Read Ireland Book Reviews
Issue 485
21 August 2010
New Irish History
Ireland: A History by Thomas Bartlett
Hardback; 32 Euro / 40 USD / 25 UK; 650 pages
Ireland has rarely been out of the news during the past thirty years. Whether as a war-zone in which Catholic nationalists and Protestant Unionists struggled for supremacy, a case study in conflict resolution or an economy that for a time promised to make the Irish among the wealthiest people on the planet, the two Irelands have truly captured the world's imagination. Yet single-volume histories of Ireland are rare. Here, Thomas Bartlett, one of the country’s leading historians, sets out a fascinating new history that ranges from prehistory to the present. Integrating politics, society and culture, he offers an authoritative historical road map that shows exactly how - and why - Ireland, north and south, arrived at where it is today. This is an indispensable guide to both the legacies of the past for Ireland's present and to the problems confronting north and south in the contemporary world.
With the IRA in the Fight for Freedom: 1919 to the Truce with an intro by Gabriel Doherty
Large Format Paperback; 20 Euro / 28 USD / 17 UK; 448 pages [Add To Basket]
"With the IRA in the Fight for Freedom" offers eyewitness and first hand accounts of Ireland's struggle for independence in various parts of the country. It presents a representative picture of the fight by the IRA for independence and of the reign of terror endured by the civilian population. Only idealism and courage on the part of the freedom fighters and the steadfast support of the Irish people could have carried such an unequal struggle through to the end. With barracks attacks, ambushes and shootings, it brings to life a conflict that is fading from the collective memory of county and country and offers a fascinating perspective on the struggle for independence, directly from the men who took part in the actions themselves.
The Summer Campaign in Kerry by Tom Doyle
Paperback; 13 Euro / 18 USD / 10 UK; 160 pages, with an 8-page black-and-white photo insert
This title follows the military course of the civil war in Kerry in August and September 1922, focusing on specific engagements and tactics. Because of the defence line of the 'Munster Republic' overland during the Civil War, the Free State forces, under Emmet Dalton, carried out an innovative and successful invasion of Kerry from the sea. This caught the Republican forces almost completely by surprise and they were overwhelmed and defeated. This work brings the Civil War up to the end of the first phase of the campaign for the Provisional Government in Kerry, when Free State victory seemed assured, and before the Republican response to their predicament.
Executed for Ireland: The Patrick Moran Story by May Moran
Large Format Paperback; 17 Euro / 22 USD / 12 UK; 256 pages [Add To Basket]
Born in Crossna, Boyle, Co. Roscommon, Paddy lived most of his adult life in Dublin where he took an active part in the GAA, the Gaelic League and the Volunteers. He was an active participant in the 1916 Rising and was deported to England after the surrender. On his return in August 1916 he renewed his interest in GAA and helped to reorganise the Volunteers in Dublin and in Roscommon. He was arrested following the assassination of British Intelligence Officers on Bloody Sunday, 21 November 1920, and was charged and convicted for the murder of Lieutenants Ames and Bennett. He was executed by hanging in March 1921 amid calls from civil and religious leaders for the King of England to exercise the Prerogative of Mercy in the belief that he was innocent. But was he?
The Young Ireland Rebellion and Limerick by Laurence Fenton
Paperback; 15 Euro / 20 USD / 11 UK; 224 pages, with an 4-page black-and-white photo insert [Add To Basket]
"1848: The Young Ireland Rebellion and Limerick" examines the colourful and complex local dimensions to one of the key, if inglorious, events in Irish history. Limerick was the hometown of the Young Ireland leader William Smith O'Brien and the Young Ireland club there, the Sarsfield Club, was among the most active in the country. Using a range of primary sources, the book charts the myriad exciting events that occurred in Limerick during 1848, the year of the failed Young Ireland rebellion. In the course of that year, Limerick was the scene of both joyous mass meetings between Old and Young Irelanders as well as an infamous riot between the two factions. Police spies foundpikes in city stores and frantic missives were sent from magistrates to Dublin Castle detailing illegal nighttime drilling in the countryside of West Limerick and rifle practice in the city.
Michael Davitt: Freelance Radical and Frondeur by Laurence Marley
Large Format Paperback; 30 Euro / 40 USD / 24 UK; 328 pages [Add To Basket]
Michael Davitt (1846–1906) is popularly known as the founder of the Irish National Land League and as the architect of the Land War of 1879–82. However, the end of the Land War simply marked the close of one period of his political life and the beginning of another. For almost a quarter of a century after the Kilmainham Treaty (1882) he remained extremely politically active as a radical ?gure. A seasoned traveller and a proli?c writer, he was, by the time of his death, widely known as an established author and journalist of international renown, a pioneering labour activist, and a leading campaigner on issues of liberty and social justice.
The effective resolution of the Irish land question by 1882, and the evolution of mainstream Irish nationalist politics along conservative lines, forced Davitt to seek out new outlets through which to express his radical views and ideas. Assuming the role of a freelance radical in the early 1880s, he gravitated towards social radicalism in Britain, where he actively supported the labour and trade union movements there, and became involved in agrarian agitation in the Scottish Highlands and in Wales. He was instrumental in the development of radical politics in both Ireland and Britain. However, he was a complex political ?gure, not exclusively tied to one particular cause, and his freelance activism also led him onto the international stage, where he engaged with a diverse range of issues and causes, from the rise of Chinese republicanism to anti-imperialist agitation during the Anglo–Boer war.
This book, based on extensive research of the Davitt papers and on other unpublished archival material, charts the evolution of Davitt’s political thought, and situates his ideas and activism within a broad tradition of international radicalism.
Blood & Thunder: Inside an Ulster Protestant Band by Darach MacDonald
Large Format Paperback; 15 Euro / 20 USD / 11 UK; 352 pages, with an 16-page black-and-white photo insert [Add To Basket]
There are 584 marching bands in Northern Ireland, yet their existence and activities are unreported apart from news of flashpoint tensions and riots. This book reveals the inside story on the most dynamic Irish cultural phenomenon of the early twenty-first century. It argues that in many respects the 'Blood and Thunder' bands fulfil a role in northern Ireland similar to the GAA in the Republic, by espousing their culture, passing on traditional skills and instilling local pride in young participants who compete against each other over a season that extends from March to October. Woven around the diary of an outside observer with an 'insider's viewpoint' during the 2009 Blood and Thunder band season, the book focuses on the prize-winning Castlederg Young Loyalist Flute Band and examines the cultural, historical, social and political nature of Blood and Thunder bands.
Challenge to Democracy: Militant Catholicism in Ireland by Maurice Curtis
Large Format Paperback; 17 Euro / 22 USD / 12 UK; 264 pages [Add To Basket]
Militant Catholicism refers to radical Catholic believers who believed that the only way for Ireland to remain a Catholic country was to combine together in lay organisations, to work in politics and society for the overthrow of the Protestant culture and to replace it with a strictly Catholic ethos. In the newly independent Ireland, Militant Catholicism played a crucial role in asserting the Catholic Church's influence on both politics and society. It was 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.
From Parnell to Paisley by C. Mac Dhaibheid
Large Format Paperback; 27 Euro / 35 USD / 20 UK; 272 pages [Add To Basket]
Unionist and Nationalist politics in modern Ireland have been defined by their use of both constitutional and revolutionary methods. From the battles over the land question and Home Rule in the 1880s to contemporary Northern Ireland s troubles and the ensuing peace process, Irish political life has witnessed lengthy periods of constitutional and revolutionary struggle and, at times, a significant blurring of the two. This book represents the first sustained engagement with the concepts of constitutional and revolutionary politics in Ireland from Parnell to Paisley. Irish historiography is dominated by studies of constitutional or revolutionary politics, but rarely are the interweaving dynamics of both political impulses systematically interrogated. This book represents the first sustained analysis of the clash between the constitutional and revolutionary ideals and actions from the late nineteenth to the early twenty-first century, encompassing both the unionist and nationalist political traditions. Each chapter presents a case-study with a detailed analysis of the fusion of constitutional and revolutionary politics in Ireland. As an accessible guide to over one hundred years of Irish history, contributing to our understanding of the causes and consequences of constitutional and revolutionary politics there, this book will appeal to the academic and general reader alike.
Ship of Seven Murders by Alannah Hopkins & Kathy Bunney
Large Format Paperback; 13 Euro / 18 USD / 10 UK; 256 pages [Add To Basket]
In 1828, the Mary Russell sailed into Cork Harbour from the West Indies. Seven crewmen lay in the main salon, brutally murdered by the captain. Daniel O'Connell, engaged for the prosecution, did not attend Captain Stewart's trial. The trial was a sensation as survivors revealed a tale of danger and delusion. But what really happened? One of the most celebrated cases of its time, the story of the Mary Russell was largely forgotten until Kathy Bunney located the carefully-tended grave of a murdered crewman. Now the facts of the case are reconstructed against the background of trade between Cork and Cobh and the West Indies. How would today's psychiatrists and courts view Captain Stewart's behaviour? Was his later decline into homicidal mania prompted by guilt, or was mental illness following its natural course? And why has such a strange, intriguing story remained buried for so many years? This bizarre tragedy, the dramatic court case and its place in history and folklore are unravelled in this gripping account.
Please note: Prices were correct at time of original posting but are subject to subsequent change without notice.
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