Read Ireland Book Review
Issue 258
Sex in the City: The Prostitution Racket in Ireland by Paul Reynolds
Paperback; 11.00 Euro / 12.50 USD / 8.00 UK; 324 pages
This book reveals how the organised prostitution rackets work in Ireland. It does so through the lives and activities of the main people involved. It maps the origins and development of their enterprises and charts the growth of their multi-million Euro business. It exposes the men and women at the top. It explains the systems they use to run their brothels and prostitutes and the methods they use to avoid prosecution.
The book highlights the type of people the pimps employed and the individuals who availed of their services and supported their criminal operations. The men and women come from all walks of life and social classes. Wealthy, middle- and upper-class professionals such as doctors, lawyers, businessmen and priests all paid to have sex with prostitutes in the brothels, in their offices, and in their own homes. The book also shines a light on the darker side of the prostitution business - the disturbing demand in Irish society for sex with young teenagers and children. It shows that those seeking sex with children contact brothels and prostitutes. A 14-year-old child prostitute was found in one of the brothels. Hundreds of men paid to have sex with her. In 1997, 57 boys and girls were found working as prostitutes. This book outlines in forensic detail the financial affairs of Dublin's biggest pimps and tells the full story of the prostitution business in Ireland.
Meeting the Other Crowd: The Fairy Stories of Hidden Ireland by Eddie Lenihan
Trade Paperback; 15.00 Euro / 17.50 USD / 11.00 UK; 330 pages [Add To Basket]
This book presents a definitive collection of stories of the mysterious fairies of Ireland, creatures who by turn afflict, enlighten and instruct those who cross their paths. It is a book about the hidden Ireland, a land of mysterious taboos, dangers, otherworldly abductions, enchantments and much more. In this selection, Lenihan opens the reader's eyes to this world with the passion and bluntness of a great storyteller and in doing so, he provides one of the finest collections of Irish folklore in modern times.
Fairy Stories of Oscar Wilde illustrated by Isabelle Brent
Hardback; 15.00 Euro / 17.50 USD / 11.00 UK; 140 pages, with full colour illustrations throughout
Oscar Wilde's fairy tales were, he said, 'meant partly for children, and partly for those who have kept the childlike faculties of wonder and joy.' Beautiful, tender and moving, they are classics of the imagination. The tales include 'The Happy Prince', 'The Selfish Giant', 'The Remarkable Rocket', and 'The Fisherman and his Soul'. In this collection, which contains all of Wilde's fairy tales, his rich prose is matched with the equally sumptuous, intricate illustrations of the artist, Isabelle Brent. These are stories to treasure.
Magical Tales of Ireland compiled by Madeleine Nicklin
Hardback; 20.00 Euro / 23.50 USD / 15.00 UK; 120 pages, with full colour illustrations throughout [Add To Basket]
Here are ten brand new stories, full of magic, mystery and wonder, from some of Ireland's most acclaimed writers. An Irish backdrop and an element of magic was the brief given to the writers, and the result is as brilliantly diverse as the authors themselves. From Roddy Doyle's tender story of a little girl's longing to find the spirit of the mother she never knew, and Marita Conlon-McKenna's mystical tale of a child who loses and finds her voice, to Malachy Doyle's ghostly story of midnight football and Paul Muldoon's wacky narrative poem of the back-to-front Reverse Flannery - here is a collection to enchant, amuse and inspire. Some of Ireland's most gifted artists, including Niamh Sharkey, Pauline Bewick, P.J. Lynch and Brian Gallagher, bring their own magic in the illustrations throughout.
More Than a Game: Selected Sporting Essays by Con Houlihan
Paperback; 15.00 Euro / 17.50 USD / 10.00 UK; 302 pages
Con Houlihan is one of Ireland's finest sports writers. Over a lengthy career, he has covered many of the greatest Irish and international sporting events, from classic Gaelic football and hurling finals to the soccer and rugby World Cups, the Olympics and memorable race meetings at home and abroad. He has also written about sport's biggest stars, from George Best to Muhammad Ali. The book gathers together the finest examples of his sports journalism from themid-1970s to the present day.
Sir Charles Domvile and his Shankill Estate, County Dublin, 1857-1871 by Rob Goodbody
Paperback; 10.00 Euro / 12.00 USD / 7.00; 64 pages [Add To Basket]
Sir Charles Domville inherited his family's title and estates in 1857, becoming one of the wealthiest commoners in Ireland. The property included the lands of Shankill and Rathmichael, Co. Dublin, which were occupied by 95 families. Within ten years, 85 of these had gone - many of them evicted, others forced out by other means. Domville's aim had been to make these lands more profitable, but he achieved very little and was ultimately declared bankrupt. This book examines events to establish how Sir Charles managed to turn a promising beginning into a total failure, both for himself and for the population of Shankill and Rathmichael in South County Dublin. Maynooth Studies in Local History Series
Christopher Dillon Bellew and his Galway estates, 1763-1826 by Joe Clarke
Paperback; 10.00 Euro / 12.00 USD / 7.00; 64 pages [Add To Basket]
Christopher Dillon Bellew was an 'improving' Catholic proprietor who sought to mould a model community on the estate around his County Galway mansion. He shared the paternalism of those who hold a monopoly on power and also think they have a monopoly on wisdom. Despite some success, Bellew's grandiose plans to create a Utopian rural idyll were thwarted as his tenants gradually became less amenable to participation in what their landlord deemed an 'experiment'. A matrix of social and economic forces - including Ireland's spectacular population expansion, a post-war downturn in agriculture after 1815, relaxation of the Penal Laws and an awakening to European revolutionary ideals - formed the backdrop to the story told in this book. The manner of local protest testified to growing militancy among the rural population: the classic 'food riot' of July 1783 saw hungry tenants attack the landlord's stacks of corn; agrarian discontent increased to the point of fostering ruthless violence of Connacht Ribbonism in the 1820s. This book portrays the Mount Bellewestate as a microcosm of a deferential world that crumble, despite the landlord's attempts to preserve the old order. Maynooth Studies in Local History Series
Headford, County Galway, 1775-1901 by Gerardine Candon
Paperback; 10.00 Euro / 12.00 USD / 7.00; 64 pages [Add To Basket]
Headford, a small market town, was in the possession of the St George family between 1775 and 1892. This book examines how the daily lives of the residents of the town were transformed during that period, mirroring and sometimes deviating from the trends on the national stage. It explores the consequences of devastating famine and disease, and how changes in demography, in the political process and in education affected the daily lives of ordinary people. It also investigates the social, political and economic impact of the St. Georges on the town. Maynooth Studies in Local History Series
A Galway Landlord during the Great Famine: Ulick John de Burgh, First Marquisof Clanricarde by John Joseph Conwell
Paperback; 10.00 Euro / 12.00 USD / 7.00; 64 pages [Add To Basket]
Ulick John de Burgh (1802-1874), 1st Marquis and 14th Earl of Clanricarde, was a major Irish landed magnate with a seat at Portumna in east Galway. He was one of three Irish landowners to serve in Lord John Russell's cabinet (1846-52). This coincided with the period of the Great Famine in Ireland. Focusing particularly on Clanricarde, this book examines how major Irish landlords responded to that great humanitarian disaster. It shows that they had little difficulty in putting their personal property interests before those of their tenants. They were not heartless, but they failed to accept that the cure for Ireland's ills would require government intervention at the expense of their property. This book attempts to reconcile Clanricarde's manifest humanitarian instincts with his inability to transcend his own position of privilege. Maynooth Studies in Local History Series
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