Read Ireland Book Review
Issue 282
Ireland and the Jacobite Cause, 1685-1766: A Fatal Attachment by Eamonn O Ciardha
Trade Paperback; 30.00 Euro / 35.00 USD / 24.00 UK; 468 pages
Jacobitism (Irish suppoer for the exiled House of Stuart) was the ascendant political ideology among Irish Catholics between the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 and the French Revolution in 1789. This book provides a sustained analysis of this key ideology and the first major monograph on post-1691 Irish Jacobitism in English. Two critical features are the analysis of Irish-language poetry in its proper ‘British’ and European contexts and the inclusion of the Irish diaspora in France and Spain as an integral part of the Irish political ‘nation’. It seeks to redress the anglo-centric bias in eighteenth-century Irish history, as well as the excessive preoccupation with the Protestant minority and the last twenty years of the century.
The Modern Traveller to the Early Irish Church by Ann Hamlin and Kathleen Hughes
Trade Paperback; 15.00 Euro / 17.50 USD / 11.00 UK; 135 pages [Add To Basket]
The monastic sites of early Christian Ireland have always been an attraction to visitors. Now issued in a new edition, this book is intended for use by those who wish to understand the religious and secular life of early Ireland. The authors have used the site remains and historical source material to reconstruct the life of the Irish monks and laymen from the fifth to the twelfth centuries. Here the reader will find treatments of the function of monasteries in early Ireland, the daily life of their inhabitants, and the significance of their art and sculpture. The appendices include a county-by-county guide to the most interesting early Christian sites.
The World of Geoffrey Keating: History, Myth and Religion in Seventeenth-Century Ireland by Bernadette Cunningham
Trade Paperback; 25.00 Euro / 30.00 USD / 20.00 UK; 263 pages
Geoffrey Keating’s ‘Foras Feasa ar Eirinn’ was among the most popular and influential Irish histories ever written. It offered a sense of Ireland, or Irishness, and of Catholicism that had wide appeal. The work has long been valued for its mastery of the Irish language and its attractive literary style, yet its significance as history has been ignored. In this innovative book, the author evaluates Keating’s role as both historian and theologian, providing an interdisciplinary analysis of the entire range of his writing. The world of scribes, translators, publishers and readers of Keating’s works is included in this assessment of how ideas about religion and history were interpreted and transmitted to later generations. Geoffrey’s Keatings intellectual legacy is influencing perceptions of Irishness has been profound, not least as the populariser of the myth of a special relationship between Catholicism and Irishness.
Rebel Columns by Danny Morrison
Trade Paperback; 16.50 Euro / 20.00 USD / 10.00 UK; 220 pages [Add To Basket]
This book is a collection of Danny Morrison’s political commentaries published in various newspapers from the signing of the Belfast Agreement in 1998 to the recent 2004 elections. The book covers both international and Irish politics. Morrison’s themes include the plight of the Palestinian nation, the war in Iraq, US and British foreign policy and military aggression. One section is devoted to individuals – the poets, writers and freedom fighters who have stood up against injustice, and paid a heavy price. In relation to Ireland, he analyses republican strategy and developments within unionism, British policy and the dirty war against republicans. There are also sections on the media and the world after September 11. In the provocative collection, the former publicity director of Sinn Fein and an ex-prisoner is at his sharpest, combining political anger with highly informative comment.
The Irish Ringfort by Matthew Stout
Trade Paperback; 15.00 Euro / 18.00 USD / 11.00 UK; 140 pages
This book examines all aspects of the Irish ringforts – their shape and size, their date and function with special attention to national distribution patterns. Reference to contemporary written sources brings to the fore the people who dwelt within ringforts and their relationship with neighbouring farmsteads and religious communities. This study focuses on the lives and material remains of people who are often neglected in historical studies – the men and women who were not the kings and saints of official history. The book presents for the first time the newly available all-Ireland database of ringforts compiled by the Archaeological Surveys of the Office of Public Works and Heritage Service. National-wide patterns are illustrated through a re-examination of earlier studies. What emerges is a consistent pattern of settlement which illuminates aspects of Early Christian society, especially the relationship between individuals of varying status and the settlement determinants of both secular and ecclesiastical establishments.
Violence and Nationalist Politics in Derry City, 1920-23 by Ronan Gallagher
Paperback; 10.00 Euro / 12.00 USD / 7.50 UK; 72 pages [Add To Basket]
This book concentrates on three critical years in the development of Derry, when the corporation was controlled by a nationalist/Sinn Fein majority. The book also examines the day-to-day operation of the corporation – particularly the ambitious Banagher water scheme – as well as the circumstances the corporation found itself in nationally, when Sinn Fein accepted a truce with the British in 1921.
Irish Birds by David Cabot
Hardback; 20.00 Euro / 24.00 USD / 15.00 UK; 240 pages, full colour throughout [Add To Basket]
This book describes and illustrates 167 of the most frequently occurring birds in Ireland. The species have been carefully selected to include those that the non-specialist birdwatcher is most likely to see. For easy use, birds are grouped together according to where they are most likely to be seen: in gardens, parks and buildings; farmlands and hedgerows; woodland and scrubland; moorland and upland; freshwater and coastal areas. Each section starts with background information about these major habitats. There are also general pages for bird groups to help you distinguish between similar species. A ‘places to visit’ section details 74 of the best sites in Ireland for birdwatching, including when to visit, how to get there, and what you will see. This book is perfect for traveling around Ireland, is an ideal introduction to birdwatching, and makes the perfect gift for all nature lovers.
Paranormal Ireland: An Investigation into the Other Side of Irish Life by Dara deFaoite
Trade Paperback; 15.00 Euro / 17.50 USD / 10.00 UK; 299 pages [Add To Basket]
This book was first published in 2002 to wide critical acclaim. It has been fully updated and revised in this 2004 edition. The book is considered the definitive work on strange phenomena in Ireland. Superbly readable, the book recreates from interviews and notes, the possibility of big cats living wild in Tipperary, sightings of UFOs over Roscommon, the harrowing experience of a family in Glasgow at the hands of a poltergeist, amongst other mysterious tales. The author has produced a book with all the feeling and depth of fiction but more shocking because it is true!
Gregory Carr, Bookseller
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