Read Ireland Book Reviews
Issue 351
New Irish History
Kevin O’Higgins: Builder of the Irish State by John P. McCarthy
Large Paperback; 25 Euro / 30 USD / 20 UK; 310 pages
The story of the Irish state can be read in many ways. Two views, however, have dominated. One looks upon the War of Independence as the near fulfilment of the 1916 sacrificial act of national redemption, with the ultimate unification of the island remaining as the concluding chapter. The civil war was a tragic diversion attributable to either compromisers on one side or zealots on the other. A second view sees modern Irish nationhood having been virtually realized in the late nineteenth century with the successful alliance of Charles Stewart Parnell, the Irish Parliamentary Party, and the Catholic hierarchy. In this second view, the violent events of 1916 to 1923 are an exception to a story of constitutional evolution towards self-government, to which path Ireland returned with the conclusion of the civil war. The life of Kevin O'Higgins encompasses both views. As the Vice President and Minister for Justice in the Irish Free State, he was one of the founding fathers of modern Ireland. While he is not as well-known as Eamon de Valera or Michael Collins, O'Higgins's contributions to the formation of the Irish state are comparable theirs. While O'Higgins participated in the revolutionary pursuit of national independence, he played a conservative role in consolidating the institutions of a new state after the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. His work in a short period of five years insured the solidity and survival of constitutional democratic institutions in Ireland in a century when such survival was scarcely guaranteed, and when societies confronted with comparable problems have descended into authoritarianism. Particularly notable accomplishments were his formation of an unarmed police force and his expulsion of private factions within the national army. His tragic assassination at 35, on 10 June 1927, robbed Ireland of one of its most constructive political figures. In his essay, "On the Boiler", Yeats placed O'Higgins along with Swift, Burke, Grattan, and Parnell, as being among 'the true Irish people, and there is nothing too hard for such as these' The personal tragedies and the great moral confrontations that O'Higgins experienced confirm that capacity of endurance in the pursuit of great tasks, which in his case was nation-building.
Map-making, Landscapes and Memory: A Geography of Colonial and Early Modern Ireland, c. 1530-1750 by William J. Smyth
Hardback; 70 Euro / 92 USD / 50 UK; 608 pages, with 130 maps and illustrations [Add To Basket]
This is the first engagement by a geographer in one book of this most formative and revolutionary period (c. 1550 - c. 1750) in Ireland's history. Using the twin concepts of 'colonialism' and 'early modernity', the book comprises a geographical analysis of the conquest and settlement of Ireland by the New English (and Scottish) and the consequences of this often violent and deep-seated intrusion upon the cultures and landscapes of pre-existing Irish societies. The book effectively isolates the emerging methodologies of the early modern British state in this process of colonial subjugation: the systematic use of surveillance techniques; the implementation of regional and island-wide mapping and inventories of strategic landscapes and resources; the development of bureaucracies and the administrative techniques of law and the market economy so as to obliterate regional expression of 'other' Gaelic or Gaelicised cultures and practices. Consequently, a wide range of documentary evidence, from the Elizabethan fiants, 16th and 17th century mss. maps, the '1641 Depositions', the Cromwellian Civil and Down Surveys, Petty's '1659 Census' to the 'State of Popery' materials of 1730s are available for mapping. The book contains over 100 original colour and black and white maps, which point up the nuanced and regionally varied character of the engagement between local peoples and incomers. The use of so many maps thus highlights many hidden Irelands, often obscured in a strictly historical/narrative format. Uniquely, the book uses Irish language (as well as English) sources to illuminate Irish ways of understanding and using territories and resources, understandings and practices which were often undermined and eroded under New English rule. Overall, the book represents a novel rendition of Ireland's experiences in this crucial early modern period from the particular perspective of a historical geographer.
The Lady Next Door by Harold Begbie
Paperback; 20 Euro / 26 USD / 14 UK; 160 pages
The Lady Next Door", in other words, Ireland, is an account of the tour of Ireland by a pro-Home Rule British Liberal journalist, published in 1914. It provides valuable interview material and personal impressions of several prominent Nationalists and Southern Unionists, giving a snapshot of the views of key activists on what they thought was the eve of Home Rule and their expectations of what a Home Rule Ireland would be like. He gives valuable insight into the ideological tensions of the Liberal-Nationalist alliance, particularly with reference to Nonconformist unease about the prospects for Ulster under Home Rule, the development of moralist rhetoric in defense of Liberal policy, and the tendency of some British commentators to idealize Ireland as a pious rural Arcadia.
Souveniers of Irish Footprints Over Europe by Eugene Davis
Paperback; 25 Euro / 32 USD / 19 UK; 217 pages [Add To Basket]
Eugene Davis's "Souvenirs", based on the author's tour of the continent in 1885-6, provides not only vivid vignettes of the life and times of Irish scholars, revolutionaries and artists living on the continent, both well known and obscure, from the time of the French revolution down to his own day, but also gives fascinating insight into how his contemporaries perceived the nature of Ireland's relationship with the European continent during the 1880s. This was a decade in which the future shape of Irish political society was being forged and when an optimism abounded that Ireland itself was about to become one of the nation states of Europe for the first time. These qualities help make the book an entertaining, enjoyable and informative read, and also a work of much historical interest and relevance.
Brigdadista: An Irishman’s Fight Against Facism by Bob Doyle
Trade Paperback; 15 Euro / 18 USD / 11 UK; 235 pages, with 8-page black-and-white photo insert
Bob Doyle was born in Dublin's inner city on 12 February 1916. After a childhood full of the expected privations of the poor, he joined the ranks of the unemployed in the dark 1930s, failing to find steady work in either Ireland or England. On the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 anti-Fascists from all over the world were motivated to fight for the Republican government against Franco. In December 1937, Bob Doyle finally managed to enter Spain and, with other volunteers from Britain and Ireland, reported to an International Brigade battalion at Figueras, where a comrade-in-arms was the English writer Laurie Lee. Captured by the Fascists, he spent many months with other Brigadistas in the prison camp of San Pedro, until eventually, in early 1939, they were released to the French as part of a prisoner exchange. He did not forget Spain, nor the fight against fascism, returning in secret to the country and taking part in the underground anti-Franco resistance. With the return of democracy to Spain after Franco's death the veterans of the International Brigades got the recognition they deserved. "Brigadista" is a lively, sometimes humorous memoir by a great survivor. The book provides an incomparable insight into the life of one man and the age he lived in. 'Bob Doyle's life long struggle for freedom and social justice is an inspiration to everyone who wants to see a better world' - Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London. 'Over the past 30 years it has been a privilege to encounter Bob Doyle at various gatherings in London, Dublin and Waterford. I have long admired his zest for life and his willingness to go to any lengths to commemorate his fallen comrades. I am looking forward to reading his memoir' - Christy Moore.
Ballincollig Royal Gunpowder Mills: A Hidden History by Jenny Webb and Anne Donaldson
Trade Paperback; 22 Euro / 28 USD / 16 UK; 125 pages, with black-and-white photos throughout
The Ballincollig Royal Gunpowder Mills in County Cork was first established in 1794 by a prominent Cork man, Charles Leslie. Eleven years later, when Napoleon's control of France posed a grave threat to Britain, the Board of Ordnance bought the mills and expanded the site, the layout of which is still visible today. By the mid-nineteenth century, Thomas Tobin of Liverpool had transformed the mills into one of the most up to date industrial complexes in Ireland, second only in importance to those at Waltham Abbey. Closed for over a century, the site has now become one of Ireland's most impressive regional parks covering an area of 130 acres of woodland, meadows and waterways. The many buildings formerly used in the manufacture of gunpowder are still scattered along the main canal which stretches for about a mile and a half along the southern bank of the River Lee. Visitors can explore the 'Hidden History' which lies within the Ballincollig Regional Park with the help of this guide which has a fine selection of period between photos and colour images together with a numbered map which identifies each building and its former use. "One of the most important industrial sites of its type in Europe." - Colin Rynne, UCC.
Ireland’s Great Famine by Cormac O Grada
Large Paperback; 28 Euro / 36 USD / 20 UK; 326 pages [Add To Basket]
These essays by Ireland's leading economic historian range widely over topics associated with the Ireland's Great Famine of 1846-52. The famine was the defining event of nineteenth-century Irish history, and nineteenth-century Europe's greatest natural disaster, killing about one million people and prompting many hundreds of thousands more to emigrate. The subjects covered here include: trends in living standards before the famine; the impact of the crisis on landlords; the characteristics of famine mortality; the market for potatoes during the 1840s; the role of migration as disaster relief; the New York Irish in the wake of the famine; the famine in folklore and memory, and in comparative perspective; and the historiography of the famine in Ireland. Ireland's Great Famine includes four previously unpublished essays, together with others assembled from a wide range of publications in different fields. Some have been co-authored by other leading scholars. Taken together, the essays give a full account of the famine, its effects, what was and was not done to alleviate it, how it compares with other (especially modern third world) famines, and how successive scholars have tackled these matters. This will become a standard reference in both Irish history and the international field of famine studies. The essays include collaborations with Andres Eiriksson, Timothy Guinnane, Joel Mokyr and Kevin O'Rourke.
Landlords, Tenants, Famine: The Business of an Irish Land Agency in the 1840s by Desmond Norton
Large Paperback; 28 Euro / 36 USD / 20 UK; 380 pages [Add To Basket]
Desmond Norton's fascinating study of the relationships between landlords and tenants in Ireland during the Great Famine period of the 1840s is principally based on a large uncatalogued archive in private ownership of the Stewart and Kincaid land agents. Much of the information from this unique resource is being published for the first time. Norton challenges existing assumptions about landlord-tenant relations, emigration and land improvement during the famine decade. Messrs Stewart and Kincaid was a firm of land agents based in Dublin, and most of the correspondence was addressed to its office there. The letters in the archive relate mainly to the estates managed by the firm during the 1840s, and give a rounded picture of life in the Irish countryside during the period. They provide evidence of some humane and caring landlords, the activities of middlemen, suffering tenants and emigration in a large number of locations, including Sligo and Roscommon, Clare and Limerick, Kilkenny, Carlow and Westmeath. Many famous families appear such as the Pakenhams and Ponsonbys, well-known historical figures, such as Lord Palmerston, who was foreign secretary and prime minister, as well as being a landlord in Sligo and Dublin. The evidence of the Stewart and Kincaid archives is complemented by research into other family archives and from the author's meetings with descendants of many of the families discussed. "Landlords, Tenants, Famine" is an immensely important contribution to scholarship on the Great Famine and to nineteenth-century Irish economic history.
Dublin Day by Day: 366 Days of Dublin History by Ken Finlay
Trade Paperback; 22 Euro / 27 USD / 16 UK; 192 pages with black-and-white photos [Add To Basket]
Daniel O'Connell, Charles Dickens, Oliver Golsmith and hot air ballooning, all feature in this book, and that's just January. Ken makes use of his extensive collection of photographs, memorabilia and historical knowledge, to write an entertaining, illuminating miscellany of Dublin history. Featuring entries for every day of the year, this book will appeal to all Dubliners, visitors and history buffs alike. Ken Finlay is a former journalist, and currently works as a freelance photographer. He recently wrote the text for "Blackrock", "Dun Laoghaire and Dalkey: Along the coast from Booterstown to Killiney".
Print Culture and Intellectual Life in Ireland, 1660-1941 edited by Martin Fanning and Raymond Gillespie
Hardback; 45 Euro / 56 USD / 36 UK; 268 pages [Add To Basket]
This innovative volume charts the impact of print and publishing in shaping the ideas that formed modern Ireland. Ten leading scholars from a variety of backgrounds examine how the production, circulation and reception of books reflected Irish intellectual life. Through rigorous encounters with seminal works in their own particular fields - law, music, archaeology, Celtic studies, history, literary criticism, art - the contributors explore how print and publishing impacted on the way ideas were shaped and spread in modern Ireland. These studies take the reader from the early modern elite literary coteries, and the restricted world of the hand press, to the commercial mass markets of nineteenth- and twentieth- century Ireland. As a result of these changes, a social and intellectual world, at once international, and yet specifically Irish emerges in which ideas were shaped by print, and in turn, shaped, the role of the book in modern Ireland.
Excavations 2003 edited by Isabel Bennett
Large Format Hardback; 35 Euro / 45 USD / 25 UK; 560 pages [Add To Basket]
This book contains over 2000 summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland.
White Savage: Williams Johnson and the Invention of America by Fintan O’Toole
Paperback; 15 Euro / 18 USD / 10 UK; 400 pages [Add To Basket]
William Johnson began life as a poor Irish Catholic peasant. After converting to Protestantism, he emigrated to America where he became the leading fur trader in the British colony and one of its richest men. He also 'went native', marrying an Indian woman and adopting the religion of her tribe, the Iroquois. When war broke out between the French and English, Johnson held the fate of the British Empire in his hands. If the Indians fought with the French, the British were doomed.
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 [Add To Basket]
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.
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