Read Ireland Book Review
Issue 310
Myths and Legends of the Celts by James MacKillop
Hardback; 40 Euro / 5000 USD / 25.00 UK; 386 pages
This book is a fascinating and wide-ranging introduction to the mythology of the peoples who inhabited the northwestern fringes of Europe. Drawing on recent historical and archaeological research, as well as literary and oral sources, the guide looks at the gods and goddesses of Celtic myth; at the nature of Celtic religion, with its rituals of sun and moon worship; and at the druids who served society as judges, diviners and philosophers. It also examines the many Celtic deities who were linked with animals and such natural phenomena as rivers and caves, or who later became associated with local Christian saints. And it explores in detail the rich variety of Celtic myths. This books covers the wonderfully diverse and fertile tradition of myth-making that has captured the imagination of countless generations, introduced and explained here with compelling insight.
Irish Sagas and Folk Tales by Eileen O’Faolain
Paperback; 10.00 Euro / 13.00 USD / 7.00 UK; 246 page [Add To Basket]
Here is a classic collection of tales from the folklore of Ireland. It begins with the heroic sagas, the ancestral tales of men and gods – The Children of Lir, The Fate of the Sons of Usnach, and the magnificent Cattle-Raid of Cooley (the story of the Táin). Then come the noble tales of Finn and the Fianna, Oisin in the Land of the Ever Young, and the Pursuit of Dermot and Grania. Finally there are the chimney-corner tales of the Little People – The Black Thief, The Bird of the Golden Land, and many others. Throughout the book, Eileen O’Faoláin maintains a fine command of beautiful, flowing language and captures the heart of Irish storytelling at its enchanting best.
Carson: The Man Who Divided Ireland by Geoffrey Lewis
Hardback; 30.00 Euro / 36.00 USD / 20.00 UK; 280 pages, with two 8-page black-and-white photo inserts
The partition of Ireland in 1921, and the birth of Northern Ireland as a political entity, was the work of one man above all others. Edward Carson, born in Dublin in 1854, was a brilliant lawyer whose cross-questioning of Oscar Wilde at his libel trial brought about Wilde's downfall. An inspiring orator and political heavyweight at Westminster, his defence of Unionism in the years before the First World War, and of the rights of Ulster not to be swamped in an independent Ireland, made a united Ireland a political impossibility. While some of his actions were denounced in England as close to treason, Carson's idealism and religious tolerance were untypical of the sectarian bigotry that marred the later history of Northern Ireland. Carson: Father of Northern Ireland is the first modern biography of a major figure in both British and Irish politics.
The Midnight Court by Ciaran Carson
Paperback; 12.50 Euro / 16.00 USD / 8.50 UK; 80 pages [Add To Basket]
An outstanding poet, Ciaran Carson has also proved himself and adept and adventurous translator. Now he turns to a masterpiece perfectly suited to his abundant gifts, the eighteenth-century Irish 'Cúirt an Mhéan Oíche'. Brian Merriman's classic debate on marriage and the plight of young women culminates in the fairy goddess Aoibheall's judgement against men.
Carson echoes Merriman's mix of high rhetoric and rude colloquial wit and replicates his probing analysis of sexuality and social mores. The acrobatics of his couplets quicken the poem's passionate argument, capturing its nudges and winks in earthy, contemporary idiom.
What he calls Merriman's 'abundant lexicon of vilification . . . numerous double entendres and gorgeousness of verbal music' comes alive in his brilliant recreation. This Midnight Court unfolds with a spring — and a surprise — in every step. (Also available in Hardback, priced at 20 Euro)
A Special Kind of Courage: 321 EOD Squadron-Battling the Bombers by Chris Ryan
Hardback; 25.00 Euro / 30.00 USD / 19.00 UK; 328 pages, with photo insert
Filled with extraordinary heroism and drama, this is the official story of the British Army's most decorated unit - its Northern Ireland bomb disposal squadron.
321 EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) Squadron was posted to Northern Ireland at the outset of the Troubles to provide bomb disposal expertise. Since then it has answered over 50,000 'bomb scare' calls, over 5,500 of them to deal with actual devices. It is impossible to estimate the number of lives, or value of property, saved by its work. But the cost is clear. Conspicuous courage is an essential qualification and 321 EOD is the most decorated unit in the entire British Army. Its members have been awarded 2 George Crosses, 29 George Medals and 281 other medals for outstanding gallantry. 20 officers have lost their lives; 24 have been severely injured. One still serves despite the loss of a hand. It is grimly appropriate that the unit has as its mascot and radio call-sign the cartoon cat, Felix, with his nine lives and ability to withstand mayhem.
As peace emerges in Northern Ireland, 321 EOD is now ready to tell its story for the first time. Written with its full co-operation, A Special Kind of Courage traces the history and development of bomb disposal and the use of explosives by terrorists; the human courage and techniques used to counter it; and the international dimension - how violent revolutionary groups abroad, such as ETA in Spain, copied the methods of Irish terrorists. It describes how 321 EOD's pioneering devices - notably the remote-controlled 'wheelbarrow' - have been exported around the world, earning it a global expertise that is sought by many other nations facing the threat of terrorism.
Irish Benedictines: A History edited by Martin Browne and Colman O Clabagh
Hardback; 30.00 Euro / 37.00 USD / 22.00 UK; 240 pages
In the story of Irish monasticism one chapter has been curiously neglected: the Irish Benedictine tradition has never attracted the historian's attention. This volume seeks to redress this by providing for the first time a comprehensive survey of the ways in which Irish men and women have sought, and continue to seek, God by following the Rule of St Benedict.
In a scholarly but accessible fashion, these essays celebrate and explore the stories of these Irish Benedictines over a period of 1400 years. Their following 'the path of the Lord's commands' brought them across Dark Age Europe, through Reformation England and war-torn Europe and into modern Africa. In exile and persecution they established centres of learning and refuge; returning to Ireland they continue to devote themselves to these activities, seeking to glorify God in all things.
Deadlier Than Male: Ireland’s Female Killers by David Kiely
Paperback; 11.00 Euro / 15 USD / 7.50 UK; 188 pages [Add To Basket]
A woman who slew her husband with the Christmas present she'd given him. A grandmother who enthusiastically assisted in the murder of her own granddaughter. A woman who helped her lover brutally slaughter her husband. David Kiely, author of the bestseller Bloody Women: Ireland's Female Killers , returns with a new collection of cases from north and south of the border. Spanning more than a century, Deadlier than the Male offers a startling and compelling look at the circumstances that drove sixteen Irishwomen to murder. Many were pushed to the brink by abusive partners, others entered a deadly love triangle. Still others chose the way of murder to further their own selfish ends. Deadlier than the Male is a perfect sequel to Bloody Women. Grippingly written, these stories tell of moments of madness, panic and evil.
Gregory Carr, Bookseller
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