Read Ireland Book Reviews
Issue 476
8/9 May 2010
The Dublin Murphy Report: A Watershed for Irish Catholicism
Large Format Paperback; 13 Euro / 18 USD / 10 UK; 174 pages
In the wake of the publication of the Murphy Report in November 2009, many people are beginning to question whether the Catholic Church in Ireland has a viable future. This book, with its eclectic mix of contributors - consisting of survivors, cultural commentators, theologians, historians, journalists, a Church of Ireland bishop - interrogates Irish Catholicism post-Murphy and asks some searching questions. To what extent did the dominant culture of secrecy within the Dublin Archdiocese contribute to clerical abusers remaining undetected for so long? Has there been a failure by the institutional Church to communicate its position in a coherent manner? To what can be attributed the lamentable mismanagement of the crisis by the hierarchy? Is it capable of learning from past mistakes? Is there any hope for the Catholic Church if its leaders fail to address the wrongs that have been done to innocent children? This book may upset some people and anger others. It will undoubtedly not meet with universal approval. That is quite understandable. While contributors tackle the issue from differing perspectives, individual chapters have nonetheless the ring of sincerity and authenticity. Such emotions cannot be faked. When they are, the reader senses it immediately. Reading this book will be a step towards understanding the watershed that the Dublin/Murphy Report represents for Irish Catholicism. Contributors are Timothy Radcliffe OP, Andrew Madden, Colum Kenny, Richard Clarke, Marie Collins, Patrick McCafferty, Sean O'Conaill, Breda O'Brien, Eugene O'Brien, Seán Ruth, Enda McDonagh, Eamonn Conway, Eddie Shaw, Donald Cozzens, Garry O'Sullivan and Louise Fuller.
The Battle for Limerick City by Padraig Og O Ruairc
Large Format Paperback; 13 Euro / 18 USD / 10 UK; 160 pages [Add To Basket]
The Civil War arrived in Limerick with a whimper rather than a bang. Outnumbered and out-gunned, the Pro-Treaty Commander of the city, Michael Brennan, negotiated a truce with the Chief of Staff of the much stronger Anti-Treaty force, Liam Lynch. The benefit of this lull in fighting accrued almost entirely to the Pro-Treaty side. They gained time for reinforcements and weaponry to arrive and when they did, the city because a battleground of extreme viciousness. Several buildings were shelled by 18-pounder guns at point blank range. The fighting around the strand barracks was particularly heavy. In this new book on the victory of the Free State troops in Limerick, Padraig O Ruairc offers a fresh perspective on the struggle that reduced the viability of the Republican's hoped for 'Munster Republic' and set the stage for the Battle of Kilmallock, which checked the Pro-Treaty rout that the initial stages of the Civil War had been.
Limerick Historic Town Atlas
Large Format; 35 Euro / 50 USD / 25 UK
Part of the "Irish Historic Towns Atlas" series, this Limerick atlas traces the topographical history from early Viking foundations to c 1900. It catalogues the histories of various sites ranging from cathedrals to smithies and streets in a gazetteer format with accompanying essay describing the morphology of the urban centre.
Bygone Limerick: City and County in Days Gone By by Hugh Oram
Oblong Paperback; 15 Euro / 20 USD / 11 UK; 128 pages, with black-and-white photos throughout [Add To Basket]
Hugh Oram has compiled this fascinating collection of photographs of the city and county of Limerick in bygone days. He highlights buildings that have either vanished or changed beyond recognition as well as changes to society in the realms of shopping, entertainment and transport among others. Historical Limerick, such as the Georgian Quarter and the area around King John's Castle in the city feature prominently, as well as towns and villages like Adare, Bruree, Kilmallock and Newcastlewest. The book provides a vivid portrait of everyday life in these urban and rural centres a century ago so that readers can make comparisons with the present day and the many changes that have taken place since then.
Dublin 1610 to 1756 by Colm Lennon
Map & Booklet; 10 Euro / 14 USD / 7 UK; [Add To Basket]
This is the second Dublin pocket map to be published in "The IHTA Series". It follows on from "Dublin C. 840 to C. 1540: The Medieval Town In the Modern City (2002)" by H.B. Clarke and maps over 180 topographical features of the city for the period 1610 to 1756. The booklet contains a commentary on the urban development of Dublin and a chronological index to sites. The accompanying foldout map pinpoints features on a modern base. Colour-coded streets indicate the start of the Georgian expansion of the urban core from medieval to early modern Dublin.
Inheritance: Heritage and Memory by Kieran McCarthy
Large Format Paperback; 20 Euro / 28 USD / 14 UK; 288 pages [Add To Basket]
"Inheritance" explores the parishes of Aghabullogue, Inniscarra and Ovens on the northern valleyside of the Inniscarra Reservoir, Co. Cork. Through fieldwork and interviews with local people, Kieran McCarthy focuses on several aspects of the region's cultural heritage, providing insights into place-making, community roots and identity. This work dabbles in the architecture of heritage and its interaction with life in an Irish river valley. The book is focused on the beauty and structure of 'things', which highlight, debate and celebrate our cultural heritage not only from the past but also what we have inherited in the present. The book is a study of the rich language of images and symbols that are so inherent in rural environments. In fact, the many monuments on the local landscape could be described as part of a vast and varied open-air history book just waiting to be read.
Fethard-on-Sea Boycott by Tim Fanning
Large Format Paperback; 15 Euro / 20 USD / 10 UK; 240 pages [Add To Basket]
In 1957, Sheila Cloney, Protestant wife of a Catholic farmer, fled from her home near the Wexford village of Fethard-on-Sea with her young daughters after refusing to bow to the demands of the local Catholic clergy to educate them as Catholics. In response, the priests launched a boycott of Fethard's Protestant shopkeepers and farmers. The Fethard-on-Sea Boycott subject of the feature film, A Love Divided became a national scandal, prompting intervention by Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera. Tim Fanning tells the story of one of the ugliest sectarian episodes to occur in the Republic. He examines how deep-rooted historical grievances over land ownership on Wexford's Hook Peninsula and the Catholic Church's Ne Temere decree on mixed marriages resulted in one small rural community tearing itself apart and how, during the 1980s, the arrival of paedophile priest Seán Fortune reopened old wounds in the village. Fethard is still coming to terms with its bitter history today.
Revenge by Ken Foxe
Large Format Paperback; 11 Euro / 15 USD / 9 UK; 294 pages [Add To Basket]
REVENGE is a dish that is best served cold . . . Adrian Bestea was beaten to death, then stuffed in a suitcase, because he was violent towards his girlfriend. Michael Brady signed his own death warrant when he strangled his wife Julie to death. Denis Donaldson was shot dead in a remote Donegal cottage because he had admitted to being a British mole within Sinn Féin. Charlotte and Linda Mulhall (the so-called Scissor Sisters) murdered and dismembered Farah Swaleh Noor because he was a violent man who constantly abused their mother. Ken Foxe looks at these and many other recent killings in Ireland, and concludes that the motives in all of these cases can be summed up in one word: REVENGE. Ireland is often called a nation of begrudgers but what happens when a grudge is held by a violent or unstable character? What happens when it's left to fester in the mind of a psychopath? Or even when an otherwise ordinary person is pushed to the edge of sanity by abuse and violence? The results can often be bloody. REVENGE pulls no punches in describing how this most ancient of motives has led to so many killings.
Love’s Civil War: Elizabeth Bowen and Charles Ritchie
Large Format Paperback; 11 Euro / 25 USD / 8 UK; 320 pages [Add To Basket]
The love affair between the celebrated writer Elizabeth Bowen and the elegant and charming Canadian diplomat Charles Ritchie blossomed quickly after their first meeting in 1941 and continued over the next three decades until Bowen's death. Published for the first time, accompanied by extracts from Ritchie's remarkably candid diaries, the love letters of Elizabeth Bowen reveal an intelligent, passionate and wonderfully funny woman. In her letters and his diaries we hear the lovers' voices. Set against an ever-changing backdrop, from the Second World War to the Swinging Sixties, and featuring a glorious cast of socialites, writers and politicians, including Nancy Mitford, Iris Murdoch, Isaiah Berlin and John F Kennedy, Love's Civil War is at once a fascinating and intimate portrait of a great love that endures distance, circumstance and time.
Please note: Prices were correct at time of original posting but are subject to subsequent change without notice.
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