Read Ireland Book Reviews
Issue 342
Ireland’s Ancient Stones: A Megalithic Heritage by Kenneth McNally
Hardback; 28.00 Euro / 35.00 USD / 20.00 UK; 140 pages, with full colour photos throughout
Scattered across the Irish countryside are an astonishing number and variety of ancient structures of earth and stone: lichen-encrusted megalithic tombs, ritual circles and alignments, mystic cult stones, raths and cashels, and the crosses and round towers of the Celtic Church - tangible legacies of the different cultural groups which contributed to the personality of the landscape from prehistoric times. Kenneth McNally's magnificently evocative photographs of the finest of Ireland's field monuments include many of the most famous examples - Newgrange, Glendalough and Legananny - as well as some of the curious and lesser known - Pat Kearney's Big Stone, the enigmatic Caldragh Idol, Ballykinvarga Fort, The Piper's Stones, and many more around which a rich and colourful folklore has grown up over the centuries. The author's introductions to each section set the background to this remarkable heritage, and the commentaries accompanying the photographs tell the reader all he or she needs to know about each particular site, whether as an intending visitor or as a vicarious traveller.
Land Matters: Power Struggles in Rural Ireland by Ethel Crowley
Paperback; 15.00 Euro / 18.00 USD / 10.00 UK; 230 pages [Add To Basket]
The Land Question has always been predominant in Ireland. According to forecasts, there will be as few as 15,000 farmers in twenty years' time. As the Irish rural image undergoes radical transformation, this timely, informative, vigorously argued book will be necessary reading for those working in rural development, food production, housing, transport, heritage and conservation, to say nothing of those who simply care about Ireland's future. Land Matters concerns social and ecological change, the underlying results of structural and policy decisions made in Brussels or Dublin and their impact on the ground. It addresses the following themes: globalization and the forces that shape society; the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy), and why it has been reformed; social inequality; REPS (the Rural Environment Protection Scheme) and its impact; survival strategies in everyday life (farm households and diversification); green capitalism; landscape, heritage and the 'politics of perception'; nitrate pollution; migration; contrasting rural visions (housing in the country, 'clean' food); and views of a region - west Cork - in which competing claims are made by farmers, hoteliers, conservationists and second-home owners. Key organizations such as Teagasc, the IFA, An Taisce and Organic Trust are also examined and profiled. Land matters permeate all our lives, from our supermarket shelves to our television screens and studies, from our boardrooms to our streets, dwellings, communities and belief systems. No one will be untouched by the issues raised in this pioneering, analytic work.
Wednesday’s Child by Shane Dunphy
Paperback; 13.00 Euro / 16.00 USD / 10.0 UK; 207 pages
Wednesday's Child" is the story of one year in the life of an Irish child protection worker. Shane Dunphy was involved in social care for fifteen years. This book is a distilling of the cases he encountered in that time to make a single, year-long narrative. Apart from that compression, and some necessary changes of identifying details, everything in the book is true. And what a truth he reveals! Here are the cases of three dysfunctional families, struggling at the margins of a society that barely acknowledges the existence of such people. This is a portrait of fatalistic despair, of families so sunk in chronic poverty and neglect that they are beyond saving themselves or their children. All the elements of social dysfunction are present: the unkempt houses, truant children, endless televsion, anorexia, alcoholism, suicidal desperation. Yet out of this mess there is hope as well as tragedy. Most of Wednesday's children don't make it, but some do. Some survive the most appalling childhood horrors to make it through to the normal adult world. But more are doomed. Despite the heroism of child protection workers and the best efforts of well-intentioned people, we still face a hidden mountain of avoidable human misery. And all this in one of the richest countries in the world.
Belfast 1938-1968: Ireland in the Age of the Trolleybus by Mike Maybin
Large Paperback; 25.00 Euro / 30.00 USD / 20.00 UK; 128 pages, with black-and-white photos throughout [Add To Basket]
Belfast Corporation operated the largest trolleybus system in the UK outside London, and its heyday was in the 1950s. This 1996 book, reformatted and re-issued, captures the flavour of that period with more than 200 photographs, covering the city route by route, with additional sections on depots, tickets and preserved vehicles.
Irish Leprechaun Stories by Bairbre McCarthy
Paperback; 8.00 Euro / 10.00 USD / 6.00 UK; 96 pages
This collection contains ten stories, which convey the sense of wonder of the world of fairies, where the marvellous and unexpected can always happen. Among the stories are ‘Princess Marie’, ‘The Leprechaun and the Giant’, ‘Tim the Tailor’ and ‘The Greedy Landlord’. For 8 to 12 year olds.
Complete Book of Gaelic Games edited by Des Donegan
Paperback; 20.00 Euro / 25.00 USD / 15.00 UK; 352 pages
"The complete handbook of gaelic games: Full GAA records from 1887 to 2005 Inclusive".
Where to Watch Birds in Ireland and Britain by David Tipling
Large Paperback; 12.00 Euro / 15.00 USD / 9.00 UK; 176 pages, with colour illustrations throughout [Add To Basket]
This excellent guide contains over 300 of the most popular birding sites in Britain and Ireland, offering valuable infor-mation on access and location and habitat type.
Bill Oddie’s Birding Map of Ireland and Britain
Map; 7.50 Euro / 10.00 USD / 5.00 UK; [Add To Basket]
The only one of its kind, the third edition of this illustrated map is an essential reference tool for locating the top 340 birding sites in Britain and Ireland.
Winds the Road North by Geraldine O’Connell Cusack
Paperback; 20.00 Euro / 25.00 USD / 15.00 UK, 231 pages [Add To Basket]
Winds the Road North is the story of an ordinary family from the developed world who make a life in Africa under extraordinary conditions. They live in northern Tanzania and face the same daily struggles as the local population. Thirteen-year old Kaniah attends the village school and shares all the hurts, fears, and magical dreams of her classmates. But Kaniah misses the camaraderie of friends back home and begins to understand what it is like to live among strangers who will never really understand. Winds the Road North is a personal journal and cadidid observation of Africa today. It is honest, funny, and frankly unsentimental and will appeal to all those seeking to understand the racial and religious tensions simmering beneath our global village.
The Darkness of Bones by Sam Millar
Trade Paperback; 13.00 Euro / 16.00 USD / 10.00 UK; 234 pages [Add To Basket]
This is a tense tale of murder, betrayal, sexual abuse and revenge, and the corruption at the heart of the respectable establishment. A young boy discovers a bone in a snow-covered forest. Initially, Quigley Maguire thinks it could simply be that of an animal. But, it belongs to a young girl who has been missing for three years. Quigley's father, Frank, an ex-detective who now works as a private investigator, has hidden from his son his responsibility for his wife's death. When he confesses the truth to him, Quigley runs from his home into the worst snowstorm for decades. Frank's search for his son brings him into contact with Jeremiah Grazier and his drug-addicted wife, Judith, a damaged refugee from an orphanage who now sees herself as an avenging angel. Meanwhile, in the derelict orphanage, a tramp discovers a sexually mutilated and decapitated corpse, later identified as that of the head warden of the institute.
Miss Katie Regrets by Jack Barry
Trade Paperback; 13.00 Euro / 16.00 USD / 10.00 UK; 254 pages [Add To Basket]
From the criminal underbelly of Celtic Tiger Dublin comes a gripping story of guns, drugs, prostitution and corruption. A seemingly humdrum shooting of an ex-paramilitary anti-drugs campaigner leads Detective Thomas Barrett to an online male prostitution service and to hints of a link with a politician appearing at a tribunal into corrupt property speculation. Barrett is given "sick leave" as new forces within the British and Irish centres of power allow him to pursue the sensitive investigation offstage. The plot moves between Dublin and Amsterdam, Manchester and British suburbia. At the centre of an apparent spider's web of intrigue sits the enigmatic figure of Miss Katie, a crabby Dublin transvestite who will, under pressure, kiss and tell. And, perhaps, kill. The dramatic denouement takes place in the German cemetery in the Dublin mountains. Barrett is free to have another crack at his failed marriage, and Miss Katie, finally, is defanged, if not deflowered.
Dublin Noir: The Celtic Tiger vs. The Ugly American edited by Ken Bruen
Trade Paperback; 13.00 Euro / 16.00 USD / 10.00 UK; 230 pages [Add To Basket]
At first it was straightforward – Dublin authors to write on their city... Then we turned the concept on its head, as you do in noir. The Irish are fascinated by how we appear to the world, so let’s have a look, we thought, at how this city appears from the outside. In addition to a couple of us locals, let’s take a cross section of the very best of today’s crime writers from America, as well as Britain, and those between. – Ken Bruen, from the introduction.
Brand new stories by Ray Banks, James O. Born, Ken Bruen, Reed Farrell Coleman, Eoin Colfer, Jim Fusilli, Patrick J. Lambe, Laura Lippman, Craig McDonald, Pat Mullan, Gary Phillips, John Rickards, Peter Spiegelman, Jason Starr, Olen Steinhauer, Charlie Stella, Duane Swierczynski, Sarah Weinman and Kevin Wignall.
Angels and Rabies: A Journey Through the Americas by Manchan Magan
Large Paperback; 16.00 Euro / 20.00 USD / 11.00 UK; 280 pages [Add To Basket]
"Angels and Rabies" follows the experiences of Mocha/Manchan on a journey through the Americas, from a primal screaming commune in the Columbian Andes to contracting rabies in the Peruvian rainforest and falling in love with a Hollywood star. "Angels and Rabies" is a true story, which delves into the culture and sociological makeup of the Americas, from its conquistador pioneers to today's Disney Channel aficionados. Mocha, an inquiring and slightly unhinged young man, finds himself amidst the marginalised wherever he is: shamans murdering missionaries; Israeli conscripts seeking absolution; tree-huggers in love with loggers; cannabis growers influencing the CIA with mind-meld techniques; women addicted to menstrual blood; and enema junkies seeking enlightenment. By burrowing beneath the skin of alternative societies from Ecuador to Seattle, Mocha reveals a radiograph of the bones and nerve-endings that make up the Americas. It's a poignant and farcical book, wise and deranged; about adventure, love, transcendence and aspiration.
The General & I: The Untold Story of Martin Cahill’s Hotdog Wars by Wolfgang Eulitz
Paperback; 11.00 Euro / 15.00 USD / 8.00 UK; 200 pages [Add To Basket]
The General and I leaves you in no doubt which version you should believe. This is the gripping and always entertaining story of an ordinary man’s struggle against a criminal psychopath. Wolfgang Eulitz worked hard to set up his business as a hot dog seller on the notorious Leeson Street. After four successful years of witnessing the chaos and characters of Dublin’s nightlife, Martin Cahill appeared and tried to muscle in on Eulitz’s lucrative business. The hot dog wars had begun.
“At the end of his outstretched hands he held a gun, which he now aimed directly at my head. These thugs were here for more than just money. These thugs belonged to Martin Cahill, alias ‘The General’.” Wolfgang Eulitz reveals that the popular perception that Martin Cahill as an ‘ordinary decent criminal’ is completely wrong, and that he was instead a cruel, sadistic and dangerous thug intent on destroying other peoples’ livelihoods.
New in Paperback
The Pope’s Children: Ireland’s New Elite by David McWilliams
Paperback; 13 Euro / 17 USD / 10 UK; 300 pages [Add To Basket]
David McWilliams' brilliant survey of Ireland today is a celebration of success. He takes us to Deckland, that suburban state of mind where you'll find the Kells Angels, those out-of-town commuters who are the cutting edge of the new prosperity. He introduces the HiCos - Hiberno-Cosmopolitans - the elite whose distance from Deckland is measured in their cool sophistication, their ability to feel at home equally on the Boulevard Saint-Michel and on Hill 16. The "Pope's Children" is an antidote to the endless pessimism of the Commentariat, official Ireland's gloomy opinion mongers, forever seeing a glass half empty that is in fact three-quarters full. There is a vast surge of ambition, new money, optimism and hope out there. That's the real story: "The Pope's Children" tells it - and tells it with style.
Memoir by John McGahern
Paperback; 10 Euro / 13 USD / 7 UK; 270 pages [Add To Basket]
At the heart of the "Memoir" is a son's unembarrassed tribute to his mother. His memory of walks with her through the narrow lanes to the country schools where she taught and his happiness as she named for him the wild flowers on the bank remained conscious and unconscious presences for the rest of his life. A classic family story, told with exceptional restraint and tenderness, "Memoir" cannot fail to move all those who read it.
Gregory Carr, Bookseller
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