Read Ireland Book Reviews
Issue 436
10/11 January 2009
Representing Art in Ireland: The Fenton Gallery
Large Format Hardback; 65 Euro / 100 USD / 50 UK; full colour photographs throughout
Beautifully illustrated, 'Representing Art in Ireland' references over 130 contemporary artists and features newly commissioned texts by 34 Irish writers. Including essays by Vera Ryan, Aidan Dunne and James Elkins, this book offers a unique perspective into art in Ireland.
A History of Ireland in 250 Episodes by Jonathan Bardon
Hardback; 30 Euro / 40 USD / 20 UK; 560 pages, with two 8-page photo inserts [Add To Basket]
Jonathan Bardon covers all the obvious things: the invasions, battles, development of towns and cities, the Reformation, the Georgian era, the Famine, rebellions and resistance, the difference of Ulster, partition, and the twentieth century. What makes his book so valuable, however, are the quirky subjects he chooses to illustrate how history really works: the great winter freeze of 1740 and the famine that followed; crime and dueling; an emigrant voyage; and, evictions. These episodes get behind the historical headlines to give a glimpse of past realities that might otherwise be lost to view. The author has retained the original episodic structure of the radio programs. The result is a marvelous mosaic of the Irish past, delivered with clarity and narrative skill.
IRA: The Bombs and the Bullets: A History of Deadly Ingenuity by A.R. Oppenheimer
Large Format Trade Paperback; 25 Euro / 32 USD / 16 UK; 386 pages
As a leading expert on non-conventional weapons and explosives, the author focuses on the bombs and explosives and shows how the IRA became the most adept and experienced insurgency group the world has ever seen through their bombing expertise and how - after generations of conflict - it all came to an end. The book is a comprehensive account of more than 150 years of Irish republican strategic, tactical, and operational details and analysis covering the IRA's mission, doctrine, targeting, and acquisition of weapons and explosives. Oppenheimer also colourfully presents the story behind the bombs; those who built and deployed them, those who had to deal with and dismantle them, and those who suffered or died from them. He analyses where, how, and why the IRA's bombs were built, targeted and deployed and explores what the IRA was hoping to accomplish in its unrivalled campaign of violence and insurgency through covert acquisition, training, intelligence and counter-intelligence.The book focuses entirely on the IRA's bombing campaign - beginning with the Fenian 'Dynamiters' in the 19th century up to the decommissioning of an arsenal big enough to arm several battalions - which included an entire home-crafted missile system, an unsurpassed range of improvised explosive devices, and enough explosives to blow up several urban centres. The author scrutinises the level of improvisation in what became the hallmark of the Provisional IRA in its pioneering IED timing, delay and disguise technologies. He follows the arms race it carried on with the British Army and security services in a Long War of Mutual Assured Disruption. Oppenheimer fully describes and assesses the impact of the pre-1970s bombing campaigns in Northern Ireland and England to the evolution of strategies and tactics. He also provides an insight into the bombing equipment and guns from the IRA inventory held at Irish Police HQ in Dublin.
Tain Bo Flidhais: The Mayo Tain by Stpehen Dunford
Hardback; 20 Euro / 28 USD / 14 UK [Add To Basket]
The Rev. Patrick S. Dineen describes a Tain as an ‘act of driving, driving forth; raid, drive, pursuit; speed, rate; a cattle-raid or –spoil, cattle, a flock, drove or herd, a company, a gang, a large number ; the story of a cattle spoil. Tain Bo Flidhais, or ‘The Mayo Tain’, as it was once called, tells the tale of a brutal, lust-filled, cattle-raid, by the armies of the queen and king of Connaught, Meadbh and Ailill, and their Ulster ally, Fergus Mac Roigh, in pursuit of the remarkable white maol (hornless) cow and its owner, Flidhais Fholtchain, a beautiful princess/queen of the celebrated Connaught tribe, the Gamhanraidh, and the blood-letting which it caused. Tain Bo Flidhais pre-dates the great epic Tain Bo Cuailnge.
Jack Lynch: A Biography by Dermot Keogh
Hardback; 27 Euro / 38 USD / 19 UK; 630 pages, with three 4-page black-and-white photo inserts
Succeeding Sean Lemass as Taoiseach in 1966, Lynch became the first post-revolutionary leader of Fianna Fail. He held office during the critical years of the late 1960s and early 1970s when Northern Ireland disintegrated, precipitating one of the worst crises in the history of the Irish state. Based on eight years of work in archives in Ireland and abroad, Dermot Keogh's book shows that Lynch was a more complex, determined and adroit political leader than his avuncular, soft-spoken, pipe-smoking image might suggest.The new evidence shows how he kept his nerve during the Kafkaesque months of early 1970 when efforts were made by cabinet ministers to import arms for use in Northern Ireland. He stood firm in defiance of those who wanted the state to become complicit in the use of violence. The debt to his courage and determination in the defence of democracy in Ireland has not yet been acknowledged or discharged. Lynch upheld the parliamentary democratic tradition at great personal and political cost, even to the point of fracturing the unity of his government and his party. He helped rebuild the Fianna Fail Party in opposition after 1973, and return them convincingly to power in 1977 only to be virtually forced out of office two years later. If you want to know what happened during his years as a politician, read this book.
The Beatles and Ireland by Michael Lynch and Damian Smyth
Large Format Trade Paperback with Endflaps; 20 Euro / 28 USD / 14 UK; 218 pages, with black and white photos throughout [Add To Basket]
One of the great stories of the 1960s is that of four young men with Irish backgrounds who produced music that is unique and timeless. From the day The Beatles arrived in Dublin at the height of Beatlemania in 1963 and Paul McCartney announced it s great to be home , the Fab Four never hid their love for Ireland. They played two further gigs in Belfast within twelve months. By the end of that decade John had bought an island off the Mayo coast, and in the 1970s John and Paul were writing songs about the troubled events in Northern Ireland. And yet there has never been a book about their Irish connections. From George s family originating in County Wexford to Paul choosing Castle Leslie in Monaghan for his wedding to Heather Mills, it s all here, including exclusive insights into what really went on at Paul s wedding reception and what Stella thought of being there. This is not a music biography but simply details every Irish connection The Beatles have with Ireland, from their family trees to their concerts and the many visits they ve made, not across the universe, but across the Irish Sea. It is based on exclusive interviews, fifteen years of research and firsthand accounts by people that spent time with them. With prime Irish Beatle locations, an Irish charts discography, the Irish fan club, and a detailed list of Beatles-related programmes on Irish radio and TV over the years, not to mention exclusive unpublished photographs, this is the legacy for Ireland of The Beatles.
Tuned Out: Traditional Music and Identity in Northern Ireland by Fintan Vallely
Hardback; 40 Euro / 55 USD / 30 UK; 196 pages [Add To Basket]
This book looks at the attitudes of Protestant performers to Traditional music in Northern Ireland. It reflects on broader Protestant community views of the music through their eyes, and considers too the impact of historical literature, political statements and other interventions which have affected and shaped Traditional music today. Traditional music is taken to mean the dance music, forms of dance and style of songs which were the onetime entertainment of rural people prior to urbanisation and the development of mass forms of entertainment. The data collected for this study was originally researched in 1992 in a profoundly different political climate to that which burgeons in 2008. This study does not offer conclusions, but presents musician's attitudes as a contribution to ongoing debate and assertion about culture and identity in Northern Ireland.
Boys and Girls Come Out to Play: Irish Singing Games by Maurice Leyden
Trade Paperback; 13 Euro / 20 USD / 10 UK; 152 pages [Add To Basket]
Songs and games are an integral part of childhood. Oranges and Lemons, Dusty Bluebells, Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake: their lyrics are peppered with the rhymes and rhythms of poetry, while their melodies are instantly appealing and memorable. Yet for all their apparent simplicity, these songs and games perform many useful functions. They not only introduce children to love, courtship, marriage, illness and death, they also teach them to sing and dance, and to count and recite the alphabet. Skipping, ball and clapping games develop memory, dexterity and coordination, even leadership qualities! Each song in this comprehensive collection is accompanied by an introduction, music notation and detailed instruction. At a time when the 'street playground' is overrun with motorcars and the electronic age is beckoning children indoors, Boys and Girls Come Out To Play presents a timely record of this important element of our cultural heritage and will also be welcomed as sheer entertainment by children and adults alike.
The Annals of Dublin: Photographs from the Father Browne Collection by E.E. O’Donnell
Hardback; 30 Euro / 40 USD / 20 UK; 260 pages, with black-and-white photos throughout [Add To Basket]
The Annals of Dublin consists of a chronology of the history of Dublin from the earliest known sources to the current day. As well as historical information there is a focus on interesting characters and events to make this and engaging read. The text is accompanied by some of the finest Father Brown photographs, many never seen before in print. FRANK BROWNE was born in Sunday s Well, Cork City, in 1880. He was a fellow-student of James Joyce at Belvedere College and at University College Dublin. In 1897 he entered the Jesuit order and was ordained a priest in 1915. He became a chaplain in the Irish Guards during World War I, going on to be the most decorated Roman Catholic padre in the British army. He spent three years in Australia recovering from mustard gas and on his return to Dublin became superior of Gardiner Street Church. In 1929 he was appointed to the Jesuit Retreats and Missions staff, a post in which he served until his death in 1960. His legacy was a collection of over 42,000 photographs including the ones he took aboard the Titanic in 1912. Fortunately he disembarked at Queenstown, now Cobh, County Cork, and went on to become (as The Irish Times put it) Ireland s leading documentary photographer.
A History of the Town of Belfast by George Benn
Trade Paperback, 2 volume set; 45 Euro / 56 USD / 28 UK; [Add To Basket]
First published in 1877, George Benn's seminal "A History of the Town of Belfast" continues to be very much in demand. With information on the topography of Belfast; the history of Presbyterianism; tenant rights; trade, industry and communications; water supplies; contemporary demographics; educational institutions; and, notable individuals and families, Benn's lively, accessible and sometimes quirky approach to history makes this book an essential text for students, academics, genealogists and local historians. Blackstaff's facsimile edition reproduces the original text, maps and illustrations, and includes new supplementary material, such as a preface, a list of corrections and a revised index.
George Benn (1801-1882) was born in Belfast and educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. A celebrated Ulster scholar and philanthropist, he wrote numerous papers on Belfast history, culminating in the much-venerated A History of the Town of Belfast. Benn and his brother, Edward, also ran a successful distillery in County Down and a mine in County Armagh. Their charitable donations were instrumental in establishing three hospitals and the York Street Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church.
Over the Counter: Cork’s Retail Heritage by Clare Keogh
Large Format Hardback; 35 Euro / 44 USD / 22 UK; 160 pages, with full colour photographs throughout [Add To Basket]
This is a beautiful, photographic tribute to Cork's lost and rapidly disappearing retail heritage.There have been huge changes in Cork over the past century, entire buildings even streets have disappeared and a culture of personalised service and independent retailers has been replaced by shops and services stations that look the same no matter what town we are in.These photographs act as a document for those who feel a sense of sadness or regret when they see another old shop close and feel with that closing a lessening of traditions, heritage and culture. It is also a record of those that remain in business and thrive despite the comoditisation of trade.The photographs capture some of the remaining businesses, which represent a type of trade and attitude towards community and consumerism completely at odds with new trends in Ireland today. As many of the shop owners have said 'Change is inevitable, different generations have different demands' but perhaps these photos will stand as a record of a way of life that may not survive but will be fondly remembered. Our communities will be all the poorer for their passing.
Ireland’s Ocean: A Natural History by Michael and Ethna Viney
Hardback; 30 Euro / 40 USD / 20 UK; full colour photographs throughout [Add To Basket]
Popular curiosity about the ocean around Ireland and the importance of care for marine life in current and future exploitation continues to increase. This book sets out to engage this popular curiosity and concern. Recent marine exploration, research and mapping bring dramatic growth in knowledge of an economic region of seabed in the Atlantic, Celtic and Irish Seas, the Atlantic extending almost 500km from the coast to beyond the edge of the continental shelf. Description of this underwater landscape is followed by an account of the natural forces influencing the internal world of the sea and its interactions with our climate, including currents, winds and waves, and the machinery of the Atlantic pump that draws warmth northward to Ireland. Included is the sea s role as a sponge for carbon, crucial in terms of global warming and increasing acidification of seawater. This is followed by a guide to the ecology and teeming diversity of life in the ocean from corals and plankton to whales, fish migrations, and the behaviour of top predators. The book concludes with new directions in Ireland s marine research, and the international problems of fishery control, climate change, wind and wave power, and the need for care in the exploitation of all the ocean s resources. Illustrated in full colour, Ireland s Ocean opens windows to the ocean s life and promise.
Confederate Ireland, 1642-1649: A Constitutional and Political Analysis by Micheal O Siochru
Large Format Trade Paperback; 28 Euro / 36 USD / 18 UK; 290 pages [Add To Basket]
Ireland witnessed major military and political upheavals during the 1640s, culminating in the Cromwellian invasion and conquest. Throughout this turbulent decade, the confederate association in Kilkenny, the only example of sustained self-government by the Catholic Irish on a national level prior to 1919, controlled most of the country. This book resurrects the association's considerable achievements, focusing in particular on the emergence of an influential group of political moderates, led by Nicholas Plunkett. These moderates promoted a vision of an Irish kingdom, strong, independent and tolerant of diversity, in which loyalty to the Stuart monarchy, rather than ethnicity or religious affiliation was the primary political consideration, thus anticipating by over a century the reforming nationalist tradition of Grattan, O'Connell and Parnell.
Ireland Through the Looking Glass: Flann O’Brien, Myles na gCopaleen and Irish Cultural Debate by Carol Taaffe
Hardback; 39 Euro / 55 USD / 28 UK; 274 pages [Add To Basket]
This book investigates how Irish cultural debate informed O'Nolan's early fiction and journalism, in both Irish and English. It offers the first thorough assessment of his work in its Irish context, arguing that his self-reflexive comic writing betrays a crisis of literary identity that is rooted in the cultural dynamics of post-Independence Ireland. Where previous studies have concentrated on the early novels, presenting him as an experimental writer who precociously anticipated the discoveries of later literary theory, this book instead explores his broad-ranging humour (as novelist and newspaper columnist) in its cultural contexts. What emerges from this fresh perspective is an original portrait of O'Nolan as a writer whose work was at once in conflict with, and wholly indebted to, the charged cultural politics of the new state.This is the first book to thoroughly combine both aspects of his literary career, illuminating how his episodic novels relate to the journalism which he wrote throughout his life. It demonstrates how his recurrent preoccupation with the persona and role of the author was as much shaped by the difficult position of the Irish writer in the 1930s and 1940s as it was by literary modernism. Each chapter within this book focuses on a different aspect of O'Nolan's multi-faceted career, charting his development from a playful literary humorist to a peculiarly astute cultural critic. This is the first book to demonstrate in detail what O'Nolan's varying blend of parody, satire and surreal humour owed to the peculiar cultural climate of the mid twentieth-century Ireland. By exploring the links between comedy and culture, it exposes the humorist's curiously ambivalent response to the culture of the new state, and particularly to the position of the writer within it.
Through the Year with Brian D’Arcy
Paperback; 15 Euro / 22 USD / 11 UK; 200 pages [Add To Basket]
Brian D Arcy has been writing a column in The Sunday World for many years, is a regular radio and television broadcaster and is a well-known chaplain to the worlds of music, the arts and broadcasting. This book contains a short reflection for every day of the year on matters cultural, political, social and religious. His interests are wide and his courage is huge he really does not hesitate to tell it as it is , no matter what the subject. As well as serious challenging issues in social, political, church and spiritual life, the reflections here also contain a range of helpful hints, wise quotes from philosophers and thinkers of all ages and also occasional hilarious stories and anecdotes. Something for every one!
Paidreacha na Gaeilge/Prayers in Irish edited by Donla ui Bhraonain
BiLingual Trade Paperback with Endflaps; 12 Euro / 18 USD / 9 UK; 166 pages [Add To Basket]
Seo chugainn na haingle agus na haspail; Brid agus a brat; Micheal agus a sciath; Naomh Padraig agus Colm Cille Dhun na nGall. Maisithe le saothar Evie Hone, an t-ealaiontoir craifeach, tugtar duinn sa leabhar seo meascan de phaidreacha d'ocaidi ar leith, d'fheilti ar leith agus roinnt paidreacha mora, ina measc 'Luireach Phadraig' agus 'Caoineadh na dTri Mhuire'. Ta an creideamh le sonru iontu i nDia gramhar - chomh maith le ceiliuradh ar gach rud 'on ni is isle crannchuir go dti an t-ainm is airde'.
The music and poetry of the Irish people is to be found in this wonderful anthology that spans two thousand years of devotion. Emerging from oral culture, these prayers are charged with the language and rhythms of traditional Irish song.
Prayers are in Irish and English translation.
Empty Pulpits: Ireland’s Retreat from Religion by Malachi O’Doherty
Trade Paperback; 17 Euro / 24 USD / 12 UK; 256 pages with an 8-page full colour photo insert [Add To Basket]
No country has discarded religion faster than Ireland. Priests are the most demoralised people. This title argues that Irish experience has news for the fundamentalists, who think nothing ever changes - but also for the hard atheists, who don't understand religious culture from the inside.
Innocent: The Story of Shattered Childhood by Audrey Delaney
Trade Paperback; 11 Euro / 15 USD / 8 UK; 220 pages [Add To Basket]
Audrey Delaney was just three years old when her father began sexually abusing her. At first, she believed his behaviour to be normal, an expression of love even - like kissing and hugging - and that all fathers must behave in this way with their daughters. It was just something nobody talked about. But Audrey soon began to question how something so supposedly loving could feel so terrible. She worried that she was secretly responsible for what was happening - that she was innately dirty and this was why her father climbed into bed beside her every night."Innocent" is a heart-rending account of a childhood destroyed by abuse and betrayal. But ultimately, Audrey's story is one of hope and triumph. After finding the courage to confess the abuse to her family, Audrey and six other victims embarked on a long and harrowing court case in a quest for justice. Audrey was the only victim to waive her right to anonymity and she did so in the hope that she might inspire and give strength to other victims of child abuse. Her story dispels the common myth of child abusers as larger-than-life monsters. It is not always the stranger offering sweets who poses the greatest threat, but sometimes it is the very person you are taught to love and trust above everyone else who causes the most damage.
Stones of Aran: Pilgrimmage by Tim Robinson
Trade Paperback; 14 Euro / 20 USD / 10 UK; 394 pages [Add To Basket]
Stones of Aran: Pilgrimage" is, as Robert Macfarlane says in his introduction, 'one of the most sustained, intensive and imaginative studies of a place that has ever been carried out'. That place is one of the most mysterious and oldest inhabited landscapes in the world, the islands of Aran off the west coast of Ireland. Tim Robinson's epic exploration of the desolate, storm-lashed, limestone rocks, which have already haunted generations of Irish writers, takes the form of a clockwise journey around the coast. Every cliff, inlet and headland reveals layers of myth and historical memory, and Robinson makes beautifully crafted observations about the habits of birds, plants and the humans who lived there and endured, leaving records in stone - on the walls, cairns and ancient forts - in story and in oral tradition.
Please note: Prices were correct at time of original posting but are subject to subsequent change without notice.
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