Read Ireland Book Reviews
Issue 336
Star Sullivan by Maeve Binchy
Paperback; 5.00 Euro / 6.50 USD / 4.00 UK; 106 pages
Molly Sullivan said that the new baby was a little star. She was no trouble at all and she was always smiling...so she became known as Star and no one remembered that her name was Oona. Star Sullivan just wanted everyone to be happy - her father to stop gambling, her mother not to work so hard, her brother to stay out of trouble, her sister to stop worrying about every little thing she ate. Then the Hale family moved in next door, and from the moment Star saw 23-year-old Laddy Hale, everything began to change - until Star was no longer the sweet, thoughtful girl everyone loved and no one worried about...
Irish Poems chosen by Matthew Sweeney
Paperback; 7.00 Euro / 9.00 USD / 5.00 UK; 220 pages [Add To Basket]
This is a sparkling collection of the very best Irish poetry. It is a beautiful gift book featuring a sumptuous and uplifting range of Irish poetry. Matthew Sweeney has chosen classics, such as 'Cockles and Mussels'; poems from such celebrated poets as Seamus Heaney and W.B. Yeats; and lesser-known gems that he has discovered on his journey through Ireland's rich poetic heritage.
Oscar Wilde’s Stories for Children illustrated by P.J. Lynch
Paperback; 7.00 Euro / 9.00 USD / 5.00 UK; 112 pages
Includes Oscar Wilde's tales: "The Happy Prince"; "The Selfish Giant"; and more. This title contains illustrations by an award-winning illustrator P J Lynch.
Dublin: 1001 Intriguing Facts by Gill Davies
Hardback; 8.00 Euro / 10.00 USD / 6.00 UK; 414 pages [Add To Basket]
Celebrates Dublin in its antiquity and its diversity. Both visitors to Dublin and Dubliners themselves will find this cocktail of history, geography, myth and legend a useful read.
Phoenix Park: A History and Guidebook by Brendan Nolan
Large Paperback; 19.00 Euro / 23.00 USD / 14.00 UK; 255 pages, with black and white photos throughout
The Phoenix Park, one of the biggest enclosed parks in the world, provides a breath of fresh air amid the urban sprawl of modern Dublin. Brendan Nolan's comprehensive guide to the Phoenix Park covers its origins and history, buildings and monuments, wildlife, literary associations, local lore, military use, sports, self-guided walks, and its future in an urban environment. The author provides detailed histories and descriptions of all of the landmarks in the Park, including the Zoo, Aras an Uachtarain, Farmleigh, Ashtown Castle, the American Ambassador's Residence, Garda Headquarters, etc. He touches on such historical events as the infamous murders of 1882, the Eucharistic Congress of 1932, and the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1979. This book will be of interest to tourists and visitors, to locals and Dubliners in general, and to anyone interested in this most historic and scenic park.
North Dublin: City and Environs by Dillon Cosgrave
Large Paperback; 19.00 Euro / 23.00 USD / 14.00 UK; 128 pages
Originally published in 1909, this book explores the Dublin of the early 1900s. The narrative stretches from Church Street out to Howth by way of Clontarf, Fairview, Marino and the Phoenix Park. The author displays an impressive knowledge of the people, places and happenings of the city and its surrounds over the centuries that preceded publication. A comprehensive study of the city and county north of the Liffey this book provides a fascinating view of Dublin from the eyes of an Irishman in the early twentieth century. A re-publication of a classic history text widely quoted and referred to and not reprinted since 1977. The book covers a broad swathe of the city and county north of the Liffey; features interesting local content; and offers a fascinating perspective on the image of Dublin held by our predecessors and ancestors.
Dublin 1745-1922: Hospitals, Spectacle & Vice by Gary Boyd
Large Paperback; 20.00 Euro / 25.00 USD / 15.00 UK; 224 pages, with black-and-white photos and illustrations throughout [Add To Basket]
This innovative book interprets architectural spaces in the light of the underlying tensions between 18th-century Dublin as a fashionable resort and the attempts by the authorities to deal with some of the results of its apparent profligacy. These include the creation of new institutions as well as other measures designed to remove ugly realities from the street and purify urban space.
Based mainly on 18th- and 19th-century archival material from the Rotunda Hospital, the Lock (venereal) Hospital and the Hospital for Incurables, this book challenges the vision of 18th-century Dublin as an ideal Protestant city by investigating the hidden world behind its wide streets and magnificent Georgian facades. The decision to establish the British Isles' first maternity hospital on the northern edge of Sackville Street (today's O'Connell Street) was grounded in a series of imperatives where obstetrics and medicine were only part of the overall story. The adjacent Pleasure Gardens, created ostensibly to provide funds for the hospital, introduced new types of social engagement and an increase of commodified forms of entertainment to the city. The Gardens, characterised by acts of spectacle and display, soon acquired an additional reputation as a site of sexual adventure and louche behaviour, one which ultimately would be extended to the city.
Wexford; A History, A Tour and a Miscellany b Nicky Rossiter
Large Paperback; 18.00 Euro / 22.00 USD / 13.00 UK; 160 pages, with black-and-white photos throughout [Add To Basket]
This book will give the resident and the visitor a broad as well as an intimate picture of the town or "ancient and historic borough" of Wexford as local politicians delight in calling it. It is filled with interesting, amusing, revealing and educational stories. Featuring three sections, A History, A Miscellany and a Tour, this book offers a sample of the unique flavour of Wexford. This is Menapia, Loch gCarman, Weisfiord, Wexford. Nicholas Rossiter is a financial Advisor based in Wexford Town. The history bug bit in the 1980s when he produced some very popular publications in association with several other local historians. "Wexford: A History, A Tour and A Miscellany", is the product of research, built up knowledge and commitment to local heritage. It features: nearly 200 images of Wexford, its sights and people; engaging tone. The author's excellent local knowledge lends itself well to the narrative.
A History of Newtownbutler by Barbara Chapman
Trade Paperback; 18.00 Euro / 22.00 USD / 13.00 UK; 100 pages, with black-and-white photos throughout [Add To Basket]
Newtownbutler is a rural town on the south east of County Fermanagh, steeped in colourful history and tradition. In this publication of the local history of Newtownbutler, Barbara Chapman gives a fascinating account of the history of her town, gathers statistical facts and interviews many of the local characters. The book is nicely illustrated with old and new pictures of the town through her many changing phases.
Tales from the Banks of the Erne by John Cunningham
Trade Paperback; 18.00 Euro / 22.00 USD / 13.00 UK; 100 pages, with black-and-white photos throughout [Add To Basket]
A place of great scenic beauty, Loch Erne has long been the inspiration for artists and draws tourists from far and wide. This is a unique collection of tales capturing the experiences and memories of people around the Loch Erne area through the last century, many of which have since passed away. These tales are charming in their humour and simplicity and touching in their honesty.
A Thousand Years of Church Heritage in East Galway by Peter Harbison
Trade Paperback; 20.00 Euro / 25.00 USD / 15.00 UK; 140 pages, with endflaps, full colour photos throughout [Add To Basket]
East Galway, between Corrib and Shannon and Clare and Roscommon contain a treasure of major and minor church gems. The area includes earlier and late medieval monuments such as Kilmacduagh with its famous leaning tower and the attractive ruined fairies of Kilconnell and Ross Emily among others. But the major surprises of this book are the rich and largely undiscovered heritage of stained glass which can be explored there. Labane and Loughrea respectively saw the genius and the high point of ‘Celtic Revival’ stained glass in Ireland with some of the most famous products of Sarah Purser’s An Tur Gloine (Tower of Glass) studio.
Voices of Trim by Tommy Murray
Trade Paperback; 18.00 Euro / 23.00 USD / 13.00 UK; 100 pages, with black-and-white photos throughout [Add To Basket]
Featuring entries from the culchie of the year, local politicians, ordinary workers and FCA men and characters known throughout the town, Voice of Trim displays the colour and life of Trim at its remarkable best. Featuring images and postcards from the authors own collection and photographs and pictures from other collections, this book will appeal to all those who live in or know Trim. Tommy Murray is a well known author and poet living in Trim. He has produced numerous successful books and publications and has received many prizes and awards for his work and poetry. It features: Local Content; Engaging tone; Excellent collection of postcards and images.
Voices of the Donegal Corridor by Joe O’Loughlin
Trade Paperback; 17.00 Euro / 20.00 USD / 12.00 UK; 90 pages, with black-and-white photos throughout [Add To Basket]
"The Donegal Corridor", based along Lough Erne in County Fermanagh and up the Donegal coast, was a key contribution to the Allies in World War II. A place where ally soldiers trained for combat, where planes landed and refuelled and where many crashed and lost their lives. This intriguing book brings together a collection of memories, from home and abroad, of the Donegal Corridor. Joe interviews local people, family members and former comrades. The book is beautifully illustrated with pictures of many of these lost heroes, their aircrafts and the memorial sights of those who never made it home. This book will have a local as well as an international appeal.
A Class Apart: The Gentry Families of County Kildare by Con Costello
Trade Paperback; 25.00 Euro / 30.00 USD / 20.00 UK; 128 pages, with a 16-page full colour insert [Add To Basket]
The landed gentry played a significant role in the history of Kildare. The highly impressive houses throughout the county stand as testimony to this. There has always been a deep fascination in 'The Big House' - the families living there, their treatment of the peasants, and their eventual fall. The Gentry of Kildare is a fascinating exploration into the lives of a number of gentry families, their rise and their demise. This study of the landed gentry is a wonderful read from both an historical as well as a local point of view.
Newgrange: The Mystery of the Chequered Lights by Hugh Kearns
Paperback; 15.00 Euro / 18.00 USD / 10.00 UK; 142 pages, with endflaps [Add To Basket]
5,000 YEARS AGO, AN EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE LIVED IN IRELAND. THEY WERE FARMERS, HUNTERS AND BUILDERS. WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF THE WHEEL, AND WITH TOOLS MADE ONLY OF FLINT, THEY CARVED THEIR CULTURE INTO HISTORY. ALONG THE BANKS OF THE RIVER BOYNE, THEY BUILT IRELAND'S BIGGEST AND BEST-KNOWN NECROPOLIS, REPOSITORIES TO THEIR SPIRITS - MONUMENTS TO IMMORTALITY.
At ten minutes to nine on the morning of the shortest day of the year, a pale and weak sun slowly rises above a ridge in the Boyne River valley. As its rays penetrate the dawn mist, a solitary building sits atop the hill waiting - Newgrange, waiting as it has every year for over fifty centuries to shine once again as a beacon to the Spirit of Man.
In this dramatic new book, Hugh Kearns postulates that the Neolithic structure at Newgrange is even more sophisticated than the current archaeological establishment is prepared to accept.
Everyone knows that the solstice sunrise is captured by the structure to illuminate a corbelled chamber deep in the interior of the huge mound. But what did the Neolithic engineers do with the captured sunbeam? The answer to that intriguing question illuminates some of the darkest passages of Irish history, validating even the most exotic of Irish legends as actual, prehistoric facts.
Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion by Charles Townshend
Trade Paperback; 12.00 Euro / 15.00 USD / 9.00 UK; 442 pages [Add To Basket]
Before Easter 1916, Dublin had been a city much like any other British city, comparable to Bristol or Liverpool and part of a complex, deep-rooted British world. Many of Dublin's inhabitants wanted to weaken or terminate London's rule, but there remained a vast and conflicting range of visions of that future: far more immediate was the unfolding disaster of the First World War that had put home rule' issues on ice for the duration. The devastating events of that Easter changed everything. Both the rising itself and - even more significantly - the ferocious British response ended any sense at all that Dublin could be anything other than the capital of an independent country, as an entire nation turned away in revulsion from the British artillery and executions. As we approach the 90th anniversary of the rebellion, it is time for a new account of what really happened over those fateful few days. What did the rebels actually hope to achieve? What did the British think they were doing? And, how were the events really interpreted by ordinary people across Ireland? Vivid, authoritative, and gripping, "Easter 1916" is a major work.
Gregory Carr, Bookseller
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