Read Ireland Book News - Issue 31
<-- [Back To Main Menu] 1. Brendan Behan: A Life by Michael O'Sullivan (hardback; 19.99 Irish pounds / 30.00 US Dollars approximately) [Add To Basket]
In this comprehensively research biography of Behan, the first in over a quarter of a century, the author has teased out many of the contraditions surrounding the Behan legacy. He is the first writer to have had access to a major collection of prison correspondence and documentation hitherto buried in the confidential files in London and Dublin; and to a private collection of photographs published in this book for the first time. He has extensively interviewed family members, friends, fellow writers, Behan's editors and producers.
Behan's unusual childhood in Dublin's tenement slums was dominated by the left-wing views of his family; his father's literary interests; his mother's republican idealism; and the formidable influence of his grandmother's bohemian boudoir. By the age of 16, he was arrested for the possession of bomb-making equipment in Liverpool and sent to a British Borstal. Much of his early life was spent in and out of jail, a period that later helped shape his literary genius. Behan developed a unique, ebullient and sometimes angry voice.
Today, his stature as a celebrated writer and wit, rebel and rake has been firmly established and shows no sign of abating. His best known works include Borstal Boy, The Quare Fellow, and the Hostage. 'God-branded' is how his London publisher, Iain Hamilton, described Behan's tempestuous personality. Yet, posterity tends to focus only on the hackneyed image of the archetypal Irishman and spectacular drunk.
The controversial subject of Behan's homosexual leanings and his extraordinary relationship with his wife Beatrice are sensitively explored. The author traces the rise and fall of Behan that ended tragically at the age of 41 after prolonged alcohol abuse.
This book is an extraordinary exploration of the man behind the myth.
2. Violent Delights by Scott Graham (hardback; 18.80 IRP / 28.20 USD) [Add To Basket]
Scott Graham, the author of this remarkable book, was an SAS soldier. He was decorated for his heroism in Northern Ireland and the Falklands War, and he fought dozens of gun battles in which more than a dozen IRA terrorists were killed.
Mairead Farrell was petite, young, darkly beautiful - and a member of the Irish Republican Army.
This book is the true story of this extraordinary romance, and of the killings that shocked the world. Their love affair begain in a Belfast bar when Mairead was an innocent Catholic schoolgirl and the author a young, idealistic British soldier with dreams of one day joining the SAS. He lied about his occupation and soon they became lovers. Mairead would become a heroine and a legend among the Republicans of West Belfast. She joined the IRA, running messages, ferrying arms and finally playing a key role in bombing missions. Scott went on to become a 'badged' member of the SAS.
Together the two shared a deadly and terrible secret. For fourteen years, they loved one another with a relentless passion, against all the taboos of both their armies. Their clandestine love affair reached its crescendo with the shooting of three unarmed IRA terrorists on the Rock of Gibraltar, one of the most controversial incidents in the history of the SAS.
This book is the amazing true story of the doomed love affair of two young people thrown together by accident in one of the world's most violent societies, two people representing the opposite sides of the divide in Northern Ireland.
3. Slanguage: A Dictionary of Irish Slang by Bernard Share (paperback; 10.99 IRP / 16.50 USD) [Add To Basket]
This is an exceptional work of reference. It is a guide to the unofficial language of the 32 counties of Ireland, the language of the streets and pubs, but also of much of Irish literature from Swift to Roddy Doyle. It is the dictionary that lists and explains the words and phrases that Irish people actually use. Each entry is explained in normal dictionary style and the origin of each word or phrase is identified where possible. Subtleties of colloquial usage are illustrated by wide-ranging examples from many recorded sources. Whether you are a decent skin or a crawthumper, a horse-protestant, a hard chaw or a strong farmer, this book is for you.
The book is full of fun, information, devilment and craic! It is also a unique piece of scholarship that captures and celebrates the vigorous and inventive world of Irish popular speech.
4. Introduction to Celtic Mythology by David Bellingham (hardback; 7.85 IRP / 11.80 USD) [Add To Basket]
This book takes the reader back to the pagan world of the Celts with later Christian and Romantic additions removed and the stories related as they were originally intended Ð enthralling entertainments for cold winter evenings. The stories in this volume are beautifully illustrated with examples of 'abstract' Celtic art and craftsmanship at its finest: the helmets and words of warriors; the intricate jewelry worn by both men and women; the precious illustrations of medieval manuscripts such as the Book of Kells; and the occasional rare depictions of strange heroes and deities. The author introduces the reader to the wonderful culture with tales of Celtic heroes and heroines, great stories and tragic tales. Also included are a range of shorter tales told by the Irish bards: tales of magic and monsters, lovers and wizards. The narratives are interspersed with features on various aspects of the Celtic tradition. A comprehensive appendix lists the original sources for these tales, and full pronunciation tables are given.
5. Irish Records: Sources for Family and Local History by James G. Ryan (hardback; 40.00 IRP / 60.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
This book is designed to facilitate Irish family history research by providing a comprehensive listing of the record sources available in each country in Ireland. In this revised edition, the author has included many new sources. In particular, the sections for each county on "Census and Census Substitutes," "Miscellaneous Sources," and "Research Services" have been expanded. The details of the Prebysterian, Church of Ireland and Catholic records have also been extensively amended. This new edition also lists all of the heritage centers which prvide search services, and it specifically indicates which parish registers, gravestone inscriptions, and other sources have been indexed by each. The growth of these centers is the most important development in Irish family history research in the last 10 years, and this book shows how this new resource can be used to greatest effect.
6. Hanna Sheehy Skeffington: A Life by Margaret Ward (paperback; 14.95 IRP / 16.50 USD) [Add To Basket]
Hanna Sheehy was born into a talented political family at the turn of the century. Her father was an Irish Party MP and her uncle a member of the insurrectionary Irish Republican Brotherhood. As Ireland waited for the passing of Home Rule it was expected that the younger generaton of Sheehys and their friends would form part of the new Irish ruling class.
Hanna Sheehy Skeffington would never become a ruler, but instead chose to fight a range of battles with authority. She and two of her sisters were part of a pioneering generation of female university students determined to play an active role in political developments. In 1908 Hanna helped found the Irish Women's Franchise League and by 1912 she had served her first term in prison for militantly campaigning for suffragism. With her husband, the feminist and pacifict Frank Sheehy Ð who took her name and also become Sheehy Skeffington on marriage Ð she helped to edit the long-running Irish Citizen. During the Easter Rising he urged non-violence but she sympathised with revolutionaries like James Connolly and took supplies to the rebels. Frank was to become one of the vicimts of those times, and she never forgace the brutality of the British in trying to cover up his murder. Later on she proved herself fearless in her fight for justice, confronting both the British Prime Minister and the President of the United States of America.
She was a pivotal figure in feminist, labour and nationalist movements for almost half a century, supporting such cases as Sinn Fein, Russian solidarity, republicans in the Spanish Civil War, and opposing the 1937 Constitution. Intellectual, witty and warm-hearted, a devoted mother as well as an outspoken feminist, she was incomparable as propagandist, strategist and orator.
7. Do Lorg: Danta & Aortha Traces De Ton Passage: Poemes et Satires by Pol Breathnach (hardback; 10.00 IRP / 16.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
This unusual work won the Clo Iar-Chonnachta Literary Award 1997. It consists of some sixty short texts (prose and verse) in Irish, twenty-four prose versions of the texts in French, and eight colour reproductions of paintings by the writer's friend, Mireille Geugant. It is the result of a five-year association of writer and artist, during which each provoked a response from the other through poems, paintings, letters, thought-transference and semi-annual meetings. In awarding the prize, the adjudicators remarked upon the writer's powers of expression, the strong emotion in the textx, the effectivejuxtaposition of the two languages and two art-forms, and the beauty and unity of the whole work.
The texts reflect, in their setting, the author's personal history. Born in the United States, he has lived most of his life in central Dublin and in the Connacht Gaeltacht. He has also spent some years in Belgium and France. This is his first book.
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