Read Ireland Book Reviews
Issue 348
The Moves: An Illustrated History of Dance and Physical Theatre in Ireland by Deirdre Mulrooney
Large Paperback; 25 Euro / 30 USD / 20 UK; 292 pages, with black-and-white photos throughout
"Irish Moves" is a historical book with a difference. From Ninette de Valois to Jean Butler and Tom Hickey, it showcases - and in some cases salvages - the stories of Ireland's unsung movers: actors, dancers, choreographers, playwrights, directors, and the few academics who dare to go where no words have gone before. Focussing on people who value what's in between the words as much as the words themselves, it features stories of the creative journeys taken by artists who have devoted their lives to physical expression, despite the fact that their medium was ignored, or even erased from memory. An in-depth introductory essay points up how the zeitgeist finds expression in this new history of dance and theatre in Ireland through the eyes of practitioners, historians, and sociologists, and the as yet unpublished "lost chapter" of "Modern Dance in Ireland" in the 1940's. The Abbey School of Ballet is also salvaged from obscurity with a memoir and unpublished images from the 1920's, '30's and '40's. "Irish Moves" not only provides a map of dance and physical theatre in Ireland, but is also a meditation on our complicated attitude to the body as a nation. It offers surprising and sometimes disconcerting revelations about Irish society. But this is no dry history: this is a beautiful book, full of pictures and highly visual, in keeping with the usually word-less subject matter. "Irish Moves" will be of interest to the ever-increasing audience for dance and physical theatre; the world-wide Riverdance audience (there are interviews with Riverdancers Colin Dunne, Jean Butler, Brendan de Gallai, and Moya Doherty on their aesthetic journeys); the Abbey Theatre audience (as well as salvaging the Abbey School of Ballet from obscurity, the book features key Abbey Theatre movers from the 1980's and 1990's such as Tom MacIntyre, Tom Hickey, and Conall Morrison); and all readers interested in Irish social and cultural history.
Ireland by Gustave de Beaumont
Hardback; 34 Euro / 40 USD / 23 UK; 420 pages [Add To Basket]
Paralleling his friend Alexis de Tocqueville's visit to America, Gustave de Beaumont traveled through Ireland in the mid-1830s to observe its people and society. In Ireland, he chronicles the history of the Irish and offers up a national portrait on the eve of the Great Famine. Published to acclaim in France, Ireland remained in print there until 1914. The English edition, translated by William Cooke Taylor and published in 1839, was not reprinted.
In a devastating critique of British policy in Ireland, Beaumont questioned why a government with such enlightened institutions tolerated such oppression. He was scathing in his depiction of the ruinous state of Ireland, noting the desperation of the Catholics, the misery of repeated famines, the unfair landlord system, and the faults of the aristocracy. It was not surprising the Irish were seen as loafers, drunks, and brutes when they had been reduced to living like beasts. Yet Beaumont held out hope that British liberal reforms could heal Ireland's wounds.
This rediscovered masterpiece, in a single volume for the first time, reproduces the nineteenth-century Taylor translation and includes an introduction on Beaumont and his world. This volume also presents Beaumont's impassioned preface to the 1863 French edition in which he portrays the appalling effects of the Great Famine. A classic of nineteenth-century political and social commentary, Beaumont's singular portrait offers the compelling immediacy of an eyewitness to history.
Nature Guide to the Aran Islands by Con O’Rourke
Trade Paperback; 15 Euro / 18 USD / 11 UK; 170 pages, with full colour illustrations throughout
This is a comprehensive account of the wildlife of the Aran Islands in Galway Bay by an author intimately familiar with the landscape. It summarizes the key facts from the writings on Aran, illustrates them copiously with over a hundred colour photographs, and condenses the whole into a single, handy source for exploring the diverse and abundant wildlife of the islands. The chapters are organized as follows: In the Beginning - The Geology of Aran, Climate, Flora, Fauna, Seashore, and Farming in Aran. "The Nature Guide to the Aran Islands" throws open a window onto one of the environmental treasure troves of Europe's western seaboard. The outcome of lifelong study and observation by an expert in his field, it will become an invaluable and enduring reference work for locals and tourists alike.
The Lighthouses of Ireland by Richard Taylor
Trade Paperback; 15 Euro / 18 USD / 11 UK; 178 pages, with black-and-white photos throughout [Add To Basket]
Lighthouses can be romantic, mystical and tragic. Most people know of the Fastnet and Loop Head, but may not have heard of Rotten Island, Maidens or Straw Island or that there are 86 lighthouses on or off the coast of Ireland. The story behind this remarkable system of lighting our coast is virtually unknown. Richard Taylor was a lighthouse technician for 44 years, worked on all 86 lighthouses and is uniquely qualified to write this personal history-cum-guide. Describing the lighthouses and their history, he captures the unique way of life of the lighthouse keepers and their families, largely ignored and, with automation, no longer extant. Often waiting weeks at places like Blacksod or Valentia for the weather to abate, Richard got to know lighthouse keepers and their families intimately. The result is a book embellished with anecdotes and hair-raising tales of getting on to lighthouses, time spent there, often weeks on end, and getting off. A notable inclusion is a strongly worded letter dated 9 August, 1950 from the Principal Keeper, St John's Lighthouse, Co. Down, to head office urging the dismissal of one Brendan Behan from the position of painter.
The Celts by Daithi O Hogain
Large Paperback; 15 Euro / 18 USD / 11 UK; 296 pages, with an 8-page black-and-white photo insert
Celtic-speaking peoples were one of the most important population groups to spread across the ancient European continent. From 800 BC to 1050 AD, the story of the Celts is one of expanding power and influence followed by contraction and near extinction. Drawing on all possible sources, the author outlines the history of the Celts. He follows the evolution of their culture as it gained strength on its two thousand-year passage westwards through Europe, through the upheaval of the early middle ages to 'twilight' and decline in the west.
Celtic Fortifications by Ian Ralston
Trade Paperback; 30 Euro / 36 USD / 24 UK; 220 pages
From northern Scotland to southern Iberia the enclosures around hill- and promontory-forts are the most conspicuous component of the Iron Age archaeological record. Ian Ralston looks at their construction and reconstruction and at the architecture of banks, walls, ramparts and ditches, gateways and ancillary features. He examines the placing of these fortifications in the landscape and their effectiveness as hill-fort defences in war. He also considers these enclosures as signs and symbols. The work is completed with a selective gazetteer.
The Great Calamity: Irish Famine 1845-1852 by Christine Kinealy
Large Paperback; 18 Euro / 23 USD / 14 UK; 460 pages [Add To Basket]
The Great Famine of 1845-52 was the most decisive event in the history of modern Ireland. In a country of eight million people, the Famine caused the death of approximately one million, while a similar number were forced to emigrate. The Irish population fell to just over four million by the beginning of the twentieth century. Christine Kinealy's survey is long established as the most complete, scholarly survey of the Great Famine yet produced. The unravelling of fact from opinion, the interpretation of motives behind the London governments' responses, and the confrontation of stereotypes are at the heart of this extensive work. "This Great Calamity" is an exceptional book, now available for the first time in pocket format. 'This book is mandatory reading for anyone who wishes to be informed about Irish history' - "Irish Post". 'This is not the last word on the Famine, but it is the best so far' - "Irish Independent".
The Burren Wall by Gordon D’Arcy
Paperback; 12 Euro / 15 USD / 9 UK; 64 pages, with full colour photos and illustrations throughout [Add To Basket]
The Burren and the Aran Islands have some of the most distinctive stone walls to be found anywhere. Visitors are invariably intrigued while locals, having lived with them for generations, pass little comment. The walls, in their use of local stone and economical design, nevertheless stand as linear monuments to local skill and hard won endeavour. This book deals with their social history, from the earliest prehistoric examples to the most modern, indicating how different styles may be attributed to specific periods of construction. Celebrating the aesthetic qualities of the Burren wall in photographs, illustrations and quotations, this book also informs about natural history, presenting the wall as a habitat for myriad flora and fauna.
Granuaile: Sea Queen of Ireland by Anne Chambers
Paperback; 7 Euro / 10 USD / 5 UK; 114 pages [Add To Basket]
Granuaile ruled on land and sea in the province of Connaught over 400 years ago. A Pirate Queen and Irish Chieftain, she became a legend. We first meet Granuaile or Grace O'Malley, a young girl, on Ireland's west coast in a world of bards, brehons, chieftains and gallowglasses, rebellion and intrigue, very different to today's. Ireland is divided into 'kingdoms' ruled by chieftains. Granuaile's father is chieftain of Umhall. A strong chieftain, he protects and provides for his clan. Living in a castle on the coast, Granuaile loves the sea and wants to be like her father, to know all about sailing and navigation, and to sail the clan's ships to Spain and Scotland to trade. But she is a girl, her parents don't think it suitable for her. Granuaile becomes a better sailor than any of her father's crew and reluctantly they agree. And so the adventure and legend of the Sea Queen begins. Following her adventures, we sail on her galley to Spain where war with England affects Granuaile and Ireland. We meet her husbands, Donal of the Battles and Richard in Iron, and are on board her ship when her youngest son is born and when North African pirates attack. After many adventures and escapades we finally sail with Granuaile to London for her famous meeting with Queen Elizabeth 1 and see how they got on. And we are with Granuaile in her castle at Rockfleet where she dies in 1603. (for Teenagers)
The Magic of Pagan Ireland by Rob Vance
Gift Hardback; 8 Euro / 11 USD / 6 UK; 60 pages with full colour photos and illustrations throughout [Add To Basket]
What makes a place magical? Visiting ancient sites can be unsettling to the modern ego, awakening something primitive - a vestige of ancient, primal life, awaiting ignition through contact. And then it is a call, perhaps something like a love affair - a promise, a glimpse of something different, an intimation of ecstasy...and it may last. Visit the magical site of Ireland and prepare to be moved.
Celtic Spirituality by Rob Vance
Gift Hardback; 8 Euro / 11 USD / 6 UK; 60 pages with full colour photos and illustrations throughout [Add To Basket]
Celtic Spirituality is many things: a time frame, a mode of spiritual understanding, and perhaps a personal encounter in a place of ancient wisdom. This book is about places in Ireland that facilitate that encounter.
Uncertain Ireland: A Sociological Chronicle, 2003-4 edited by Mary Corcoran and Michel Peillon
Paperback; 30 Euro / 36 USD / 24 UK; 256 pages [Add To Basket]
The Irish Sociological Chronicles present sociological accounts of particular events and phenomena in the social world. The contributors to this volume engage with a variety of happenings and events that occurred during the years 2003 and 2004. A number of the contributions are attuned to the anxieties that have been recently generated about the provenance of the food we eat, about the quality of daily life and about changing value systems and their impact on the wider social fabric. Others raise questions concerning the wholesale encouragement of economic development that may threaten the integrity of an ancient landscape and way of life, the folly of a new consumerism that produces a waste mountain for which nobody accepts responsibility and the love affair with motorways that have singularly failed to regulate traffic flows. The demise of Bewley's cafés, the citizenship referendum, the Club Anabel case and the genesis of the Rossport Five campaign are just some of the topical events chronicled in Uncertain Ireland. What unites the accounts in this book is a curiosity about how to reconcile Ireland's new found prosperity and economic self-confidence with its accompanying and pervasive sense of uncertainty and contingency. These qualities present challenges, in terms of learning to manage and deal with risks, and opportunities as Irish society adopts creative and innovative means of finding its way in an Uncertain Ireland.
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