Read Ireland Book Review
Issue 174
My Time in Space by Tim Robinson
Hardback; 15.99 IEP / 19.00 USD / 14.50 UK / 20.40 EURO; Lilliput Press, 232 pages [Add To Basket]In this dazzling new series of essays, the author examines aspects of his own 'time in space', moving from his childhood in Yorkshire to a deadly moment on a Malayan airstrip, a pilgrimage to the midnight sun, adventures in the art-worlds of Istanbul, Vienna and London, and finally to the spaces of the West of Ireland which he has interpreted with incomparable attention and fidelity over the past three decades. These essays explore problems in mathematics and mapping, the human implications of the arc of a missile, the feelings of a sceptic upon approaching divine ground in the company of a mystic, and other encounters of the empirical with the numinous: Robinson has an uncanny capacity to write convincingly about both. The sequence ends with an angry outburst against the ongoing wrecking of the Irish countryside and a moving hymn to the delights of his own house and garden at the edge of the sea in Connemara. This book is the latest instalment in a literary corpus of singular integrity and endless fascination.
A Cavalier Irishman: The Ulick O'Connor Diaries 1970-1981
Hardback; 31.50 IEP / 37.50 USD / 25.00 UK / 40.10 EURO; John Murray, 344 pages, with b/w photo insert [Add To Basket]The old tradition of the literary stroller, whose imagination fed on the passing crowd, still survived in the intimate atmosphere of Dublin in the 1970s and 1980s. In these sparkling and often very funny diaries, O'Connor takes the reader into the heart of Irish life at that period, evoking the streets and bars of Dublin with their now legendary characters, the world of the Abbey Theatre, and that of the Gate Theatre of Michael MacLiammoir. He recreates the atmosphere and talk of the great Anglo-Irish country houses such as Leixlip Castle and Tullynally, where he often stayed as a guest of the Guinnesses and the Longfords. And he reveals here, for the first time, the secret part he played as a go-between for the Taoiseach, Jack Lynch.
Accidental Diplomat: My Years in the Irish Foreign Service, 1987-1995 by Eamon Delaney
Paperback; 10.99 IEP / 13.00 USD / 9.00 UK / 13.90 EURO; New Island, 400 pages, with b/w photo insert [Add To Basket]Eamon Delaney started in the Department of Foreign Affairs at the tender age of twenty-four. It was 1987, the eve of Charles Haughey's triumphant return to power. And tense times for the diplomats of Iveagh House. From lonely nights at the Soviet Desk to glamorous soirees during Ireland's presidency of the emerging European Union, Delaney kept his ear to the ground - a useful skill when wedged precariously between Iran, Iraq and Israel at the UN General Assembly. And more useful still when, at the Irish Consulate, he travelled the strange world of Irish America, doing battle with radical nationalists and having to indulge in a painful amount of ceili dancing. And then there was Northern Ireland, and the Peace Process of 1993-1995, where no amount of dining, spying and manipulation was spared in the pursuit of the ultimate goal - the greater good of officialdom! Hilarious and at times deadly serious, this book offer a wry and irreverent view of the backstage dealings at Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs.
Irish Church Records edited by James Ryan
Paperback; 22.00 IEP / 26.50 USD / 18.50 UK / 28.80 EURO; Flyleaf Press, 208 pages [Add To Basket]This book details the records of each of the 8 major Irish denominations and their value for family history, and for church and local history. The locations of the records of each church, and guidelines for the access are also provided.
Joey Dunlop: His Authorised Biography by Mac McDiarmid
Hardback; 35.00 IEP / 41.50 USD / 30.00 UK / 43.50 EURO; Haynes; 192 pages, large format, full colour throughout [Add To Basket]When Joey Dunlop, undisputed master of the Isle of Man TT, was killed in July 2000, he was awarded what amounted to an Irish state funeral. The service, attended by cabinet ministers and no fewer than 50,000 well-wishers, was broadcast live on national television. For the mourning motorcycle road race fans the modest Ulsterman was akin to royalty. This authorised commemorative biography tells the full story of the 'King of the Roads'. The text, full of first hand anecdotes from family, friends and other racers, is supported by race statistics and a wealth of photographs, many of them published here for the first time.
Like Joy in Season, Like Sorrow by Mary Dorcey
Paperback; 6.99 IEP / 8.00 USD . 6.00 UK / 8.90 EURO; 96 pages; Salmon Poetry [Add To Basket]With this new volume, Mary Dorcey has become a necessary poetic voice. We have always looked to her to give witness to love among women but increasingly, she is needed for her unflinching cartography of old age; the shape-shifting relationships between ageing parents, voyaging towards decline and death, and the children who care for them. The poetry is, above all, a celebration of the power of memory in the face of its destruction.
Asylum Road by Mary O'Malley
Paperback; 6.99 IEP / 8.00 USD . 6.00 UK / 8.90 EURO; 96 pages; Salmon Poetry [Add To Basket]Mary O'Malley's fourth collection takes as its focal point the Irish identity and explores our response to recent immigration in the light of our own history. She once again brings a poignant, sharp clarity to the Connemara of her childhood, sweeps out towards California and Mexico and always returns to the particular details of her home place; explored and re-imagined in the light of a quest that is continuous, exacting and rooted in exigent lives.
Critical Ireland: New Essays in Literature and Culture edited by Aaron Kelly and Alan Gillis
Paperback; 16.99 IEP / 19.00 USD / 15.00 UK / 21.70 EURO; Irish Academic Press, 221 pages [Add To Basket]This absorbing collection of essays offer a panoptic view of recent Irish literary and cultural criticism. Written by young and emergent scholars, the book is both a window into the contemporary state of Irish studies, and a blueprint for its future. The contributors have combined a scholarly rigour and in-depth analysis with a refreshingly accessible style and wit. Irish writers past and present, major and minor, are given important new readings, whilst innovative perspectives on Irish culture are opened up in essays comparing Belfast to Barcelona, or examining a theatrical ventures advertising campaign. This Irish literary and cultural history is examined close-up, but it is also placed within an invigorating and revelatory range of broader contexts. The books' critical approached cover formalist, feminist, Marxist, postcolonial, and post-modern areas of concern; but strikingly, many essays self-consciously bring two or more such perspectives to bear upon one another, and the overall tenor of the book stems from its fusion of theoretical verve and empirical accuracy. Thus the confluence and conflict of poetics and historiography, socialism and nationalism, creativity and capital, are examined across multiple genres from the eighteenth century to the end of the twentieth.
The Complete Guide to Irish Dance by Frank Whelan
Paperback; 15.00 IEP / 18.00 USD / 13.50 UK / 19.10 EURO; Appletree Press, 190 pages, with diagrams throughout [Add To Basket]Irish dancing has never been more popular. In recent years, the success of Riverdance and Lord of the Dance has enthralled audiences worldwide. This book offers a comprehensive history on all aspect of Irish dance, from its ancient origins right up to the present day. The book gives detailed information about Irish dancing from the first day a dancer enrols at a dance school, right through the different levels of competition up to the World Championship. Special attention is paid to music, costume, embroidery and shoes. With clear and simple instruction and diagrams from 30 popular Irish dances, as well as step-by-step photos demonstrating arm and body positions for reels, jigs and hornpipes, this book is of great benefit to anyone with an interest in or a love of Irish dance.
The Book of Irish Legends by Iain Zaczek with illustrations by Emma Garner
Paperback; 6.99 IEP / 8.00 USD / 6.00 UK / 8.90 EURO; 128 pages, Cico Books [Add To Basket]This book celebrates the richness of Irish storytelling, presenting both evocative folk tales and classic legends from the epic story cycles. These tales of supernatural love, spiritual voyage, and heroism are accompanied by specially commissioned paintings and an appendix of principal character and places. Full colour throughout.
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