Read Ireland Book Reviews
Issue 438
24/25 January 2009
Robert L. Chapman’s Ireland: Photographs from the Chapman Collection 1907-1957 compiled by Christiaan Corlett
Oblong Hardback; 25 Euro / 32 USD / 16 UK; black-and-white photographs throughout
The Chapman Collection is a unique collection of photographs spanning the half-century from 1907 to 1957. Robert L. Chapman (1891 1965), a keen photographer and cyclist, began taking photographs at the age of sixteen. Most likely self-taught, he was skilled with the camera and had an instinctive eye for capturing beauty in a single shot. As Chapman cycled the Irish countryside, he photographed a range of subjects from boats and trains to landscapes and buildings, as well as his family, friends and fellow cyclists. This never-before-published selection of his extraordinary photographs also includes historic events such as the burning of Dublin s Custom House. Chapman's collection of photographs is enhanced by his meticulous catalogue. Each photograph has a unique reference number with information on the time, date and technical detail. These remarkable photographs, complemented by his journal and diary entries - at turns descriptive and witty - are drawn from an archive of around 3,000 pictures.
Ireland’s High Places: From the Mountains to the Sea by Rob Beighton
Oblong Hardback; 30 Euro / 40 USD / 20 UK; with full colour photographs throughout [Add To Basket]
Mountains have inspired men since time immemorial. Following his move to Ireland, Rob Beighton turned his lens to the magnificent scenery of Ireland s mountain landscape a unique mixture of rock, peat, soil and vegetation, with ever-changing weather and light. Often stunningly beautiful, this book takes you on a journey into these mountains, from majestic Mount Errigal in Donegal to Hungry Hill on the Beara Peninsula. Conveying the splendour and aura of these ancient hills, Rob s images of spectacular natural beauty vary from wide panoramic views of mountainscapes to small details of stone, water, flora and fauna. While some of the mountains are in National Parks, most are privately owned, some are well known to tourists, and others are remote and rarely visited. With a sharp eye and artistic use of light Rob reveals an often new and fresh beauty in our mountains. The result is a breathtaking book of mesmerizing images that will delight the thousands who visit Ireland’s mountains.
Arctic 2 Antarctic: A Celtic Spirit of Fastnet Adventure by Michael Holland and Janet King
Oblong Hardback; 30 Euro / 40 USD / 20 UK; full colour photographs throughout; also includes a 60minute DVD documentary
In 2005 an experienced amateur crew from eight different countries and both hemispheres sailed from Ireland to Iceland and back aboard an Irish sailing boat. Then, in 2006, after a major refit to prepare her for high-latitude sailing, Celtic Spirit of Fastnet and her crew sailed south to Antarctica and across the Southern Ocean to South Georgia before returning to Argentina in 2007. This is the story of the crew s 16,000-mile voyage, the adventures they experienced and the dangers they overcame as they sailed across oceans. Together, they explored some of the wildest and most remote places on the planet, taking spectacular photographs of the barren and extreme landscape and the wildlife and people they encountered along the way. Stunning and awesome, this is an epic story of a brave crew and a boat that took them to the ends of the world.
King Dan: The Rise of Daniel O’Connell, 1775-1829 by Patrick Geoghegan
Hardback; 25 Euro / 32 USD / 16 UK [Add To Basket]
Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847) was one of the most remarkable people in the nineteenth century. Famous in his day as the most feared lawyer in Ireland, O'Connell tormented judges, terrorised opposing barristers, and won a reputation for saving the lives of so many men who would otherwise have been hanged. He became 'The Counsellor', the fearless defender of the people. And he secured that reputation through his campaign for Catholic emancipation, when he founded the first successful mass democratic movement in European history, and became 'The Liberator'.
Where Clare Leads by Richard Fitzpatrick
Hardback; 25 Euro / 36 USD / 18 UK; 250 pages with an 16-page full colour photo insert
This book provides profiles of Clare's most famous sons and daughters."Where Clare Leads" will profile leading personalities in a range of disciplines - incorporating sport, arts, business, crime and broadcasting - and people who are embroiled in a number of controversies.These include the following: the 2001 World Rugby Player of the Year; the captain of Munster's 2006 Heineken Cup victory; both the manager and captain of Clare's 1995 and 1997 All-Ireland hurling winning teams; the trainer of the 2006 Grand National winner; ITV's leading sports broadcaster; the person accused of committing the UK's biggest VAT fraud scam, worth GBP 162m; a musician who made the best-selling trad album ever in 1991; a six-times British champion jockey who is currently being charged with race-fixing; and, Ireland's most controversial female writer.The profiles include: Ger Loughnane; Brian Lohan; Keith Wood; Tom Morrissey; Martin Brassil; Michael D. Higgins; Anthony Daly; Tony Griffin; Anthony Foley; Kevin Sheedy; Sharon Shannon; Mick O'Dea (Artist); Jamesie O'Connor; Fr Harry Bohan; Marcus Horan; Kieran Fallon (Horseracing); Maura O'Connell (Music); and, Bernard Lynch.
Embracing Women: Making History in the Church of Ireland by Ginnie Kennerley
Paperback; 13 Euro / 20 USD / 10 UK; 180 pages [Add To Basket]
The title Embracing Women is inspired by the striking photograph of the author, Canon Ginnie Kennerley, exchanging an embrace with a well-known Catholic priest after her ordination in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. This book traces the story of the development of women s ordained ministry in the Church of Ireland from 1976 to the present day a period in which all involved in the issue were aware of Making History in the Church of Ireland. It offers a story both of personal pilgrimage and of ecclesial development, as the author describes her own journey alongside the dialogue of groups and individuals within the church. The Church of Ireland voted to ordain women as priests and, if elected, as bishops back in 1990, two years before the Church of England voted to do so, and nearly two decades after the first Anglican women were ordained in Hong Kong. There were many twists and turns, and a good deal of pain, in the fourteen years it took to move from the church s decision that there was no theological objection to its vote to go ahead with ordinations; but the decision caused no split in the church.
Has God Logged Off?: The Quest for Meaning in the 21st Century by T.P. O’Mahony
Paperback; 13 Euro / 20 USD / 10 UK; 156 pages [Add To Basket]
Does God exist? This simple yet enormously profound question has fascinated mankind for centuries, and never more so than in the early years of the Third Millennium. The aftermath of 9/11, the Iraq war and the devastating Asian tsunami of 2004, to name but three events, have all caused more and more people to question the very reality of God and his role in shaping the world we live in.
In addition, in an age of aggressive atheism, the suspicion has grown that God has finally been deleted from Western culture. What are the implications of this for man's quest for meaning in the 21st century? Do we really inhabit a God-less universe?
In Has God Logged Off?, religious affairs writer and commentator T. P. O'Mahony, in a personal voyage of reflection and exploration, traces back the arguments for and against God's existence. He revisits the famous five proofs of St Thomas Aquinas, produced in the 13th century, and examines the major arguments pro and con theism formulated by the likes of Descartes, Pascal, Kant, Marx and Sartre in the intervening centuries. Drawing not only on what creative artists such as Beckett, Bunuel and Morris West have to say about the presence or absence of God, but also on the experiences of modern day well-known Irish people, including actor Mick Lally, writer Mary Kenny and Cork character Bernie Murphy, the author brings fascinating new insights to bear on an age-old debate. Most poignantly, the book is a personal voyage of discovery, doubt and faith by the author which leads him to some stimulating and challenging conclusions.
What Every Working Woman Should Know … and Do by Terry Prone
Paperback; 15 Euro / 22 USD / 11 UK; 206 pages [Add To Basket]
In this book, Terry Prone, communications expert and adviser to politicians and top business-people, turns her attention to women at work, the choices they make, the obstacles they face in their search for a successful and rewarding career. Areas covered include: Getting the job: CV, interview etc. Moving up the ranks, reviews, promotion Women in management Sexual harassment and bullying Assumptions made by and about women Appearance, clothes, weight, ageism: specific women issues Women and money, saving, shopping, pensions Why women at work differ from men at work (if they do) Babies, families, aged parents and other distractions: how best to cope Ten things that every working woman needs to know Written in Terry Prone s inimitable lively and irreverent style, What Every Working Woman Should Know (and Do!) will inform and entertain readers.
From Small to Tall: How to Grow Your Company by Brody Sweeney
Trade Paperback; 15 Euro / 24 USD / 12 UK; [Add To Basket]
Entrepreneurs are good at starting organisations, but often, not very good at running them. It's not a surprise, therefore, that of the thousands of new companies that start up every year, only a very few grow past employing a handful of people and become medium or large organisations. Yet most entrepreneurs strive to create something great and large, and in the process create the kind of wealth that buys them the freedom to pursue their dreams. What sets the successful minority apart? How could you emulate their success? In this refreshing and jargon-free book, Brody Sweeney takes you through his experiences of growing O'Briens Irish Sandwich Bars from a single store in Dublin to an international chain of more than 300 outlets in fifteen countries. He offers sound advice based on his own practical experience. "Small to Tall" is for founders and owners of organisations and businesses, past the start-up stage, who want to grow to the next level of development.
Mouse Morris: His Extraordinary Racing Life by Declan Colley
Hardback; 25 Euro / 32 USD / 16 UK; [Add To Basket]
Michael Mouse Morris, third son of Lord and Lady Killanin would never have been earmarked for a career in horse racing. It was a long way from an idyllic childhood at the ancestral home in Galway. Mouse began working at a racing stables aged fifteen after he was diagnosed as dyslexic and his formal education ended. He later joined Willie O Grady s yard in Tipperary as its amateur jockey. When Edward O Grady took charge they teamed up to win the Foxhunter s Chase at Cheltenham, the first of many successes at the festival. Mouse turned professional in 1975 and his wins included two Champion Chases at Cheltenham and the Irish Grand National before a crushing fall in the Colonial Cup in Carolina in 1977 ended his career as a jockey. But that didn t stop Mouse. He quickly established himself as a pre-eminent trainer, helped by blue-chip owners such as John Magnier, J. P. McManus and Tony O Reilly. With a preference to train quality rather than quantity, Mouse has trained many big-race winners, most notably Michael O Leary s War Of Attrition in the 2006 Gold Cup and Hear The Echo, a long-odds winner of the 2008 Irish Grand National. In this official biography of one of Irish racing s truly unique characters, jockeys, trainers, owners and stable lads express a rare fondness and respect for Mouse. Mouse himself speaks frankly of his wild ride on the racing rollercoaster, of days as a jockey, as a trainer, of financial hurdles, personal crises and tragedy.
Kelly: A Memoir by Gerry Kelly
Hardback; 20 Euro / 29 USD / 14 UK; 242 pages [Add To Basket]
Gerry's career came about almost by accident. His early days in Downpatrick were a struggle. His alcoholic father abandoned the family, his mother worked all the hours she could, providing him with an education that was his springboard to success. He originally entered broadcasting because he was mistaken for somebody else. But after a number of years and many early challenges he was within hours of packing it all in and going back to teaching, until some colleagues urged him to persevere. And so he embarked upon a unique broadcasting journey, through the height of the Northern Ireland Troubles, persuading, begging, cajoling and browbeating celebrities into flying to Belfast for his show.Gerry Kelly became an icon for those struggling to retain a semblance of normality in an embattled society. Professional recognition came in his admission to the Royal Television Society's Hall of Fame. When the show finished, the fallout for Gerry and his crew was akin to a bereavement. But for the previous seventeen years, they had enjoyed every single minute.
Love in a Damp Climate by Quentin Fottrell
Paperback; 15 Euro / 20 USD / 10 UK; 210 pages [Add To Basket]
Quentin Fottrell is Agony Uncle on the Ray D'Arcy Show on Today FM, where he is heard by 230,000 people on Wednesdays at 10.40. The show and Quentin have a website, http://www.worldweary.com/, where people send their problems. Love in a Damp Climate paints a picture of Ireland circa. 2008 through the subject of relationships: combining anecdotes, interviews and relationship conundrums. This book is a love travelogue, a collection of vignettes, collection of the best and worst problems (and solutions), chronicling the efforts of Ireland s singletons to find love, and talking to those who ve actually found it. And, yes, they re all real people not a collection of fanciful short stories. But this is not just a book about sex or dating. It s about the relationships and friendships that sustain us and a witness to the rapid changes in Irish culture over the last half century.
Lying Eyes and the Hitman for Hire by Emer Connolly
Paperback; 11 Euro / 16 USD / 8 UK; 242 pages, with an 8-page full colour photo insert [Add To Basket]
In July 2008 Sharon Collins, a housewife and mother-of-two from Ennis, Co. Clare, was found guilty of soliciting Egyptian poker dealer Essam Eid to kill her partner PJ Howard and his two sons so she could inherit his estimated wealth of Euro60 million. The pulsating two-month trial gripped the nation with extraordinary revelations of her plot to kill: allegations of greed; the web search to find a hitman; the manufacture of lethal ricin poison - and its subsequent discovery in Eid's cell; and the kiss that stunned the courtroom...This book contains all the intimate details of this sensational landmark trial - but it also goes much further. The author's local contacts in Ennis and her knowledge of the case since the beginning give her a unique insight into this story. "Lying Eyes" also reveals personal information about Ms Collins, including her background, upbringing and lifestyle, and how she came to be caught up in such an unimaginable tale. With exclusive access to the email correspondence between lyingeyes and hire_hitman, and Collins' letters to the DPP, Emer Connolly reveals the lengths to which Sharon Collins was prepared to go to get her hands on her partner's money.
More Questions Than Answers: Reflections on Life in the Royal Ulster Constabulary by Kevin Sheehy
Hardback; 23 Euro / 30 USD / 15 UK; 230 pages, with a 16-page photo insert [Add To Basket]
Starting from a working-class background in North Belfast, he describes his progress through St Malachy's College to Trinity College Dublin, where he met and befriended Pat Finucane, later assassinated by loyalist paramilitaries. Though they would go their different ways politically, it never came between them. After graduation, Kevin entered the RUC as its first Catholic graduate and progressed steadily through the ranks, reaching the position of Detective-Superintendent. He helped investigate hundreds of paramilitary murders, including several of the most infamous incidents during these turbulent years. He investigated the assassination attempt on Bernadette McAliskey; Warrenpoint, where eighteen members of the Parachute Regiment were killed; and the activities of various 'rogue cops'.He was press officer for the Omagh bombing investigation and gives the inside story of this great tragedy. His experiences as head of the Anti-Racketeering Squad and the Drugs Squad give an unequalled insight into the criminal activities of paramilitaries as well as the quite distinct political agendas of the Northern Ireland Office, Special Branch and M15. Ultimately, these conflicts would bring about his downfall, which he describes with painful honesty - thus the title of the book.
Undercover Cop by Paddy Craig
Trade Paperback; 15 Euro / 20 USD / 10 UK; 210 pages [Add To Basket]
Paddy Craig joined the RUC in 1975. He was promoted to Detective within two years. His subsequent career led him through all the most troubled areas of the province. He secured two further promotions and was a Detective Inspector in the Belfast area when a serious attempt on his life and that of his young family led him to be transferred to Headquarters CID. He found it seriously lacking in covert operations capacity. Appointed head of CID Surveillance Unit, he set about a root and branch reform to bring it into line with best modern practice.Until now, CID had played second fiddle to Special Branch in covert and surveillance operations. That changed. Under his leadership, an elite and secretive undercover unit was established which immersed Paddy Craig in a shadow-world fight against criminals and terrorists throughout the UK, the Republic of Ireland and continental Europe. Its initial successes in Northern Ireland led other police forces, including the Garda Siochana, to seek the secondment of Craig and his men in the war against drug dealers and their networks.Often operating alone and in hostile environments, he was involved in the seizure of multi-million pound consignments from crime syndicates and terrorist groups as far afield as Turkey. His main weapons were his training, his guile and false identity papers: he carried up to three passports at any one time. He has been kidnapped, questioned and arrested, and was often minutes from acute danger and death. In "Undercover Cop", an account of his time in the unit, he covers some of the most hair-raising of these adventures. The cast of characters range from drug-dealing solicitors to ruthless terrorists and criminal gangs. These include many rendezvous with major consignments in locales from the port of Rotterdam and the lay-bys of Amsterdam to the beaches of Spain.
The Mummy’s Boys: Threats and Menaces from Ulster’s ParaMafia by Jim McDowell
Trade Paperback; 13 Euro / 20 USD / 10 UK; 240 pages, with a 16-page full colour photo insert [Add To Basket]
The Shoukri brothers - Andre and Ihab - were both Brigadiers in the Province's biggest paramilitary organisation - the Ulster Defence Association. They were also gangsters and drugs Godfathers who enjoyed the high life: flash cars, flash women, flash jewellery dangling round their necks and wrists. They were the living embodiment of how Northern Ireland's terror gangs turned to criminality: from the paramilitaries to the paraMafia.In one year alone, Andre Shoukri blew almost IR Punt1 million on the horses, earning him the soubriquet of 'The Bookies Brigadier'. But before the UDA eventually booted him out and he went to jail, Andre Shoukri sat on the Inner Council of the 'loyalist' organisation. Their lineage - their father was Egyptian - earned both Shoukris the nickname of The Mummy's Boys. They didn't like it. And they certainly didn't like Jim McDowell, the Northern Editor of the "Sunday World" and his staff in Belfast. Neither did a lot of other paramilitaries. And in this book McDowell charts not only the rise and fall of 'The Mummy's Boys', he also exclusively exposes the other threats and menaces endured by himself and his staff because they ruthlessly exposed what they called the paraMafia, loyalist and republican, right across Ulster's terror gang spectrum.
The Irish Times Book of the 1916 Rising by Shane Hegarty and Fintan O’Toole
Large Format Trade Paperback; 17 Euro / 24 USD / 12 UK; 220 pages with black-and-white photographs throughout [Add To Basket]
The foundation event of modern Ireland, the Easter Rising of 1916 continues to enthral almost a century later. Using contemporary diaries and recently released eye-witness testimonies, Shane Hegarty and Fintan O'Toole tell the story of a tumultuous week through the voices of the men and women who fought on each side, and of a population caught up in days of violence, looting and wild rumour. Re-asserting the event as first and foremost a human drama - in which tragedy, brutality, confusion and even moments of black comedy were played out against a city in flames - "The 1916 Rising" adds up to the most comprehensive and accessible account of "Easter Week" in print. The book is an expanded version of the supplement that appeared in "The Irish Times" in March 2006. The supplement, which was published in association with the Department of Education and Science, was received with praise in all quarters - a remarkable achievement in view of the historical controversy that still surrounds the Rising. The original text has been augmented by new illustrations and material, including additional rebel and army accounts of the fighting, surrender and executions.
Please note: Prices were correct at time of original posting but are subject to subsequent change without notice.
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