Read Ireland Book Reviews
Issue 343
The Lore of Ireland: An Encyclopedia of Myth, Legend and Romance by Daithi O hOgain
Hardback; 30.00 Euro / 36.00 USD / 24.00 UK; 530 pages
Ireland has one of the finest cultural heritages and a standard reference book, combining the related subjects of folklore, myth, legend and romance is long overdue. Now, this wide-ranging work of over 350,000 words is that one volume. There are 350 substantial entries, from Aban, a sixth-century saint, to Weather, all with full references to sources, a synopsis of relevant stories, and discussion of their origin, nature and development. For easy access, all entries are alphabetical. There are cross-references within individual entries, so no aspect of a particular story is neglected. The style communicates easily, whether one wishes to hear good stories or find material without difficulty. The whole spectrum of Irish narrative is made available in a measured and analytical manner. After each entry, an exhaustive list of sources and relevant studies is given. So, from the misty legends of the Tuatha De Danann and saints and scholars to Biddy Early and Daniel O'Connell, this book opens a window to Ireland and the Irish.
The Slow Failure: Population Decline and Independent Ireland, 1920 –1973 by Mary E. Daly
Hardback; 75.00 Euro / 100 USD / 50.00 UK; 430 pages [Add To Basket]
Today Ireland's population is rising, immigration outpaces emigration, most families have two or at most three children, and full-time farmers are in steady decline. But the opposite was true for more than a century, from the great famine of the 1840s until the 1960s. Between 1922 and 1966 - most of the first fifty years after independence - the population of Ireland was falling, in the 1950s as rapidly as in the 1880s. Mary Daly's "The Slow Failure" examines not just the reasons for the decline, but the responses to it by politicians, academics, journalists, churchmen, and others who publicly agonized over their nation's "slow failure." Eager to reverse population decline but fearful that economic development would undermine Irish national identity, they fashioned statistical evidence to support ultimately fruitless policies that encouraged large, rural farm families. Focusing on both Irish government and society, Daly places Ireland's population history in the mainstream history of independent Ireland. Daly's research reveals how pastoral visions of an ideal Ireland made it virtually impossible to reverse the fall in population. Promoting large families, for example, contributed to late marriages, actually slowing population growth further. The crucial issue of emigration failed to attract serious government attention except during World War II; successive Irish governments refused to provide welfare services for emigrants, leaving that role to the Catholic Church. Daly takes these and other elements of an often-sad story, weaving them into essential reading for understanding modern Irish history.
Classic Irish Houses of the Middle Size by Maurice Craig
Large Paperback; 25.00 Euro / 30.00 USD / 20.00 UK; 214 pages, with black and white photos throughout
This book, originally published in 1976, is still a much-needed record of a class of architecture that is still threatened and much of which has already fallen victim to neglect and decay. It deals with those 17th, 18th, and early 19th-century houses of the middle size – neither the seats of the mighty nor the simple vernacular buildings of the rural tradition – which were occupied by what one would nowadays call the middle class; minor gentry, prosperous farmers, manufacturers and traders. The book is a remarkable work of scholarship which analyses the design and layout of over 100 houses, piecing together the evidence of how and when they were constructed. It is a much needed historical survey of a disappearing heritage. It is also a loving record, in photographs and measured drawings, which enable travellers in rural Ireland to look with fresh appreciation at the many intriguing, and often quite isolated and hence little know, country houses whose nobility of craftsmanship and design still speaks across the centuries.
University College Cork: A Portrait in Words and Images by John A. Murphy and Andrew Bradley
Large Hardback; 25.00 Euro / 30.00 USD / 20.00 UK; 128 pages, 76 full colour photographs [Add To Basket]
This book is a unique portrait of the University College, Cork. It combines the skills of Andrew Bradley, one of the most gifted photographers working in Ireland today, with the knowledge of John A. Murphy, Emeritus Professor of Irish History at University College, Cork. It is richly illustrated with 76 specially-commissioned, stunning images, showing fresh aspects of a familiar and much-loved campus.
The Secret Places of West Coast Cork by John M. Feehan
Paperback; 11.00 Euro / 14.00 USD / 8.00 UK; 155 pages
Cork, the largest county in Ireland, has hundreds of miles of indented coastline, which is regarded as one of the scenic jewels of the country. John M. Feehan sailed alone in a small boat around the West Cork coast in search of true peace, his ‘land of heart’s desire’, his ‘isle of the blest’. The result is a book that is not only a profound spiritual odyssey but a magnificent account of the wild rugged coastline, the peaceful coves and the unique characters he met in this beautiful, unspoiled corner of Ireland. John M. Feehan writes with great charm, skill and sympathy, and with a mischievous roguish humour, often at his own expense. His sharp eye misses nothing. He sees the mystery, beauty and wonder in ordinary things, and brings situations and people vividly to life.
Joyce’s Pupil by Drago Jancar
Paperback; 13.00 Euro / 16.00 USD / 10.00 UK; 165 pages
A young man learns English in Trieste in 1914 from James Joyce, who repeatedly describes an oil lamp. Years later, in 1941, this same man must flee his country, and he becomes the Slovenian voice of British radio. On his return to Yugoslavia, he falls foul of the new communist authorities. The characters who populate the stories of Drago Jancar stand at the periphery of tragic histories; they see the ground open under their feet yet remain leaning above the pit. Drago Jancar has been described as "the seismologist of a chaotic history”. In this exceptional collection Brandon introduces the vision of the leading Slovenian writer of his generation.
Lodgers by Nenad Velickovic
Paperback; 13.00 Euro / 16.00 USD / 10.00 UK; 245 pages [Add To Basket]
Lodgers is a hilarious, unsentimental report from the front lines of the Balkan wars of the 1990s. All of the folly and the horror of that time are revealed in the sarcastic report of the novel's teenage would-be authoress. Maja lives in the basement of a Sarajevo museum, enduring with equal annoyance Serb artillery and vegetarian meals that taste like fried sponge. Her father, the museum director, zealously guards the treasures upstairs while their aged co-lodger Julio plots to trade them away. Maja's mother copes with yoga while dour stepbrother Davor endures the endless crying and cravings of his pregnant wife. Floating amidst it all is Maja's grandmother, blind and deaf, yet drawn to any conversation involving food. Need and crisis propel Maja and her companions from one humorous situation to another. Yet her pitch-perfect gallows humour makes it clear that the brutalities of war penetrate these small moments of life – and even the self-centeredness of a teenaged girl. A best seller in the Balkans and widely translated in Europe – but not until now into English – Lodgers is that rare thing: an uncompromising yet humorous novel about a modern tragedy.
Irish Gardening for All Seasons by Dick & Phyl Boyce
Trade Paperback; 15.00 Euro / 18.00 USD / 10.00 UK; 224 pages, with 23 full-colour photo insert [Add To Basket]
This highly illustrated, full-colour book captures the beauty of the Irish garden through the twelve months of the year. From the shy emergence of the first spring bulbs to the beautiful colours of autumn and the finest barks and berries of winter, this gardening guide caters for all levels of gardener from the novice to the expert. Find out how to produce quality organic food, how to design your garden and what kind of plants would best suit your particular situation. The plants highlighted in this book have all been planted by the authors and were chosen for their beauty, hardiness and ease of care. A detailed description of each plant, its preferred growing conditions, methods of planting and care are given along with stunning colour photographs.
Mrs. Whippy by Cecelia Ahern
Paperback; 6.50 Euro / 9.00 USD / 4.00 UK; 70 pages [Add To Basket]
The story of a woman who lives for ice-cream, her only comfort as her life falls apart. But lately there's a handsome man driving the ice-cream van; could romance be about to blossom?
Secrets by Patricia Scanlan
Paperback; 6.50 Euro / 9.00 USD / 4.00 UK; 70 pages [Add To Basket]
Kate is reluctant to tell her friend Carmel that Kate's husband has lost his job and they're struggling, especially as Carmel is so wealthy. But now Carmel is coming for Christmas and Kate can't hide her secret any more …
The Underbury Witches by John Connolly
Paperback; 6.50 Euro / 9.00 USD / 4.00 UK; 70 pages [Add To Basket]
Set in the English village of Underbury in 1915, all the men have gone off to war and an ancient evil has returned, resulting in murder…
Behind Closed Doors by Sarah Webb
Paperback; 6.50 Euro / 9.00 USD / 4.00 UK; 70 pages [Add To Basket]
The story of a young single woman stuck in a group of married friends with babies. Her career as a journalist is going nowhere, unless she can convince an Irish film star to do an interview.
Mad Weekend by Roddy Doyle
Paperback: 6.50 Euro / 9.00 USD / 4.00 UK; 70 pages [Add To Basket]
Ignored by his parents over the long stretch of summer holidays, a teenage boy seeks adventure in all the wrong places …
Not a Star by Nick Hornby
Paperback; 6.50 Euro / 9.00 USD / 4.00 UK; 70 pages [Add To Basket]
The story of a woman who discovers that her son is a porn star … by the author of High Fidelity.
The Giant’s Causeway and the North Antrim Coast by Philip Watson
Trade Paperback; 11.00 Euro / 15.00 USD / 8.00 UK; 100 pages with full colour and black and white photos throughout [Add To Basket]
The Giant's Causway on Ireland's north Antrim coast is a place where myth and science meet. For over 300 years visitors have pondered the choice between giants and geology to explain this natural and cultural wonder. From tales of the Irish giant, Finn MacCool, and his building of the huge stone causeway, to the ancient and mysterious cooling of lava to form the balast columns, this book takes the reader on an illustrated tour of the history, folklore, people, geology, wildlife and landscape of this place.
From Post to Post: A Memoir by Tony Beatty
Trade Paperback; 15.00 Euro / 18.00 USD / 11.00 UK; 158 pages [Add To Basket]
Tony Beatty was born in Kilmacthomas, County Waterford, in 1935. He left school before he was fourteen years old and began to work as a post office telegraph messenger and later as a postman in his local area. But lack of job opportunities meant that he, along with thousands of other young Irish people had to take the boat for England in the late 1950s. A gifted sportsman, Tony Beatty found success in soccer and also in his chosen career of accountancy. During a period of hectic business travel in the late 1960s, it became clear to him that the Irish community in Britain needed a newspaper or magazine that would facilitate communication between its members in all areas of the UK: out of this realization the "Irish Post" was launched on Friday 13 February 1970. The newspaper's annual competition for 'Irish Personality of the Year' and later 'Sportsman of the Year' meant that Tony Beatty encountered the leading Irish sportsmen and entertainers of the day; and to celebrate the silver jubilee of his old Waterford club, Kilmacthomas AFC, he arranged exhibition matches with celebrated sportstars such as Irish internationals David O'Leary and Jummy Conway in Kilmacthomas from 1976 to 1978. He also raised money for charities that catered for the Irish community and for the Irish Centre in London by arranging golf classics, even after the onset of multiple sclerosis meant that he himself could no longer play the game he had enjoyed so much. "From Post to Post" is Tony Beatty's own life story. It is the inspiring story of a man who, from humble beginnings, achieved financial success but never forgot the needs of the Irish community in Britain to which he belonged.
Gregory Carr, Bookseller
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