Read Ireland Book Review
Issue 226
New Irish History
The Boyne and the Blackwater by Sir William Wilde
Hardback; 30.00 Euro / 36.00 USD / 24.00 UK; Kevin Duffy, 324 pages [Add To Basket]
This book was written by Sir William Wilde in 1849 and gives an exhaustive account of the antiquities along the Boyne Valley and its contributory river the Blackwater, which flows through Counties Kildare, Meath, Lough and Cavan. Along its banks are countless Ruined Forts, Castles, Abbeys, Cairns, Tumuli including Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. Here too took place the famous Battle of the Boyne at Old Bridge - a Battlefield map is included (folded) - all are graphically described and illustrated with eighty four woodcut engravings. Now, after 150 years, this marvellous book is reprinted from a facsimile of the original second edition. William Wilde, Oscar's father, was one of the most renowned Antiquarians of his day, as well as being a Historian of note, a Naturalist and the founder of the first Eye and Ear Hospital in Dublin
The Irish Revolution and its Aftermath 1916-1923: Years of Revolt by Francis Costello
Hardback; 45.00 Euro / 52.00 USD / 35.00 UK; Irish Academic Press, 451 pages [Add To Basket]
This book is the first full-length analysis of the Irish revolution in its totality, taking into account the wide range of social, economic and political developments as well as the IRA's campaign of guerrilla warfare and the British response to it. Drawing on previously unpublished sources, the author paints a broad picture of the people and the key events in the Irish struggle for independence. The book breaks new ground in detailing the behind-the-scenes debate within the British Cabinet in dealing with the revolt in Ireland. British official frustration provoked by the acceptance of Dail Eireann and its mandate by the majority of the Irish people is also chronicled. New light is shed on the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations as well as on the divisions within Irish nationalism before and indeed afterwards that culminated in the Irish Civil War. The role of external forces including public opinion in the United States and Britain competing obligations at home and abroad are also covered. Considerable attention is given to the development of democratic government in the fledgling Irish Free State in the midst of domestic upheaval, and to the broader effort at nation building that followed the Civil War. This is the first major work to review the Irish Revolution and its long-term reverberations to the end of the twentieth century, and it includes the official texts of all the agreements between Britain and Ireland since 1921
The New Neighbourhood of Dublin by Joseph Hone, Maurice Craig and Michael Fewer
Hardback; 30.00 Euro / 25.00 USD / 23.00 UK; A&A Farmar, 253 pages, with black-and-white photos throughout [Add To Basket]
This book is an irresistibly readable exploration of the sights of the city and county of Dublin. It contains fascinating descriptions of the buildings and places of Dublin city and county and how they have changed over the past 50 years. In 1949, the distinguished man of letters, Joseph Hone and architectural historian Maurice Craig took 21 routes from in the city centre to the outlying parts of the country - from Balbriggan to Little Bray, from Ringsend to Lucan. With elegant scholarship they detailed their findings along the routes, and the stories connected to them. In 2001, architect Michael Fewer surveyed those routes again. This book brings together the previously unpublished Hone and Craig text with Fewer's parallel notes describing the subsequent changes. The result is a unique introduction to the richly varied built environment of Dublin city and county.
Newgrange and the Bend of the Boyne by Geraldine Stout
Large Format Hardback; 40.00 Euro / 50.00 USD / 28.00 UK; Cork University Press, 231 pages, with colour illustrations throughout [Add To Basket]
This book is an exploration of an outstanding archaeological landscape centred on Newgrange Passage Tomb and its greater environs. In ancient times it was called Brugh na Boinne. Today this area is designated as a World Heritage Site and is Ireland's first protected Archaeological Park. Its rich fertile soils and south-facing slopes are set in County Meath in the most accessible, low-lying part of Ireland, close to the Irish Sea. This is where the great prehistoric tomb-building tradition of Atlantic Europe reached its zenith. It is where legend says the foundations of Irish Christianity were laid and is also the home of Ireland's first medieval Cistercian monastery at Millifont. On the banks of the Boyne in 1690 one of the most important battles in Irish history was fought.
The Bend of the Boynce had a pivotal role to play in Irish history and this is evident in its abundant physical remains, which can be traced amongst its fields and riverbanks. Through the interpretation of these remains, this book presents an understanding of how this landscape was organized and exploited by communities over 7000 years of settlement. This book draws heavily on the results of an extensive programme of excavation at Knowth, Newgrange and Monknewtown and archaeological survey, which has greatly increased our knowledge of prehistoric societies. Using a wide range of maps, colour photographs and historic as well as new drawings, it traces the gradual evolution of the landscape to the present day. This book is also concerned with the future of this protected cultural landscape and recommends actions to ensure its protection and preservation.
Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger by Asenath Nicholson, edited by Maureen Murphy
Paperback; 18.99 Euro / 23.50 USD / 14.50 UK; Lilliput Press, 394 pages [Add To Basket]
In May 1844 the American educator and reformer Asenath Nicholson set out from New York on a fifteen-month visit to Ireland, determined to 'investigate the condition of the Irish poor'. Nicholson travelled on foot through much of the island, reading the Bible to the local people and sharing their hospitality. She describes a rural society that, despite great poverty, received the American visitor with generosity and kindness. Nicholson's rich and lively account of her travels is a unique glimpse of Ireland before the Great Hunger of 1845-52.
Irish Republican Women in America: Lecture Tours, 1916-1925 by Joanne Mooney Eichacker
Paperback; 23.50 Euro / 28.50 USD / 18.50 UK; Irish Academic Press, 330 pages [Add To Basket]
Five Irish Republican women conducted lecture tours in the United States from 1916 to 1925. Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington, Mary MacSwiney, Mrs. Muriel MacSwiney, Countess Constance Markievicz, and Mrs. Margaret Pearse. Each tour involved fund-raising, but the primary goal was to educate and inform Americans, particularly Irish-Americans, about the injustice of British rule in Ireland. This book examines their lecture tours in depth: the circumstances, often controversial, of each tour; the many people the women encountered, including the leading political figures of the days such as President Woodrow Wilson; transcripts of their speeches; the reaction of the American public; the politics surrounding the tour; the press coverage and the impact of the tour. Drawing on their letters, their speeches, press reports, and accounts of the strong impressions the women left of their American audiences, the author paints a vivid and personal portrait of each woman. The political astuteness and success of Irish republican women during this period far surpassed the achievements of their sisters in other parts of the world. This book celebrates the heroism, conviction and enormous self-sacrifice of these women, who left their family and friends in a war-torn Ireland to further the cause of freedom for their country.
County Longford and the Irish Revolution 1910-1923 by Marie Coleman
Hardback; 45.00 Euro / 50.00 USD / 35.00 UK; Irish Academic Press, 276 pages [Add To Basket]
This book gives an insight into the Irish revolution, and seeks to explain how it came about, through a study of events at a regional level. County Longford was the scene of Sinn Fein's crucial by-election victories in 1917 and an active area of IRA operations during the War of Independence. The decline of the Home Rule movement in the country up to the eve of the by-election in May 1917 paralleled the fate of the movement nationally and also in other parts of the country. The weakness of the home rule campaign during the South Longford by-election reflected the level of decline that had taken hold. While the victory of the Sinn Fein candidate, Joe McGuinness, was ensured by the controversial intervention of the archbishop of Dublin, Sinn Fein had a much better organization than the weak and divided Irish Parliamentary Party. Sinn Fein's victory in the by-election acted as a catalyst for the rapid spread of the movement throughout Longford in the latter half of 1917.
In this book, the author discusses the political aspect of the revolution by examining the importance of administrative charges as Sinn Fein and Dail Eireann usurped the functions of the courts and local government, and then goes on to describe the military side of the revolution. A narrative account of the War of Independence and Civil War in Longford is followed by a personal profile of the Volunteers and Cumann na mBan respectively, outlining their activities at various stages of the independence campaign, and examining their motivation for joining these organizations and engaging in violent activity.
Illustrated Dictionary of Irish History edited by Seamas Mac Annaidh
Paperback; 14.99 Euro / 17.50 USD / 11.50 UK; Gill & Macmillan, 224 pages, with colour illustrations throughout [Add To Basket]
The Irish people have a great sense of national identity drawn from a history that mixes oppression and emancipation. This book offers a complete A to Z journey through a turbulent past that has shaped the country today. It provides a comprehensive background to, and a deeper understanding of, a great many characters and events. From the mythology of Fionn mac Cumhail and the Giant's Causeway to the legendary modern political figures of de Valera and Collins; from the barren limestone cliffs of the Aran Islands to the vibrant city life of Dublin: every aspect of Irish history is covered in these extensively cross-referenced entries.
Breaking New Ground: Fifty Years of Change in Northern Ireland Agriculture 1952 - 2002 b Derek Alexander and Michael Drake
Hardback; 27.00 Euro / 32.00 USD / 22.00 UK; Blackstaff Press, 144 pages, with photos throughout [Add To Basket]
The 1950s saw the beginning of a rural revolution in the north of Ireland, as farmers took stock after the war and began to use modern methods, moving away from centuries-old practices. The years since have seen accelerating change - professional training, entry into the EEC in 1973, the introduction of milk quotas in 1984, an inexorably declining rural population and the catastrophic crises of BSA and foot-and-mouth disease. In this informative, well-illustrated account, the authors chart the highs and lows of an industry and a way of life that has seen extraordinary change in the period from 1952 to 2002.
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