Read Ireland Book Review
Issue 316
New Dubliners: Short Stories edited by Oona Frawley
Hardback; 15.00 Euro / 18.00 USD / 10.00 UK; 154 pages
It has been 100 years since James Joyce began to write the celebrated stories about his home city and its people, holding up his ‘nicely polished looking glass’ and preserving on paper a legendary snapshot of Dublin at the start of the twentieth century. But would Joyce recognise the Dublin of today? This book presents eleven individual, contemporary Dublins, each fresh from the pen of a leading Irish author, each a vivid portrait of the city 100 years on. Dense with quiet epiphanies and possessing a peculiar grace, this book is a unique collection. Authors: Joseph O’Connor, Roddy Doyle, Ivy Banninster, Desmond Hogan, Colum McCann, Bernard Mac Laverty, Maeve Binchy, Anthony Glavin, Dermot Bolger, Clare Boylan and Frank McGuinness.
Kathy’s Story by Kathy O’Beirne
Trade Paperback; 20.00 Euro / 26.00 USD / 14.00 UK; 220 pages [Add To Basket]
Kathy O'Beirne's earliest memories are of being battered and sexually abused. Unable to confide in anyone about the beatings she regularly received from her father or about the boys who made her play dirty games, she became withdrawn and self-destructive, leading a psychiatrist to diagnose her as 'a child with a troublesome mind'. As a result, aged only eigh,t Kathy was removed from the family home and incarcerated in a series of institutions. In the first, a reformatory school run by a holy order on behalf of the Irish State, she was raped by a visiting priest. When she tried to get help, she was transferred to a psychiatric hospital, where the abuse continued, along with the administration of large amounts of drugs and electric shock treatment. At the age of twelve, Kathy was sent to a Magdalen laundry. These notorious workhouses operated in Ireland throughout the twentieth century and during that time thousands of young girls, some orphans, some pregnant and some considered 'at risk' in the community, were forced to slave in horrendous conditions. Locked away from their families and the outside world, many of the girls were cruelly punished and sexually abused by the staff or lay visitors. Kathy fell victim to one of these predators and gave birth to baby Annie just weeks before her fourteenth birthday. The little girl had a serious bowel condition but lived to the age of ten, providing the only light in Kathy's blighted life. After all that she has suffered, Kathy has now come forward to tell her harrowing story in the hope that more will be done to help survivors of institutional abuse. She recounts her tragic experiences in unflinching detail but what is most remarkable is the strength of character that shines through such a dark tale. It is this strength that has enabled her to survive and fired her continuing struggle for justice.
Fallen Star by Joan O’Neill
Paperback; 10 Euro / 13.00 USD / 7.00 UK; 260 pages
In 1950s Ireland, Sixteen year old Stella's innocent childhood is shattered when charismatic Charlie comes into her life. Where Stella's family struggle to make ends meet, Charlie can have anything he wants, and that includes Stella, who is rapidly falling for him. Then Stella discovers she is pregnant. Suddenly Charlie is gone, and Stella is left with only the bracelet he gave her. Stella's devoutly religious mother, horrifed by the scandal, sends her errant daughter to a Magdalene Laundry convent, miles from home, where in return for daily and rigorous and endless chores, Stella will be able to have her baby in secret. The convent is bleak and austere, the nuns themselves cruel and lacking compassion. When Stella's baby girl is born, it will be taken from her for adoption, the only answer is to run away with her child. But Stella didn't expect the struggle and pain of being a single mother - with her family turning against her, who can she rely on for help. Out of the blue, comes support and love from an unexpected quarter, to finally make Stella's story a happy one.
The Medieval Castles of Ireland by David Sweetman
Large Format Paperback; 25.00 Euro / 32.00 USD / 19.00 UK; 220 pages, with black-and-white photos throughout [Add To Basket]
While 'an Englishman's home is hs castle', in Ireland all castles were built for defensive purposes. Medieval castles of Ireland traces the development of the Irish Medieval castle, drawing on the research and records of the Archaeological Survey and David Sweetman's 30 years of experience in medieval archaeology. This book also benefits from the results of many recent castle excavations. it is the most thorough and up-to-date book available on Irish castles with 200 original drawings and photographs.
Supreme Sacrifice: The Story of Eamonn Ceannt 1881-1916
Trade Paperback; 20.00 Euro / 26.00 USD / 14.00 UK; 160 pages, with black-and-white photos throughout
Éamonn Ceannt was one of 15 men executed for their roles in the 1916 Easter Rising, but until now his story has never been told. This biography charts the life of Éamonn Ceannt from his school days in County Galway to his execution in Dublin on May 7, 1916, for his role as a leader of the rising and a signatory of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic.
The Hill Road by Patrick O’Keeffe
Hardback; 22.50 Euro / 30.00 USD / 16.00 UK; 260 pages
In four unforgettable novellas, linked by setting and circumstance, Patrick O'Keeffe creates a vision of rural Ireland that is clear-eyed, evocative, humorous and true. The townland of Kileedy in the 1970s is at risk of being trapped for ever in an earlier version of itself, a time when shell-shocked soldiers return from the trenches, and convent orphans can be billeted as servants on poor farmers, when a glamorous Irish American finds her liberated ways mean flirting is flirting with danger, and a meeting on a train means the postman's widow must face the past. Patrick O'Keefe's Ireland is a precarious world, but it is also a place of natural beauty, of laughter, of family closeness, a place where stories can change lives.
The Friends of Rathlin Island by Stewart Dalby
Trade Paperback; 15.00 Euro / 18.00 USD / 10.00 UK; 311 pages [Add To Basket]
Three divers working for the Police of are shot dead as they step ashore on the Ulster mainland after leaving Rathlin, an island in the straits between Northern Ireland and Scotland. The killings appear to be sectarian and could spark a return to violence in the Province after years of uneasy peace. A clue lies in a document left on Rathlin with Jackie Wilson, an anthropologist. He believes he is a neutral bystander in the age-old conflict, but in reality he is buffeted by conflicting loyalties. Pursued by all sides, he tries to unlock the secret of the document. Gradually he discovers that the seas round Rathlin hold secrets that could change the future of Northern Ireland. But at the same time he becomes painfully aware that there is no sitting on the fence in Ireland, as he confronts his past and his life in terms of love, commitment and betrayal.
Women in Ireland 1800-1918: A Documentary History by Maria Luddy
Trade Paperback; 30.00 Euro / 36.00 USD / 24.00 UK; 350 pages [Add To Basket]
Women in Ireland 1800-1918 presents a valuable and significant collection of over 100 sources and documents relating to the public and private aspects of women's lives in Ireland during the period 1800-1918. The documents reveal aspect's of women's working lives, educational experiences, involvement in politics and of their private lives such as contraception, childbirth, love, marriage and religion. Each section has a comprehensive introduction which discusses the context of the documents. As the first major survey of Irish women's lives, it will appeal to those who want a deeper understanding of how women of all classes lived their lives and it will prove indispensable to second and third level students, those attending Women's Studies courses, as well as a wide general readership interested in assessing the role of women in nineteenth and early twentieth century Irish history.
The Dancer by Christine Dwyer Hickey
Trade Paperback; 12.00 Euro / 15.00 USD / 9.00; 350 pages [Add To Basket]
Set in 1918, The Dancer centres around three people, sisters Kate and Maude and their younger brother, the dancer of the title. A story of contrasts: kindness and cruelty; loving marriage and loveless; intrigue, betrayal and loss, The Dancer is a powerful evocation of female sexuality, an historical novel of extraordinary immediacy and vitality.
Gregory Carr, Bookseller
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