revised edition of a highly successful and influential book. It was awarded both the New South Wales Premier's Award for Non-Fiction and the Ernest Scott Prize for Australian History. Since the first fleet of 1788, the Irish have been going to Australia. They were the beginning of a central, colourful and profoundly influential element in Australia's evolution into a nation different and separate from Britain. Commencing with Irish convicts, feared and despised, following free Irish immigrants and settlers into the often hostile texture of colonial life, they came to see themselves as patriotic Australians, integrating into all levels and facets of national life and character, many occupying the highest positions in the land in government, law and commerce. This edition features an important revised final chapter, which deals with the changing relationship between Australians, new Irish and Irish Australians. In examining these changes, the author considers the effect of major government initiatives associated with the policies of multiculturalism introduced in Australia from the 1970s.
The Celtic Empire by Peter Berresford Ellis
Paperback; 11.20 IEP / 13.50 USD / 10.00 UK / 14.40 EURO; Robson, 246 pages, b/w photo insert [Add To Basket]Subtitle: The First Millennium of Celtic History, 1000 BC - AD 51. The Celts were the first European people north of the Alps to emerge into recorded history. Their civilization, now 3000 years old and confined to the islands and peninsulas of north-west Europe, may soon disappear for ever. In this book, a classic originally published in 1990, the author examines the first millennium of Celtic history up until the time of Christ. During this period, the Celts dominated the ancient world - from Ireland in the west to Turkey in the east, from Belgium in the north, south to Spain and Italy, where they sacked Rome itself in 390 BC. This was the 'Celtic Empire.' But it was an empire without an emperor or central government, made up instead of independent tribes who moved across Europe, imposing their distinctive culture and social values on other peoples. The Celts are surrounded by an aura of romance. They have been described as a race of ancient mystics and the genius of their artistic craftsmanship has been marvelled at for centuries - yet they have been reviled for their barbarism and ferocity. In this lucid and expert account, the author accords the Celts their proper place in the history of ancient Europe.
Children of Belfast: Reclaiming Their Place Among the Stones by Tom Quinn Kumpf
Paperback; 17.50 IEP / 20.00 USD / 16.00 UK / 22.30 EURO; Devenish Press, 102 pages, b/w photos throughout [Add To Basket]This book, with heartfelt prose and powerful photos, reveals the soul of the children of Belfast coming of age during the Troubles. Through his perceptive photography, the author has got under the skin of Ireland and its people, north and south. He combines an awareness of the issues in Northern Ireland with an understanding of their effect on its children.
Captain Fantastic: Roy Keane the Biography by Stafford Hildred and Tim Ewbank
Paperback; 9.80 IEP / 11.50 USD / 8.50 UK / 12.40 EURO; John Blake Publishing, 382 pages, with two colour photo inserts [Add To Basket]This book is the story of Roy Keane, the inspirational captain of the richest football club in the world - Manchester United - and captain of the Republic of Ireland's national team. He is one of very few players in the modern game whose skill can turn the most desperate game around in seconds. His successes, however, have not been achieved without controversy and incident. Keane is famed for his determination and aggression on the pitch but these characteristics have meant that he has occasionally hit the headlines for the wrong reasons. In this revealing biography, the authors show just what makes one of the world's finest football players tick. They speak to his family, friends and colleagues, and uncover the inside story of the football, the big money, and the men who make it happen.
Racism and the Politics of Culture: Irish Travellers by Jane Helleiner
Hardback; 42.00 IEP / 50.00 USD / 35.00 UK / 52.50 EURO; University Toronto Press, 275 pages [Add To Basket]The Irish travelling people constitute of gypsy-like minority population in Ireland that has been a long-standing target of racism and assimilative state settlement policies. Using archival and ethnographic research, the author's study documents anti-Traveller racism in Ireland and explores the ongoing realities of Traveller life. Through analyses of constructions of Traveller origins, local government records, the provincial press, and debates of the Irish parliament, a history of local and national anti-Traveller discourse and practice in the independent Irish state is revealed and linked to the legitimation and reproduction of other social inequalities, including those of class, gender, and generation. The author research, conducted in the course of long-term residence in a Traveller camp, supports her historical analysis with an examination of how travelling, work, gender, and childhood become sites for the production and reproduction of contemporary Traveller collective identity and culture even as they are shaped by oppressive forces of racism. These phenomena are located within political struggles at local, national and European levels.
Thicker Than Water: Irish Stories edited by Gordon Snell
Paperback; 8.50 IEP / 10.00 USD / 7.00 UK / 10.85 EURO; Orion, 208 pages. [Add To Basket]This anthology contains a kaleidoscope of stories about coming of age in Ireland and America, by twelve Irish and Irish-American writers who in their different ways succeed brilliantly in conveying the universal longing of the young to grow up, to find love, and to start a new life as an adult. Freshly commissioned by Gordon Snell, these memorable stories range from the uproariously funny to the macabre, from the gently humorous to the tragic, and from the reflective to the bittersweet. They are told in powerfully individual voices by Vincent Banville, Maeve Binchy, Marita Conlon-McKenna, June Considine, Shane Connaughton, Peter Cunningham, Ita Daly, Emma Donoghue, Tony Hickey, Chris Lynch, Helena Mulkerns, and Jenny Roche.
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