Read Ireland Book Review
Issue 229
Voyage of the Catalpa: A Perilous Journey and Six Irish Rebels Escape to Freedom by Peter Stevens
Hardback; 25.00 Euro / 30.00 USD / 20.00 UK; Weidenfeld, 328 pages [Add To Basket]
Setting out from New Bedford, Massachusetts on April 29, 1875, the American whaling barque 'Catalpa' undertook a secret yearlong mission to liberate a group of Irishmen known as 'The Freemantle Six' from an Australian prison.
The six men had been soldiers in the British army when they took the secret Fenian Oath and pledged themselves to fight for Irish independence and armed insurrection against the British military. Arrested in 1866 and tried for treason against the Crown, they were sentenced to imprisonment and slow death in 'a hellish foreign land.'
After eight years languishing in Freemantle Gaol and aided by a worldwide network of Irish nationalists and undercover agents the Freemantle Six escaped to the Australian coast where the 'Catalpa' was waiting to escort them to freedom.
But their trials were only just beginning. The obstacles they overcame, from armed British vessels to the full fury of the sea, made their escape the stuff of international headlines and legends.
Roman Ireland by Vittorio Di Martino
Paperback; 16.00 Euro / 20.00 USD / 12.00 UK; Collins Press, 208 pages with illustrations throughout [Add To Basket]
Imagine Ireland untouched by Roman influence during the four centuries Britain, only 55 km away, at the closest crossing, was part of the Roman imperial world. This was a time when such a distance was nothing for sailors routinely navigating the entire Mediterranean. Yet, until recently, the accepted view has been no Roman expedition to Ireland ever took place. This book provides a fresh reconsideration of Roman influence in Ireland, highlighting the common Indo-European roots of Roman and Irish culture. It outlines the early influence of Latin on the Irish language, the Roman contribution to the shaping of Irish art and the crucial function of trade in opening new contacts between the Irish and Roman worlds. The impact of Rome on social life, metallurgy, craftsmanship and farming is described. Finally, new insights are provided on the importance of Christianisation as a vehicle of Romanticism in Ireland and the likely occurrence of at least one Roman military invasion in Ireland.
Photography in Ireland: The Nineteenth Century by Edward Chandler
Large Hardback; 40.00 Euro / 48.00 USD / 33.00 UK; National Library of Ireland, 133 pages with photos throughout [Add To Basket]
This book pieces together the lives and careers of largely forgotten men and women who pushed forward the boundaries of the visual world. From the very start, in 1839, and through the nineteenth century, there was no mainstream movement in the art-science called photography. Irish photographers, like their contemporaries elsewhere, not only sustained but also added to the predominant currents along photography's evolutionary path both philosophically and technically. Thanks to long overdue reprints, some of the achievements of Coghill, Grubb and Joly can be here assessed at first hand. Their story is part of a larger one where patents bedevilled the progress of the calotype for years; commercial rivals struggled to survive; leisured amateurs compiled their albums; the slow and costly daguerreotype mirror went dark; and the difficult to manipulate wet plate collodion process triumphed in adversity until the plates turned dry.
Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of the Coins of Scotland, Ireland, Channel Islands and Isle of Man by Richard Lobel et. al.
Large Hardback; 62.00 Euro / 75.00 USD / 55.00 UK; Coincraft; 435 pages with illustrations throughout [Add To Basket]
This comprehensive and authoritative book covers over 1,000 years of coin issues from Ireland, Scotland, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. This is the first new volume on the subject in 15 years. It contains information on curiosities such as James II Gun Money; the coinage of the Irish Free State and Irish Republic; Isle of Man seventeenth century tokens; Channel Islands' George II token pieces; Mintage figures for decimal issues; Unofficial Ecu and Euro issues; Hundreds of collecting tips; Extensive historical and regional information; and an informative general index.
Avoca Café Cookbook 2 by Hugo Arnold
Large Paperback; 25.00 Euro / 30.00 USD / 20.00 UK; 255 pages with colour photos throughout [Add To Basket]
Following on the best-selling success of the first Avoca Café Handbook (which is still available and at the same price as volume 2) comes another exciting collection of much-requested recipes and fresh ideas from the award-winning kitchens of the Avoca cafes. This book is infused with a passion for fresh ingredients and wholesome, creative cooking. The book contains over 170 new recipes, a whole chapter on planning menus, and a guide to deli shopping. It is a treasure trove of inspiring meals, simple techniques and useful information. Above all, it is about good food making great meals!
The Rising of the Moon: The Language of Power by Ella O'Dwyer
Hardback; 35.00 Euro / 42.00 USD / 20.00 UK; Pluto Press, 161 pages [Add To Basket]
This book puts the radical changes in current political dialogue in Ireland into the context of the whole of the 20th century. Exploring the dynamics of power and language, the author compares the literature of Beckett, Conrad and Chinua Achebe, amongst others, to accounts of real events in Ireland's political history. She also examines accounts of particular events in Irish history that include Rex Taylor's biography of Michael Collins, Gerry Adams's biography and even messages from hunger-striker Bobby Sands that were smuggled out of prison. In a country where people have been subjected to incarceration and victimization, and where the political discourse is characterized by slogans, repetition, agreement and treaty, the implications for the national language and identity are immense. The author shows how oppression has obstructed and fractured the nature of Irish national discourse - and that this fragmented voice is a feature of all postcolonial narrative.
The Dublin Review Number 10 Spring 2003 Edited by Brendan Barrington
Paperback; 8.00 Euro / 9.50 USD / 6.50 UK; 128 pages [Add To Basket]
This issue contains: Andrew O'Hagan's Dublin Journal; Catriona Crowe on the Field Day Anthology; 'Selective Kinship': Benedict Anderson traces his ancestors; Patrick Crotty on Ascherson's Scotland; Harry Browne reads the US National Security Strategy; Kundera and Bohemia: Justin Quinn; Stories by Elaine Garvey and Philip O Ceallaigh
Shannon Harps by Peter Regan
Paperback; 5.99 Euro / 7.50 USD / 4.50 UK; Childrens Press, 128 pages, with illustrations [Add To Basket]
Joe Duggan is a man with a dream. To revive football in a parish that once sent a player to Croke Park to win an all-Irish senior title. And so Dave (tricky and hard as nails) and Rory (kicks the ball a mile) and Big Mary (sees a match as a chance to flatten the opponents) and Bull Malone (frightens the life out of goalies) and Dara (hurler turned footballer) and fifteen others set out on the road to glory. It is a road that's strictly uphill. But there's a cup at the end. What chance Shannon Harps? Age 8+
Circle of Suspicion by Paul Bradshaw
Paperback; 6.50 Euro / 7.75 USD / 4.75 UK; Childrens Press, 112 pages [Add To Basket]
Summer and the Daredevils are at a loose end. Then in blows Vinnie (from LA), complete with all the mondo gear you care to mention. He wants to know is there 'anything' to do in boring old Five Rivers. Good question! What's the answer? Then Sean sees a light winking from the spooky old house perched high above the cliffs. But no one has lived there for years … Age 8+.
The Hound of Ulster by Rosemary Sutcliff
Paperback; 8.00 Euro / 9.50 USD / 6.00 UK; Red Fox Classics, 192 pages, with illustrations [Add To Basket]
The boy who takes up the spear and shield of Manhood on this day will become the most renowned of all the warriors of Ireland, men will follow at his call to the world's end, and his enemies will shoulder at the thunder of his chariot wheels. So the prophecy went, and as the boy Cuchulain heard it, he went forward to claim the weapons of his manhood. This is the story of how he became the greatest of heroes, the Hound of Ulster. Age 10+
The Wish List by Eoin Colfer
Paperback; 9.95 Euro / 11.50 USD / 7.00 UK; Obrien Press, 206 pages [Add To Basket]
Meg Finn is in trouble. Unearthly trouble. Cast out of her own home by her stepfather after her mother's death, Meg is a wanderer, a troublemaker. But after a botched attempt to rob a pensioner's flat, Meg, along with her partner in crime, Belch, ends up in a very sticky situation. Meg's soul is up for grabs as the divine and the demonic try ever-underhand ploy imaginable to claim it. Her only chance for salvation is the Wish List. Age 10+
Johnny Coffin School-Dazed by John Sexton
Paperback; 6.95 Euro / 8.00 USD / 5.00 UK; Obrien Press, 250 pages [Add To Basket]
A shooting star flashes over the town of Kilfursa and Johnny Coffin makes a wish. That's when the trouble starts. Strange lights follow the school bus, hedgehogs throw themselves at the traffic and all the town dogs go missing. Enya's pet crocodile has also disappeared and Enya wants it back. Their teacher, Mr. McCluskey, becomes totally unhinged. And the homework he's setting in class becomes weirder and weirder. Is it any wonder that Johnny and his mates are school-dazed? Age 10+
Discovering Dublin: An Illustrated Map
Fold Out Map; 7.00 Euro / 8.00 USD / 5.00 UK; [Add To Basket]
This is a new edition of Dublin's most original and practical map. It covers the busy and popular areas at larger scale for extra clarity and detail. It includes hundreds of shops, restaurants, cafes and sandwich bars. Famous buildings are illustrated. Music venues are marked. It contains a full index of street names and sights, bus routes, historical notes.
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