Read Ireland Book Review
Issue 128
The Angel in the House by Kate O'Riordan (Paperback; 14.00 IEP / 17.50 USD) [Add To Basket]
At the V&A Museum, Robert falls for Angela, the angel he's been waiting for all his life. Angela falls for Robert, the man she has not been waiting for all her life. It should be easy … But why is Robert so afraid to love? And who is the sweet and mysterious Angela, really? Why does she never invite him home? Any why, exactly, has her Uncle Mickey been in an attic for the last fifty years? No one is as they seem in this intriguing comedy of errors. With a cast of characters as vividly colorful as the Ark, the author takes the reader on a journey of constant twists and turns as Robert and Angela unravel the truth about themselves and one another. Sparkling with acute observation, full of life and warmth, this is an entrancing novel about the danger of wanting to possess what you can't, wanting to be what you're not - and learning to love what you get.
Celtic Saints: Passionate Wanderers by Elizabeth Rees (Hardback; 21.00 IEP / 27.50 USD) [Add To Basket]
Throughout the Celtic World, the legacy of the Celtic saints remains visible. Churches, place-names, carved inscriptions, healing wells and local traditions all stand as testament to those men and women who helped establish the Christian Church. But who were these saints, and what inspired their passionate wanderings? Using archaeological evidence and literary sources, the author presents the fascinating stories of some of the best known of the Celtic saints - St. Patrick and St. Brigit in Ireland, St. David in Wales, St. Columba in Scotland, and St. Aidan and St. Cuthbert in Northumbria - as well as those of lesser-known monks and nuns, missionaries and martyrs. From St. Michael's Mount, and the Kerry coast in the southwest of Ireland, through Wales with its great monastery of Llanilltud Fawr, to Iona and Lindisfarne in the north of Scotland, the author traces the journeys of these early Christians, exploring the sites where they chose to live, pray and preach - dramatic headlands, sheltered valleys, forest clearings, healing springs and peaceful lakeshores. Much of this landscape still remains, especially in the remoter parts of Britain and Ireland. In exploring these sites, the Celtic saints of legend are brought vividly to life and their continuing legacy is revealed. The book contains 28 illustrations with 13 maps.
Paths to a Settlement in Northern Ireland by Sean Farren and Robert Mulvihill (Paperback; 10.15 IEP / 13.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
This book examines the many attempts to resolve the conflict in Northern Ireland, beginning with the civil rights movement and Prime Minister Terence O'Neill's attempts at reform in the mid-1960s, continuing up to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. For the most part, early efforts at peacemaking suggested only mechanical political solutions that deepened the already antagonistic pattern of relationships. It was not until existing relationships were challenged, most crucially in the Anglo-Irish Agreement on 1985 and subsequently in several other initiatives jointly determined by British and Irish governments, that the main parties began to participate in efforts to create a democratic peace. The search for peace had always been overwhelmed by the violence that reinforced separation. Changing relationships and the end of the violent campaigns have created new opportunities for peace building. Deep wounds still remain unforgiven, failed stereotypes persist and fear abounds. Yet, despite all this, as the authors argue, a political and cultural process is now in motion that gives peace its first real chance in Northern Ireland's troubled history.
Padraig O Fathaigh's War of Independence: Recollections of a Galway Gaelic Leaguer edited by Timothy McMahon (Paperback; 8.95 IEP / 10.50 USD) [Add To Basket]
Padraig O Fathaigh was a lifelong Gaelic Leaguer in Galway. Already an Irish Volunteer before 1916, he was arrested on Easter Tuesday. He spent the next year undergoing penal servitude, the first of four terms of imprisonment between 1916 and 1920. When at liberty, he acted as an Intelligence Officer in South Galway and Mid-Clare. His handwritten recollections illuminate life 'on the run' and in prison, and will interest all students of the Irish Revolution and the Gaelic Revival.
Collected Short Stories by James Plunkett (Paperback; 7.99 IEP / 10.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
James Plunkett was born in Dublin in 1920 and educated at Synge Street Christian Brothers School and the Municipal School of Music. His first novel, Strumpet City, was an international bestseller and is now a recognised classic of Irish historical fiction. He has also written a number of plays in addition to the short stories collected in this volume.
Celtic Decorative Art: A Living Tradition by Deborah O'Brien (Paperback; 9.99 IEP / 13.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
Celtic decorative art - ancient, mysterious, beautiful. The rare examples of Celtic art that survive merely hint at the skill of the Celts and their treasure trove of spectacular work. Yet the descendants of the Celts have kept the love of their art alive down the centuries. This author of this book creates new work from her own link with this tradition. The work shows a sincerity and dedication to her Celtic lineage, and evokes the timeless qualities of harmony, intimacy and earthiness. All her designs are original, beautiful and practical - they can be stencilled, drawn, painted, copies or act as inspiration.
After a Fashion: A History of the Irish Fashion Industry by Robert O'Byrne (Paperback; 18.99 IEP / 22.50 USD) [Add To Basket]
In this elegant and colourful book, the fashion commentator and journalist from the Irish Times chronicles the development of an indigenous fashion industry in Ireland from the 1950s to the present. He traces the trajectory of couture from its heyday to its demise. He examines the place of the clothing industry in Irish fashion and highlights the key roles played by tweed, linen and knitwear in the evolution of an identifiably Irish style and he salutes the 1990s designers of ready-to-wear fashion. The book looks at the innovators and the careers of established designers. It is a celebration of an industry working against the odds, and a salute to the creators of a distinctive style that has gone all over the world.
Excavations 1998 edited by Isabel Bennett (Hardback; 15.00 IEP / 18.50 USD) [Add To Basket]
This bulletin has been published since the early 1970s and each year contains accounts of every excavation undertaken in Ireland. Over the years the publication has grown in size and extent, reflecting the increasing number of excavations necessitated by continued development. Continuing this trend, the number of licences issued has grown again, with an increase of more than 100 over those issued in 1997. The vast majority of these sites are reported in this volume, the remainder simply listed. This year, for the first time, every one of the 32 counties is represented, even if only by one site, as is the case with County Carlow. As is to be expected, Dublin is again the county where most work took place, much of it in urban areas. Louth takes second place with 58 sites and Tipperary and Kildare share joint third with 50 sites each. This volume also contains a full index of all the excavations reports on since 1969.
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