Read Ireland Book Reviews
Issue 451
13/14 June 2009
Dublin 1916: The Siege of the GPO by Clair Wills
Hardback; 18 Euro / 25 USD / 15 UK; 240 pages
Headquarters of the 1916 Rising, Dublin's General Post Office is the most famous building in Ireland. This book tells the story of the events in and around the GPO in Easter Week, using participant and eyewitness accounts, diaries and newspaper reports. Taken over by the Irish Volunteers on Easter Monday 1916 and held for nearly a week, the rebels finally surrendered the GPO to the Crown forces after heavy gun bombardment, and the ensuing conflagration reduced it to an empty shell and destroyed much of the centre of the city. Clair Wills' fascinating book also explores the twists and turns that the myth of the GPO has undergone in the last century. It has stood for sacrifice and treachery, national unity and divisive violence, for the future and the past.
Our Struggle for Independence: Eyewitness Accounts from the pages of An Cosantoir edited by Terence O’Reilly
Large Format Paperback; 17 Euro / 22 USD / 14 UK; 256 pages [Add To Basket]
From Ashbourne to Killmallock the events of the War of Independence are well known. In this book, the actual participants and eyewitnesses to events describe the planning, the action and the outcomes. Some remain controversial even now, some 80 years later and others offer fresh perspective on how Irishmen fought to free their country from British rule.Many of the men who fought in the War of Independence went on to form the core of the Irish Army. These articles are taken from the pages of "An Cosantoir", the magazine of the Irish Armed Forces, and give real insight into the thoughts of the fighting men and their colleagues.
Standing with Stones: A Photographic Journey Through Megalithic Britain and Ireland by Rupert Soskin
Hardback; 25 Euro / 32 USD / 20 UK; 192 pages, with full colour photographs throughout
Across the length and breadth of Britain and Ireland lies an unsurpassed richness of prehistoric heritage. Standing with Stones is a personal voyage of discovery, taking the reader to over a hundred megalithic sites in a photographic journey. The book is divided into regions, and each site featured is given its Ordnance Survey grid reference. Some, like Stonehenge and Newgrange, are well known and often visited, but many, such as Fernworthy and Bleasdale, are remote and barely known. Rupert Soskins stunning and original photographs act as windows into the past, which, together with his engaging and accessible text, encourage the reader to think afresh about the meaning and purpose of these monuments and at the same time open the eyes of travellers and enthusiasts to the great wealth and variety of henges, circles, dolmens, barrows and standing stones across the Britain and Ireland.
An Architect Earl: Edward Augustus Stratford (1736-1801) 2nd Early of Aldborough by Ronald Lightbown
Hardback; 40 Euro / 48 USD / 34 UK; 470 pages, with colour and black-and-white photographs throughout [Add To Basket]
Edward Augustus Stratford was a talented amateur architect, an ambitious builder and developer and enthusiastic patron of the arts. During the last quarter of the 18th century, this entrepreneurial nobleman complete three major building projects, each of considerable architectural merit. From 1775 he built, to an advanced design, the model industrial village of Strafrod-on Slaney in Country Wicklow. He built Straford Place, off Oxford Street, one of the most notable small developments of late Georgian London and, from 1792-8, Aldborough House, the last great mansion to be erected in Dublin before the Union. In addition he remodelled and embellished the extensive gardens and grounds surrounding the now vanished family seat at Belan, County Kildare. Fully documented and richly illustrated, this book gives the most complete account of his family and background and of his persistent dedication to their aggrandizement, in spite of long-running family disputes created by his father’s will. A portrait of a restless and successful entrepreneur, who as the friend and patron on artists, and who was admired for his personal cultivation, the book gives unexpected insights into the artistic, cultural and social life of Enlightenment Ireland.
The Splendid Cause: The Catholic Action Movement in Ireland in the 20th Century by Maurice Curtis
Hardback; 25 Euro / 34 USD / 20 UK; 330 pages
The Catholic Action Movement was one of the most potent forces operating in Ireland from the early years of the 20th century until the 1960's. In the newly independent Ireland, Catholic lay organisations played a crucial role in asserting the Catholic Church's influence on both politics and society. The Movement was part of that strategy forged by the Catholic Church to take account of the new relationship between Church and State after the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty. The Catholic lay organisations that constituted the Movement, were pivotal in helping to shape and consolidate public opinion, in copper-fastening the Catholic-Irish identity and in helping to enshrine the moral code in Irish law.It also had a resounding impact on the drafting of the 1937 Constitution of Ireland. Moreover, its influence can be seen in the growth of democracy and the political party system in Ireland, in the ideologies embraced by Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Clann na Poblachta, and consequently on Governments' social and economic policies. This book charts the growth, development and influence of the Catholic Action Movement on twentieth century Ireland.
Athlone in the Victorian Era by John Burke
Hardback; 35 Euro / 45 USD / 28 UK; 306 pages [Add To Basket]
The Victorian age was a period of great contrasts in Ireland. From the development of the rail network to the onset of the grimmest humanitarian disaster this nation has ever seen, The Great Famine. Athlone, Ireland’s most central town saw much of the good and the bad. This book is designed to provide the reader with an overview of the significant aspects of the town’s history during the era.
What’s the Best You Can Do? By Derek Rowlinson
Paperback; 7.50 Euro / 9 USD / 5 UK; 132 pages [Add To Basket]
If you happen to harbour a vague romantic notion of some day opening your own second-hand bookshop where the artistic intelligentsia would congregate to discuss highbrow matters and engage in witty badinage, then perhaps you would do well to read "What's the best you can do?" first. It may not necessarily put you off the idea altogether, but it will certainly provide you with a sharp reality check. The book is an autobiographical account of a second-hand bookshop owner in Northern Ireland during the 1980s and 90s and is a combination of straight prose mixed with numerous anecdotes of a mainly humorous, but sometimes rather poignantly sad nature. Although set against the backdrop of 'The Troubles', it shows how life generally went on pretty much as normal in those times, and that the experience of the second-hand bookseller is essentially universal, irrespective of circumstances or location. These recollections provide an insight into the world of used bookselling whilst simultaneously entertaining with descriptions of the often inexplicable behaviour of various characters who came through the door. The rude, the mean, and the downright stupid all make an appearance, and the eccentric is never too far away either. Bizarre situations, silly questions, and the author's reaction to them, seriously threaten to have you chuckle out loud at times. A 'must' for lovers of the world of used books.
The Templars: The Secret History Revealed by Barbara Frale
Paperback; 11 Euro / 14 USD / 9 UK; 232 pages [Add To Basket]
An explosive new history of the medieval world's most powerful military order, the Templars — and the momentous discovery that finally allows the full story to be told. For 700 years the tragic demise of this society of warrior-monks amid accusations of heresy has been plagued by controversy, in part because the transcript of their trial by the Inquisition—which held the key to the truth—had vanished. Templar historian Barbara Frale happened to be studying a document at the Vatican Secret Archives when she suddenly realized that it was none other than the long-lost transcript! It revealed that Pope Clement V had absolved the order of all charges of heresy.
Umberto Eco is unreserved in his praise of Frale and says in his foreword, ‘Barbara Frale’s stunning discovery of the long-lost Chinon Parchment in the Vatican Secret Archives allows us to see in a new light the church’s role in the process against the Templars.’
Using sensational new information, Frale chronicles the Templars' spectacular rise and fall against a sweeping backdrop of war, religious fervour, and the struggle for dominance, and finally lifts the centuries mystery surrounding one of the world’s most intriguing secret societies.
At the Edge of Ireland: Seasons on the Beara Peninsula by David Yeadon
Large Format Paperback; 15 Euro / 20 USD / 11 UK; 400 pages [Add To Basket]
In recent years, Ireland has enjoyed a newfound prosperity as Europe's most affluent nation. But tucked away in a far corner of the so-called "Celtic Tiger," that other enduring and authentic country—that small, hidden place of simple magic and romance—still exists. Acclaimed travel writer David Yeadon and his wife, Anne, set out to find it.
On the Beara Peninsula of southwest Ireland, the Yeadons discovered their own "little lost world," an enticing Brigadoon of soaring mountain ranges and spectacular coastal scenery, far removed from the touristic hullabaloo of Dublin, Killarney, and the Ring of Kerry. Here is the fabled "Old Ireland," alive and well with music seisuins, hooley dances, and seanachai storytellers—a haven for searchers, healers, artists, and poets hardy enough to have braved the same narrow and winding mountain roads that keep the package-tour coaches out.
Bursting with color and life, At the Edge of Ireland is an intrepid wanderer's celebration of a magical, unspoiled, and unforgettable Éire.
The Birth of the Fenian Movement; American Diary, Brooklyn, 1859 by James Stephens and edited by Marta Ramon
Paperback; 20 Euro / 26 USD / 16 UK; 110 pages [Add To Basket]
James Stephens' "American Diary" is one of the most important documents of early Fenianism. It uncovers the difficulties facing the movement's founders, and offers an insight into mid nineteenth-century American life and the Irish-American community. It also provides a unique first-hand impression of James Stephens' striking personality. It is one of Stephens' scarce full-length pieces and one of the best written, although it has not previously been published in its entirety.
Sir Walter Raleigh in Ireland by Sir John Pope Hennessy
Paperback; 24 Euro / 30 USD / 20 UK; 152 pages [Add To Basket]
Raleigh's activities in Ireland, like the rest of his life, continue to fascinate. How incredible and unethical were his initial military exploits? What role did he play in planning and executing the Munster Plantation? How does his colonial activity in the New World compare with that in Ireland? How influential was he in shaping Queen Elizabeth I's Irish policy?This fascinating but little-known work, written by a controversial Irish-born British colonial governor and first published in 1883, is especially valuable today for its extensive reproduction of original sources connected with Raleigh's stay in Ireland, including many of his Irish letters. It is a useful place to begin exploring this multi-faceted character whom Pope Hennessy describes as 'one of the most daring and active of those eminent Englishmen who have done much to render British government permanently difficult - if not more than difficult - in Ireland'.
Short Stories by Patrick Pearse
Paperback; 20 Euro / 26 USD / 16 UK; 114 pages [Add To Basket]
Translated from Irish by Joseph Campbell, Patrick Pearse's ten stories were first published between 1905 and 1916. Groundbreaking in Pearse's recourse to modern narrative techniques and his use of vernacular Irish, these stories provide a sympathetic portrayal of life in Connemara. Joseph Campbell translated them into English in the aftermath of the 1916 "Rising". His translations capture the spirit and tone of the original stories, largely because they are written in a distinctive form of Hiberno-Irish that reflects Pearse's use of colloquial speech.
Granuaile: Grace O’Malley – Ireland’s Pirate Queen by Anne Chambers
Paperback; 13 Euro / 17 USD / 10 UK; 214 pages [Add To Basket]
'There came to me also a most famous feminine sea called Granny Imallye...with three galleys and two hundred fighting men...She brought with her her husband for she was as well by sea as by land well more than Mrs Mate with him. This was a notorious woman in all the coasts of Ireland ...' - Sir Henry Sidney, Lord Deputy of Ireland, 1576. Fearless leader by land and by sea, political pragmatist and tactician, rebel, pirate and matriarch, the 'most notorious woman in all the coasts of Ireland' Grace O'Malley challenges and manipulates the turbulent politics of the 16th century - a period of immense social change and political upheaval. Breaching boundaries of gender imbalance and bias, she re-wrote the rules to become one of the world's documented feminist trail-blazers. In "Granuaile", the original international bestselling biography of this historic icon, from rare and exclusive contemporary manuscript material, author Anne Chambers draws Ireland's great pirate queen in from the vagueness of myth and legend and presents the historical reality of one of the world's most extraordinary female leaders. First published in 1979, "Granuaile" has become a milestone in Irish publishing and author Anne Chambers the catalyst for the restoration of Grace O'Malley to political, social and maritime history. Over the years Anne's name has become synonymous with Grace O'Malley. Her biography has become an inspiration for documentary and film makers, composers, artists and writers from a range of creative disciplines worldwide, and is now recommended reading in schools curricula in Ireland and abroad. In this 30th anniversary edition, as well as some textual additions, the inclusion of new transcriptions of contemporary 16th-century manuscript material, located and deciphered by the author, will be of special interest to students, teachers and historians as well as to the general reader.
Please note: Prices were correct at time of original posting but are subject to subsequent change without notice.
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