Read Ireland Book Reviews
Issue 414 - 17/18 May 2008
New Irish History
Mapping Meath in the Early 19th Century by Arnold Horner
Large Format Hardback; 36 Euro / 48 USD / 24 UK;
This large-format book introduces the six-sheet map of County Meath made by the prolific early nineteenth-century surveyor and map-maker, William Larkin. Compiled for the County Meath grand jury, this map was started sometime around 1804 and was mainly surveyed during 1809–12. The version for printing was subsequently engraved in London, being finally published by the Dublin map-seller William Allen in 1817. By then the various stages of production, from survey through compilation and engraving to printing, had cost the county well over £2,000.
When pasted together, the six printed sheets produce an image measuring around 2,360mm by 1,600mm, i.e. a little under eight feet wide by a little over five feet high. The publisher, William Allen, assembled such a composite map for display in the grand jury rooms in Trim. It was no doubt used intensively by the grand jurors as they reviewed the various presentments made to them for financial assistance towards roads maintenance and other area-specific development projects.
At the time of its publication, the map displayed the county in unprecedented detail. Produced a generation before the great six-inches-to-one-mile maps of the Ordnance Survey were completed, and appearing some 30 years before the Great Famine of the 1840s, this map offers a unique record of the place-names, roads, settlements and landscape of the early nineteenth century. As such, it has an exceptional value for local studies.
Although sold both as sheets and in a folded format, the original printed map is not now widely available. In 1989, however, a reduced-scale reproduction was printed in two sheets by Phoenix Maps. This important initiative put Larkin’s work before the modern reader. The intention of the present version is to further enhance access to Larkin’s work by using modern imaging techniques to provide a high-definition presentation. An extended commentary places Larkin’s Meath work within the broader settings of both the early nineteenth-century county and the history of Irish maps.
This book aims to present Larkin’s curiously little-known map to a wider public and to set it in its wider cartographic, historical and geographical contexts. To this end the opportunity has been taken to include a range of images from other relevant map records. It is very much hoped that the present publication will help to make these important resources better known, and that both they and it will be a stimulus to the many local historians and others who are curious about, and value, the history and environmental heritage of County Meath.
Chief O’Neill’s Sketchy Recollections of an Eventful Life in Chicago by Francis O’Neill
Hardback; 25 Euro / 37 USD / 19 UK; 302 pages [Add To Basket]
Francis O'Neill left Ireland in 1865. After five years traveling the world as a sailor, he and his family settled in Chicago just shortly before the Great Fire of 1871. As O'Neill looked back on his life, writing in Chicago at the age of 83, he could give first-hand accounts of the Pullman strike of 1894, the railway strike of 1903, and the packinghouse strike of 1904. He could also reflect on the corruption that kept him subject to powerful aldermen who prevented his advance as a member of the Chicago Police Department. Despite these obstacles, O'Neill eventually rose to be chief of police – a position from which he could enact much-needed civil service reform. In addition to his professional success, O'Neill is also remembered and beloved for his hobby, preserving traditional Irish music. O'Neill’s story brings to life the challenges involved in succeeding in a new land, providing for his family, and integrating into a new culture.
"This fascinating memoir of the eventful life of a nineteenth-century Irish immigrant is dense with detail about Francis O'Neill's career as a sailor, a policeman, and a scholar of Irish music. O'Neill provides valuable insights into the two very different and equally remarkable phases of his life: the rise from the ranks to the position of General Superintendent of Chicago Police, and the passion for Irish history and traditional music that drove him to preserve hundreds of tunes for future generations." Dr Charles Fanning, director of Irish studies, Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
The Paper Wall: Newspapers and Propaganda in Ireland, 1919-1921 by Ian Kenneally
Large Paperback; 17 Euro / 23 USD / 12 UK; 250 pages
What stories lie behind the headlines from the Irish War of Independence? Who wrote them? What attempts were made to manipulate them? Using contemporary newspapers, archival sources and newly opened files The Paper Wall attempts to answer these questions and bring a fresh perspective to the period from the first Dáil of 1919 to the Truce in 1921. Both the British Government with its Public Information Branch and Dáil Éireann with its Department of Propaganda sought to influence and to control the press during this time. Sinn Féin s main aim was to crack the paper wall erected around Ireland by British propaganda, censorship of reporting and limited media access. Each day over 500,000 newspapers were sold to an Irish public eager to keep abreast of the latest dramatic developments. As well as examining the competing propaganda departments, this book analyses the role of five newspapers the Irish Independent, The Irish Times, Freeman s Journal, Cork Examiner and The Times of London. They and their reporters were under constant pressure and violent intimidation was common. Inevitably, they became not just chroniclers of events but participants. The Paper Wall provides a clear account of how the newspapers worked and reported amidst the storm of suppression, censorship, intimidation, propaganda and violence.
Forgotten Soldiers: The Irishmen Shot at Dawn by Stephen Walker
Large Paperback; 17 Euro / 23 USD / 12 UK; 240 pages, with a 16-page full-colour photo insert [Add To Basket]
Award-winning BBC journalist Stephen Walker gives for the first time a full account of how twenty-eight Irish men serving in British regiments met their deaths. Drawing upon war diaries, court-martial papers and interviews with veterans and family members, he explains how, often exhausted by battle, or suffering shellshock, men who refused to fight were branded as cowards, and shot at dawn by a firing squad. From the cities and townlands of Ireland to the killing fields of the Western Front and Gallipoli, "Forgotten Soldiers" traces the lives of men who enlisted to fight an enemy but ended up being killed by their own side. For decades the full story of how the Irishmen died has largely remained a secret, but now one of the most controversial chapters in British military history can at last be told.In 2006 the British government finally pardoned those soldiers who were shot at dawn. "Forgotten Soldiers" is the first book to chronicle how relatives and campaigners fought to clear the men's names.
Not While I Have Ammo: A History of Captain Connie Mackey, Defender of the Strand by Jim Corbett
Hardback; 20 Euro / 28 USD / 14 UK; 144 pages
During the Irish Civil War, between the 15th and 20th July 1922, the Republican-held Strand Barracks in Limerick, on what is now Clancy’s Strand, came under constant ferocious attacks from the Free State troops. They attacked the barracks repeatedly with armoured cars, and a non-stop bombardment of sniper, machine gun and mortar fire. All attempts to capture the barracks were resisted fiercely by the brave men inside. Finally, when everything else failed to dislodge the defenders, the Free State turned an 18-pounder Artillery Gun on the barracks. This was the only time a siege gun was used in Limerick since the siege of 1691. The officer in charge was told to surrender the barracks or be held responsible for the loss of life. His response was ‘he would not surrender while he still had ammunition.’ This man was Captain Cornelius McNamara and this book is his remarkable story.
Kathleen Clarke: Revolutionary Woman by Kathleen Clarke
Paperback; 14 Euro / 19 USD / 10 UK; 346 pagers, with two 8-page black-and-white photo inserts [Add To Basket]
Kathleen Clarke was a political activist and wife of Tom Clarke, first signatory of the Easter 1916 Proclamation. She was entrusted with all the plans and decisions of the Irish Republican Brotherhood prior to the Rising and in its aftermath lost both her husband and her only brother, Ned Daly, who were executed. Her story is one of incredible personal courage and commitment and an authentic account of the turbulent times and the famous people who shaped the future of Ireland.As well as the 1916 period her story includes the setting up of Cumann na mBan, the O'Donovan Rossa funeral, Kathleen's period in prison with Countess Markievicz and Maud Gonne Mac Bride, the Black and Tan raids, the Treaty and the Civil War. Kathleen remained politically active all her life and in 1939 became the first woman Lord Mayor of Dublin. She died in 1972, at the age of 94 and was honoured with a State funeral.
Michael Davitt by John Devoy
Paperback; 22 Euro / 30 USD / 15 UK; 170 pages [Add To Basket]
"Michael Davitt: From the Gaelic American" tells the story of a collaboration between two giants of late nineteenth-century Irish nationalism: John Devoy and Michael Davitt, in the formulation of the New Departure and the early emergence of the land agitation. Devoy (1842-1928), a Fenian who assisted James Stephens in his escape from Richmond prison, only later to be imprisoned himself for administering the Fenian oath, was to spend most of his adult life in exile in the United States. He was a leading figure in Clan na Gael and a journalist for the "New York Herald" and later edited the "Gaelic American", in which this account of Davitt was serialised. Michael Davitt (1846-1906), once a major figure in the Irish Republican Brotherhood went on to found the Irish National Land League. Although both men shared similar hopes for the Irish nation their methods and approaches were to diverge, and they fell out in 1882. This memoir is particularly informative for the period between 1878 and 1880, when the New Departure was initiated. However, Devoy asserts that Davitt remained more loyal to the Fenian ideals than most of his contemporaries recognised. Classics of Irish History Series. First published in instalments in the Gaelic American in 1906.
Dan Donovan: An Everyman’s Life by Vera Ryan
Trade Paperback; 17 Euro / 23 USD / 12 UK; 212 pages [Add To Basket]
DAN DONOVAN An Everyman's Life, an oral memoir by Vera Ryan, brings to life a period in Cork of rich creative energy. It is a journey through the early days of the Cork Film Festival, the Choral Festival, the founding of the Southern Theatre group, through the work on Everyman Theatre and the restoration of the Palace Theatre on MacCurtain Street. Vera s interviews bring readers into Dan's diverse world as teacher, actor, director, broadcaster, and major player in Cork s artistic life. He was involved with Presentation College as student, teacher and vice-principal and his vivid memories and poignant story have rich appeal. His recollections of University College Cork during the war, being taught by Daniel Corkery, and encouraged by Aloys Fleischmann are superb. The chapters on acting in and directing the plays of Seán Ó Tuama and John B. Keane are vital for anyone interested in Irish theatre. Dan's life story together with evocative photographs help turn back time for a nostalgic portrait of the cultural history of Cork in the twentieth century.
Rendering to God and Caesar: The Irish Churches and the Two States in Ireland, 1949-73 by Daithi O Corrain
Large Paperback; 25 Euro / 33 USD / 17 UK; 276 pages [Add To Basket]
This book discusses the history of the Church of Ireland and the Catholic Church and their Episcopal leaders in the period from 1949 to 1973. It considers the opening years of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and their impact on the main churches, and also the relationships between these churches and the two states in Ireland. It also looks at the development of inter-church relations and ecumenism, and offers a new perspective on North-South relations and the causes of religious division. Based on highly original and very comprehensive research, the book offers fascinating insights into the recent past of these key Irish institutions. It will be welcomed by students and teachers of twentieth century and contemporary Irish history, as well as those interested in the political landscape of Ireland today.
The Way that I Went by Robert Lloyd Praeger with an introduction by Michael Viney
Large Format Paperback; 20 Euro / 28 USD / 14 UK; 390 pages [Add To Basket]
Written by Ireland's greatest field botanist and published in 1937, this enduring celebration of the Irish landscape is the result of five years of weekends spent walking a mazy 5000 miles across the hills and bogs, swimming through flooded caverns, staying out all night on islands, sifting fossil bones and exploring cattle-tramped tombs. That was when conservation was still in the future, farmers welcomed rambling strangers, bogs were intact, bungalows, cars, ESB poles and chain saws were absent, and the countryside was largely tourist-free. Preaeger was not simply a botanist but, according to Bellamy, also a geologist, zoologist, archaeologist, Irish Naturalist Optimus Omnium. His journey began in Donegal and ended in Kerry. Along the way he discovered much, including the passage tombs of Carrowkeel in Sligo which he was first to enter.
No Ordinary Women: Irish Female Activists in the Revolutionary Years, 1900-1923 by Sinead McCoole
Large Format Paperback; 25 Euro / 38 USD / 19 UK; 288 pages, with black-and-white photographs throughout [Add To Basket]
Spies, snipers, couriers, gun-runners, medics - women played a major role in the fight for Ireland's freedom, risking loss of life and family for a cause to which they were totally committed. This book highlights a time when vast numbers of Irish women were politicised and imprisoned for their beliefs, with a special emphasis on one prison, Kilmainham Gaol. They came from every class in society and all walks of life: titled ladies and shop assistants, doctors, housewives, laundry workers, artists and teachers. Some were married with children, others widowed and some mere schoolchildren. These are hidden stories that vividly recreate the characters, personalities and courage of Ireland's revolutionary women.
Rare Old Dublin: Heroes, Hawkers and Hoors by Frank Hopkins
Paperback; 14 Euro / 19 USD / 10 UK; 206 pages [Add To Basket]
Pirates executed in St Stephen's Green; Mother Bungy's 'sink of sin' in what is now Temple Bar; the Viking thingmote in College Green where human sacrifices took place; hidden holy wells under the city streets: these are just some of the things uncovered by Dubliner Frank Hopkins in this surprising and entertaining book. Famous sons and daughters of the city also make an appearance: John Pius Boland of the famous milling family, who won two Olympic medals for tennis in 1896, playing in street clothes and leather shoes; Jack Langan, the bare-knuckle boxer of Ballybough; Sir William Cameron, the public health specialist who devised a bounty scheme for captured houseflies in 1913; and the Dolocher, the savage eighteenth-century beast in the form of a pig who turned out to be a man.
Please note: Prices were correct at time of original posting but are subject to subsequent change without notice.
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