Read Ireland Book Review
Issue 166
Prehistoric Archaeology of Ireland by John Waddell
Paperback; 30.00 IEP / 37.50 USD / 25.00 UK / 38.20 EURO; 433 pages, Word Well [Add To Basket]On present evidence, the human settlement of Ireland commenced some ten thousand years ago and the prehistoric story thus covers over eight and a half thousand years. Now in a second edition, this classic book provides a chronological account of this long timespan and, with numerous illustrations, charts the development of the first hunting and foraging communities, the achievements of the earliest agriculturalists with their remarkable megalithic tombs, and the technological advances of the later bronze- and iron-using societies. Recent decades have seen some exceptional developments in the study of the prehistoric archaeology of Ireland. New discoveries, excavations and research, new theoretical approaches and the increasing application of radiocarbon and tree-ring dating techniques have all made an enormous contribution to the better understanding of this remote past. As well as being a comprehensive and original review of the subject, this book answers the need for a detailed introduction to a large body of archaeological evidence and it is a measure of the amount of recent work that almost half the references cited in the bibliography have been published in the last dozen years.
Too Long a Sacrifice: The Letters of Maud Gonne and John Quinn edited by Janis and Richard Londraville
Hardback; 40.00 IEP / 50.00 USD / 32.50 UK / 50.80 EURO; 316 pages; Susquehanna University Press [Add To Basket]This important collection of letters between Maud Gonne and John Quinn deals with art, literature, Irish politics, and the horrific conflicts of early twentieth-century. As Quinn himself wrote to Gonne in 1915, 'We are having the experiences of centuries packed into a few years.' Their letters are filled with details about the Irish fight for freedom, and how it affected Yeats, Pound, Joyce and other friends; about Gonne's never-ending battle to establish a school feeding program for starving children in Ireland; and about the alarming changes in the political and social world of their time. Gonne believed that the powerful Quinn could do much for a troubled Ireland and wished he belonged 'to Ireland entirely, for you would have led the people and made history as Parnell did.' Maud Gonne was one of the few women Quinn wrote to with whom he had no romantic connection and she and the great patron became good friends who shared a passion for Ireland's dream of freedom. There has rarely been such a significant group of letters that allow the reader access to one of the most exciting times in Irish history and literature.
Glimpses by Brendan Kennelly
Paperback; 12.50 IEP / 15.00 USD / 10.50 UK / 16.10 EUROS; 159 pages; Bloodaxe [Add To Basket]In a frantic world, the momentary glimpse can spark a sudden flash of insight. This resonating glimpse - caught on the move - ripples through this mind, illuminating past and present, fast-forwarding in a split second to reveal future possibilities. But in an instant it is gone, lost in the bustle of everyday life. Keats wrote of the blindness that accompanies the sense of purpose. In this new collection, Brendan Kennelly opens his eyes - and ours - to the world and times we rush through without looking. With their quickfire wit and timeless wisdom, Kennelly's glimpse-poems are short, quizzical, word-creatures in the tradition of riddles, epigrams and puzzles. Sublime or profane, joyous or crazily raucous, Kennelly's glimpses have a life of their own, leaping beyond the words used to summon them up on the page.
Female Activists: Irish Women and Change 1900-1960 edited by Mary Cullen and Maria Luddy
Paperback; 15.99 IEP / 19.50 USD / 14.00 UK / 20.40 EURO; 206 pages; Woodfield Press [Add To Basket]This book charts the lives and works of women who were significant figures in Irish political life in the twentieth century. Many of these women had cut their activist teeth in the suffrage campaign and went on to play an important role on the national and international political stage from the time of independence. These biographical studies recount the lives and work of trade unionists Louis Bennett, Helena Molony and Mary Galway, and political activists, Kathleen Lynn, Rosamond Jacob, Hanna Sheehy Skeffington and Margaret Cousins. While often associated with one particular arena, these women, in reality, campaigned on numerous significant issues, from suffrage to pacifism, republicanism, trade unionism, socialism and health reform. In addition, Jacob was a novelist, Malony a leading Abbey Theatre actress, and Lynn a pioneer in paediatric medicine. This collection adds considerably to our view of women's place in twentieth-century Ireland, and it provides the first comprehensive study of a significant group of Irish women.
Carolan: The Life Times and Music of an Irish Harper by Donal O'Sullivan
Paperback; 30.00 IEP / 37.50 USD / 25.00 UK / 38.20 EURO; 378 pages; Ossian
Hardback; 40.00 IEP / 50.00 USD / 33.50 UK / 50.80 EURP [Add To Basket]Originally published in 1958, this classic study of Turlough O Carolan became a musical and historical beacon for all those interested in Ireland's past and present. It is an indispensable tool for Irish musicians, who through this remarkable volume of research can go beyond the music itself, and engross themselves in the colourful world of this unique travelling musician in a still largely feudal Ireland of the 17th and 18th centuries. This new edition contains all of the original sections on 'The Life of Carolan' , with all 213 tunes, the annotations to the tunes, 'The Remarkable Memoirs of Arthur O'Neill', and complete indexes. Of major importance is the inclusion of an Appendix which contains recently discovered O'Carolan compositions, as well as much other previously unpublished material.
Irish Session Tunes: The Green Book selected by Geraldine Cotter
Paperback; 8.99 IEP; 11.50 USD / 7.50 UK / 11.40 EURO; 48 pages; Ossian [Add To Basket]This book contains 100 tunes collected by Geraldine Cotter. She is from Ennis, Co. Clare, an area well known for its rich musical tradition. Her music has been learned first hand from well-respected musicians of an older generation. She is carrying on this tradition in the time-honoured way, by presenting the tunes as she learnt them. The music is written in a simple form, without ornamentation, thus making it accessible to musicians of all levels. The tunes in this collection include jigs, reels, hornpipes, set dances, slow airs and miscellaneous pieces.
Irish Session Tunes: The Red Book selected by Matt Cranitch
Paperback; 8.99 IEP; 11.50 USD / 7.50 UK / 11.40 EURO; 48 pages; Ossian [Add To Basket]This collection contains a varied selection of tunes, some of which are popular and widely played, others not so well known. The different dance rhythms - double jigs, slides, slip jigs, polkas, reels, hornpipes and set dances - are included, in addition to some airs. The number of tunes in each category represents, approximately, the relative popularity of the various types of tune, with the reel undoubtedly being the most popular.
Exploring Wicklow's Rebel Past 1798-1803 by Ruan O'Donnell
Paperback; 7.95 IEP / 10.00 USD / 6.50 UK / 10.10 EURO; 72 pages, with colour photos; Wicklow County Council
[Add To Basket]The events which took place between 1798 and 1803, when Irish rebels attempted to seize power from the colonial government, has left a lasting mark on the people and landscape of County Wicklow. The rugged mountains formed a place of refuge for the United Irishmen, from where they could organize raids on the lowlands that surrounded them. Rebel leaders such as Billy Byrne, Joseph Holt and Michael Dwyer became heroes during this time. This book brings the Wicklow landscape of 1798-1803 to life. With twenty four sites of interest listed, both in the towns and the mountains, and easy to follow maps, the reader can plan a round around the county which will suit. All the memorials commemorating the Rebellion are listed, with photos of many. The history and folklore of each site is given, as are clear directions to the area.
Last Orders, Please! By John McGuffin
Paperback; 12.50 IEP / 15.00 USD / 10.00 UK / 15.90 EURO; 199 pages; Irish Resistance Books [Add To Basket]This book consists of 24 'tasteless' tales from the 'Troubles', written over a period of 25 years. The author recently confessed that the worst thing about these tales or reminiscences is that they are basically all true, and not even the names have been changed to protect anyone, innocent or guilty. Obscure, bizarre and humorous, the stories are politically incorrect gems!
The Voice of the Eagle: The Heart of Celtic Christianity by Christopher Bamford
Paperback; 16.95 IEP / 20.00 USD / 15.00 UK / 21.50 EURO; 335 pages; Lindisfarne Books [Add To Basket]This book contains John Scotus Eriugena's Homily on the Prologue to the Gospel of St. John. John Scotus Eriugena was born and raised in Ireland during the early ninth century. Neither monk nor priest, but a 'holy sage', he carried to France the flower of Celtic Christianity. His homily, 'The Voice of the Eagle', is a jewel of lyrical mysticism, theology, and cosmology, containing the essence of Celtic Christian wisdom. He meditates on the meaning and purpose of creation as revealed by the Word made flesh, distilling into twenty-three short chapters a uniquely Celtic, non-dualistic fusion of Christianity, Platonism, and ancient Irish wisdom. The translator's 'Reflections' make up the second half of this book and attempt to unfold some of the life-giving meaning implicit in Eriugena's luminous sentences. Inspired both by a personal search for a living Christianity and by a sense of the continuity of Western culture, these 'Reflections' offer a contemporary, meditative encounter with the Word as mediated by both St. John's Prologue and Eriugena's Celtic homily. This favourite of Celtic Christianity has been revised and also includes a new introduction by Thomas Moore, author of 'Care of the Soul' and 'The Soul of Sex'.
Read Ireland Bookstore
392 Clontarf Road
Clontarf, Dublin 3
Ireland
Tel + Fax: +353-18-302-997
Customer Services Comments, Criticism and Questions
Subscribe to Read Ireland Book News - Our Free Weekly Email Newsletter