Read Ireland Book Reviews
Issue 405 - 1 March 2008
Irish Sports
Padraig Harrington’s Journey to the Open by Padraig Harrington
Hardback; 20 Euro / 29 USD / 15 UK; with full colour photos throughout
Padraig Harrington is one of the world's top golfers. The highest rated European in the world rankings, he beat Sergio Garcia in a nail-biting four-hole play-off to win the 2007 Open Championship at Carnoustie. He is the first European to win a Major since 1999 and the first Irishman to win the Open for sixty years. This book celebrates Harrington's extraordinary achievement, in his own words and in the words of Ireland's finest sports writers, lavishly illustrated in colour throughout. From his early days, learning to play at Stackstown GC, his three Walker Cup appearances as an amateur, to turning pro and the European Tour, right through to winning the Order of Merit, the Irish Open and the Open itself, this book paints a stunning portrait of an extraordinary sporting hero.
Croke Park: An Illustrated History by Tim Carey
Large Format Paperback; 20 Euro / 30 USD / 15 UK; 200 pages, with full colour illustrations throughout [Add To Basket]
The GAA's founders in 1884 cannot have imagined Croke Park, a sports icon in Ireland's national consciousness, would host over 80,000 people at an international rugby match. The Gaelic football match in March 2007 between Dublin and Tyrone was the largest sporting event in the world that weekend. Thousands have played there, millions have watched. This world-class stadium symbolises modern Ireland and the GAA's strength. Here is the story of `Croker' from the beginning, featuring great games, personalities, dramas and non-GAA events. Reminiscences by renowned players, officials and others add colour to the history. The magnificence of the stadium and its history is reflected in the best ever collection of photographs and illustrations about this hallowed ground. This updated edition includes new material on the reconstructed historic Hill 16, the new surface and floodlighting, and the playing of rugby and soccer internationals on the hallowed ground.
The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Gaelic Football and Hurling by Donal Keenan
Large Format Hardback; 25 Euro / 35 USD / 18 UK; 210 pages, with full colour photographs throughout
This book is the definitive work on Gaelic football and hurling, with every page a visually exciting and information-packed celebration of Ireland's indigenous sports.This fully illustrated book provides essential information not only on the top players and the major tournaments, but the great matches, the influential managers and the famous stadiums. It analyses the importance of Gaelic Games to the cause of Irish nationalism and recalls scandals and controversies that have had arguments raging from Ballybunion to Ballynahinch. Every player, tournament and important issue in the history of Gaelic Games is cited in this fantastic feast for the eyes.
Journey to Adventure by Pat Falvey
Large Format Hardback; 28 Euro / 36 USD / 18 UK; 200 pages, with full colour photographs throughout [Add To Basket]
Pat Falvey is Ireland's best-known mountaineer-cum-adventurer. After life's ups and downs he discovered the mountains at 29, a turning point. He has since made many high-altitude ascents around the world, and is the only Irish person to complete the Seven Summits, not once but twice, and climb Everest from both north and south. Today, he runs an adventure travel company from the Macgillycuddy's Reeks in Kerry. This lavishly-illustrated book describes his climbs on the major peaks he has visited. Pat reveals his motives and the dangers and joys at the limits of physical and mental challenges. Together, the superb photographs and honest narrative recreate the ordeals, terrible beauty and hardships of the mountains and give a unique insight into this exceptional high-altitude mountaineer and expedition leader.
Princes of Pigskin: A Century of Kerry Footballers by Joe O Muircheartaigh and TJ Flynn
Hardback; 25 Euro / 34 USD / 17 UK; 410 pages, with full colour and black-and-white illustrations throughout
Kerry is the most successful county in Gaelic football, having played in 52 football All-Irelands and won 34. It has a long and storied history and many fabled heroes. This collection of interview-based essays surveys Kerry footballers since 1903 with their first All-Ireland success, with Tralee's John Mitchels. Featured are 100 proud wearers of the green and gold. Current stars interviewed include Colm `Gooch' Cooper and Kieran Donaghy while names from the past range from Joe Barrett and John Joe Sheehy to Mick O'Connell. All represented Kerry with distinction and have a story to tell. There are long-forgotten tales and unknown gems of cycling, gun-running, gambling and drinking; some tell of troubled times and civil war; others are amusing and controversial anecdotes of recent training styles and successes. All have helped shape Kerry football. This is a fine and quirky mixture encompassing some notable feats and epic encounters of famous sons of the Kingdom.
White Line Fever: An Illustrated History of Irish Road Racing by Alastair McCook
Hardback; 28 Euro / 42 USD / 21 UK; 184 pages, with full colour photographs throughout
Irish road racing is unique in the world of motor cycle sport. It has dominated the Irish sporting landscape since its beginnings in the 1920s. Whilst the North West 200, Ulster Grand Prix and Skerries 100 are the long-established highlights of the racing season, the sport has found a new vibrancy south of the border. In recent years new venues such as Ballybunion, Co. Kerry, Athea, Co. Limerick and the Boyne, Co. Meath, have been added to the road racing calendar. The crowds who turn out in their thousands, rain or shine, are informed and passionate. In "White Line Fever", leading motor cycle racing photographer Alastair McCook has produced an evocative pictorial history documenting over sixty years of Irish road racing. The legends who defined greatness in the sport, from Artie Bell to Robert and Joey Dunlop, up to today's heroes like
Giants of Gaelic Football : All Time Greats by Sean Og O’Ceallachain
Hardback; 25 Euro / 34 USD / 17 UK; 232 pages [Add To Basket]
Because of their successes, the premier football counties occupy a very prominent position in the book. Not forgotten, however, are the large numbers of great players who did their counties proud on representative teams but sadly never achieved championship greatness themselves. Likewise, "Giants of Gaelic Football" includes outstanding players from weaker counties, players like Mickey Kerins of Sligo who would have walked onto any team in the country at any time. The true greats are all here: Mick O'Connell (Kerry), Sean Purcell (Galway), Jimmy Murray (Roscommon), Paddy O'Brien (Meath), Brian Mullins (Dublin), Sean O'Neill (Down), Jimmy Barry Murphy (Cork), Willie Bryan (Offaly), Larry Stanley (Kildare), Tommy Murphy (Laois), Mick Higgins (Cavan), Jim McKeever (Derry) and many, many more. "Giants of Gaelic Football" is a book for every lover of the game to treasure.
The Munich Air Disaster by Stephen Morrin
Trade Paperback; 15 Euro / 20 USD / 10 UK; 220 pages [Add To Basket]
The German inquiry blamed the accident on pilot error. However, this book establishes beyond any question that this was not so. Based on his enormous technical knowledge of aircraft accident investigation, years of research and interviews with those involved, the author shows that the pilot, Captain James Thain, performed heroically and was shamefully treated by the aviation authorities for many years. Munich swept away a generation of gifted footballers including the legendary Duncan Edwards, Tommy Taylor, Roger Byrne, David Pegg, and Liam Whelan from Dublin. Stephen Morrin's authoritative book is a story of tragedy, a pilot's heroism in adversity, legal treachery and one of the defining moments in the Manchester United story. It was a sporting disaster that gave birth to a legend - a legend which fifty years later shows no sign of diminishing.
Classic Munster Hurling Finals by Seamus J. King
Trade Paperback; 17 Euro / 23 USD / 12 UK; 264 pages [Add To Basket]
Covers nineteen of the greatest Munster finals since the war, including 1952 Cork deprive Tipp of 4-in-a-row; 1963 Waterford shock Tipp; 1966 Cork back from the wilderness; 1973 Richie Bennis' winning point; 1978 Great Clare team stymied by Cork giants; 1987 The long famine ends for Tipp; 1994 Limerick triumph; 1995 Clare's breakthrough under Loughnane; and 2004 Waterford triumphant. "Classic Munster Hurling Finals" is a book that will be treasured by every fan of the national game.
Staying the Distance by Ronnie Delaney
Trade Paperback; 15 Euro / 20 USD / 10 UK; 208 pages, with black-and-white photos throughout [Add To Basket]
In December 1956 Ronnie Delany sprinted home to win the gold medal in the 1500m Olympic final in Melbourne, setting a new Olympic record in the process. In the depressed Ireland of the fifties, Delany's win - an outsider storming ahead to beat the favourites - caught the imagination of a nation, and made him a sporting icon. Though most famous in Ireland for his Olympic win, Delany pursued his running career in the US, where from March 1955 through March of 1959 he ran thirty-four major indoor mile races and won them all. He broke the indoor world record for the mile three times. Fifty years on from the Melbourne Olympics, Ronnie Delany tells the story of his life and career in his own warm and engaging style.
The Dubs: Dublin GAA Since the 1940s by Sean Og O Ceallachain
Trade Paperback; 17 Euro / 22 USD / 11 UK; 180 pages, with full colour and black-and-white photos throughout [Add To Basket]
From "The Irish Examiner" - 'The man with the most recognisable voice in Irish broadcasting - and why not, after sixty years at the mike - has produced a terrific account of the Dublin GAA inter-county story since the Second World War.' 'Institutions don't usually write books, but how else would you describe Sean Og O Ceallachain?' From "The Irish Times" - 'The great broadcaster ...examines the state of the game in his native county since the Second World War. A former Dublin hurler and footballer, O Ceallachain is well placed to observe the highs and lows.' From "The Irish Mail on Sunday" - '...a fine tribute to the county. A former Dublin player himself, it's O Ceallachain's first-hand experiences of Dublin's trials and tribulations since World War II that makes his tome extra special. His concise summaries of matches and shrewd analysis are also noteworthy.' From "Clare County Express" - 'The Dubs is a superb production and an excellent chronicle of Gaelic Games...'.
Please note: Prices were correct at time of original posting but are subject to subsequent change without notice.
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