Read Ireland Book Reviews
Issue 411 - 19/20 April 2008
Great Hatred Little Room: Making Peace in Northern Ireland by Jonathan Powell
Large Paperback; 16 Euro / 22 USD / 11 UK; 304 pages
The Blair administration's pursuit of a lasting settlement in Northern Ireland stands out as one of the great achievements in modern British politics. * Even after the initial moves towards a peace, there was every chance that long-nursed grievances would break out again into paramilitary extremism. That they did not is a lasting monument to the determination and guile of many of those involved. As the government's key negotiator, Jonathan Powell is uniquely qualified to give the definitive account of the end of the Troubles. Great Hatred, Little Room: Making Peace in Northern Ireland will become a landmark in the literature of conflict resolution: an historical document of lasting importance that is also a vivid and dramatic account of fallible men and women working at the limits of their endurance.
Dublin’s Docklands Reinvented: The Post-Industrial Regeneration of a European City Quarter by Niamh Moore
Large Paperback; 25 Euro / 38 USD / 19 UK; 320 pages, with black-and-white photographs throughout [Add To Basket]
Over the last twenty years, the redevelopment of the docklands has radically altered the physical fabric and social structure of a large part of Dublin City both north and south of the river. What has happened in the city is not entirely unique and has many international parallels in places like New York, London and Sydney. This book sets out to examine how global urban influences have interacted with local processes to transform a former marginal part of Dublin city into an economically successful and vibrant urban quarter. It offers an up-to-date and detailed account of the changes that have taken place and highlights some of the difficulties encountered by a number of agencies along the way, including the controversy over the redevelopment of Spencer Dock, the problems of contamination at the Grand Canal Dock and the future challenges of regenerating the Poolbeg Peninsula. The book places significant emphasis on the politics of redevelopment and the role of particular individuals in re-shaping this urban district.
Exploring Georgian Dublin by Pat Dargan
Large Paperback; 15 Euro / 22 USD / 11 UK; 94 pages
This guide provides an overview of Georgian Dublin: its beginnings and emergence, its Baroque planning, its open spaces, and classically inspired architecture. The individuals responsible for this unique style of architecture are introduced, together with the forces that motivated them and the ideas and influences that inspired and guided them. In addition, the significance of what was achieved by these Georgian Dubliners is examined. The information offered is presented in text, photographs, sketches and maps.
Redmond: The Parnellite by Dermot Meleady
Hardback; 50 Euro / 80 USD / 40 UK; 400 pages [Add To Basket]
John Edward Redmond (1856-1918) was next to Eamon de Valera, the longest- serving national leader of the Irish nationalist community in the twentieth century. As chairman of the Irish Parliamentary Party in the U.K. Parliament from 1900 to 1918, he brought the forty-year struggle for Home Rule to a successful conclusion in 1914, only to see his achievement wrecked by war in Europe and insurrection at home. He is now remembered principally - and controversially - for his call to Irishmen to enlist in the British army in the Great War. Previous biographies - the last appeared in 1932 - concentrated on the later part of Redmond's career. This book, the first part of a projected two-volume biography, sets out to provide a more rounded portrait of this important figure by examining his early life and career up to his election, in 1900, as chairman of the reunited Irish Party. Beginning with his family's tradition of public service in Victorian Wexford, it traces Redmond's first years as a young M.P. and acolyte of Parnell in the Home Rule campaign and agrarian struggles of the 1880s. The enduring impact of a fundraising mission to Australasia and the U.S. in 1883-4 is discussed.
The book examines his motives in taking Parnell's side in the disastrous party split caused by the exposure of the latter's affair with Katharine O'Shea. It then follows his efforts, as leader of the small rump of Parnellite M.P.s during the strife-torn 1890s, to uphold Parnell's principle of independent opposition in Parliament, while seeking at home to cultivate the support of both Fenian elements and Irish unionists.
The Shannon Navigation by Ruth Delaney
Hardback; 30 Euro / 40 USD / 20 UK;
"The Shannon Navigation" traces the history of the River Shannon as a navigation up to the present day from the 1750s when the early works were commenced under the Commissioners of Inland Navigation and subsequently under the Directors General of Inland Navigation from 1800 to 1831. These works, which took many years to complete, were not very successful and were badly maintained. In the 1830s the arrival of steamers focussed attention on the poor state of the navigation, which coincided with the efforts of the Government to initiate public works to relieve distress by providing employment. During the 1840s a major scheme was carried out creating the fine navigation, which is enjoyed today. The book also deals with the fact that the works were designed to address the combined issues of navigation and drainage but only partially improved the extensive problems of flooding. The age of the steamers was cut short by the coming of the railways and a second attempt to provide passenger boats in the early 1900s was unsuccessful. The subsequent history of the navigation is traced including the harnessing of the river as a hydro-electric scheme, which had a substantial impact on the navigation.
The gradual decline in the use of the river for commercial trade saw it entering a very low ebb until recent years, which have seen the growth in the use of the river for tourism and recreation, with the great works of the 1840-50's utilised to their full potential for the first time. The book is illustrated by over two hundred and fifty photographs, engravings, posters, maps and drawings and contains useful appendices with details of the Acts and parliamentary papers, the works, tonnage carried and information about the steamers and other boats.
The Parish by Alice Taylor
Hardback; 23 Euro / 32 USD / 16 UK; 220 pages [Add To Basket]
Once-vibrant villages and towns are empty, their former inhabitants now in housing estates built in the surrounding countryside, from which they emerge to drive their children to school and crawl on traffic-choked roads to go to work. No one walks to the school or shops, and most of the village shops have been put out of business by hypermarkets and shopping centres that stand surrounded by massive car parks beside main roads. Village post offices, once vital social gathering places, have been closed.
In a series of vignettes of life in her own village, Alice Taylor reasserts the priorities of public space and social community. The Parish evokes and explores the positive values of community, values that could be renewed and reinvigorated in a present and future that achieves harmony between relative affluence and the pressing need to respect the environment.
In the Tracks of the West Clare Railway by Eddie Lenihan
Trade Paperback; 15 Euro / 12 UK / 24 USD; 320 pages [Add To Basket]
Although trains are unlikely to ever again run between Ennis and Kilkee, the legend of this little branch line of the southern railway system will live on as long as there are people who look back fondly on the past. Anyone with even a superficial acquaintance with Clare will know what a wealth of varied scenery it contains, together with abundant archaeological sites and historical remains spanning over 5,000 years of human habitation. Not least of these are the earthworks of the West and South Clare Railways. Eddie Lenihan believes that a time will come when parts of these lines will be preserved as national monuments, but until that happens their destruction will continue. For what was a railway is now a disjointed succession of pieces linking not just places but in a way two worlds: one unhurried and traditional, the other brash, frenzied and modern. "In the Tracks of the West Clare Railway" paints an evocative picture of a time when the railway breathed life into West Clare.
Paisley: Demagogue to Democrat? By Ed Moloney
Trade Paperback with Endflaps; 20 Euro / 30 USD / 15 UK; 550 pages [Add To Basket]
Ian Paisley's journey is extraordinary for the sheer distance it has spanned, a journey unequalled in Irish history. But why did Paisley do it? Why did he put aside years of hostility to all things Irish, Nationalist and Catholic to go into government with the IRA's political wing? This book is an attempt to answer that question.
UVF: The Endgame by Jim Cusack and Henry McDonald
Paperback; 13 Euro / 20 USD / 9 UK; 425 pages [Add To Basket]
The Ulster Volunteer Force emerged during the first sparks of Northern Ireland's Troubles in the mid-1960s. Their campaign of violence quickly marked them out as one of the most extreme loyalist groups. Henry MacDonald and Jim Cusack provide a fascinating insight into the UVF's origins, growth and decline. They follow the careers of some of the key players in the UVF, including Gusty Spence, Billy Wright and David Ervine. They catalogue the atrocities in which the UVF were involved, including the Dublin and Monaghan bombings; the emergence of the notorious renegade Shankill Butchers; and the various bloody feuds that have infected loyalism. They trace the paramilitary organisation from the violent margins, through the horrors of the 1970s and 1980s, to its shaky 1994 ceasefire and its crucial (if sometimes reluctant) role in the peace process that led up to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. This fully revised edition brings the story up to date, discussing the McEntee Report into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings; the death in January 2007 of Progressive Unionist Party leader David Ervine; and the announcement in May 2007 that the UVF were renouncing violence and putting their weapons beyond use .
Pocket History of the Irish Famine by Ruan O’Donnell
Paperback; 9 Euro / 13 USD / 7 UK; 136 pages [Add To Basket]
This condensed history examines why the Great Famine was so catastrophic, and explores its effect on Irish society and culture. It explains the circumstances surrounding the period and addresses issues and characteristics of the time. Aspects covered include the spread of disease, the experiences of those on public works projects and the disagreements between political leaders regarding the distribution of what little food was available. Featuring new material on the Irish Famine which has never been published before, this is an accessible and comprehensive history of the period surrounding the famine, as well as the horrors endured by the people of Ireland.
West of Ireland Walks by Kevin Corcoran
Paperback; 10 Euro / 15 USD / 7 UK; 190 pages [Add To Basket]
Explore the counties of Clare, Galway and Mayo in the company of a wildlife expert. The West of Ireland offers a huge choice of landscape to the walker mountain peaks, woodland, bogs and lakes, sandy beaches and the strange limestone plateaux of the Burren. The Walks: Clare: The Cliffs of Moher The Burren: Sliabh Eilbhe Blackhead Abbey Hill; Galway/Connemara: Inishmore, Aran Islands Casla Bog Errisbeg Mountains (Roundstone) Maumturk Mountains Kylemore Abbey Killary Harbour; Mayo: Cong Lough Nadirkmore (Party Mountains) Tonakeera Point Crough Patrick
Women and the Church in Medieval Ireland, c.1140-1540 by Dianne Hall p> Large Paperback; 25 Euro / 38 USD / 19 UK; [Add To Basket]
A major study of women and the medieval Irish church, this book includes ground-breaking investigations of medieval nunneries in Ireland, their personnel, patrons, buildings and estates and their strategies for ensuring the productivity of their resources. The author argues for the existence of close ties between the supposedly cloistered nuns and the surrounding lay communities. Medieval women not among the small number who actually joined nunneries channelled their pious energies towards such activities as patronage of local churches and monasteries, pilgrimage and requests for papal and Episcopal privileges. These pious activities are examined in detail and placed within their European context. This exploration into a previously neglected aspect of the history of monastic and church life in medieval Ireland is a major contribution to the history of women in Ireland and Europe.
Donkey’s Years: Memories of a Life As Story Told by Aidan Higgins
Trade Paperback; 14 Euro / 21 USD / 10 UK: 340 pages [Add To Basket]
Donkey's Years relates the life and times of one of Ireland's greatest contemporary writers, Aidan Higgins. As in his fiction, Higgins' writing exquisitely captures sights, smells, and emotions, detailing his life from childhood in County Kildare before his family's economic decline. In writing his memoirs Higgins exposes the sources for many of his best novels, from Scenes from a Reading Past to Langrishe, Go Down, giving the reader a rare look into the "story behind the story". But Donkey's Years is more than a factual expose - this stunning memoir is constructed in a novelistic way, creating a work of literary art out of a life.
A Starving People: Life and Death in West Clare, 1845-1851 by Ignatius Murphy
Paperback; 20 Euro / 28 USD / 14 UK; 116 pages [Add To Basket]
This book gives a vivid portrayal of what happened in one Irish parish during and after the Great Famine. It tells a harrowing story of destitution, soup kitchens, workhouses, evictions, emigration, death … and survival.
Before the Famine Struck: Life in West Clare, 1834-1845 by Ignatius Murphy
Paperback; 20 Euro / 28 USD / 14 UK; 106 pages [Add To Basket]
This book provides a unique portrait of life in an Irish parish – Kilfeartagh, Co. Clare – in the years before the Great Famine. Over the parish as a whole, landlords and middlemen held sway. Most farming consisted of tillage; and most of the grain was exported to England. Fish, harvested in currachs, was sold in Kilkee, Kilrush, Limerick and even County Kerry. Turf was also exported in quantity. But despite the rather grim living conditions of the people their lives were by no means joyless. Before the Famine Struck describes old customs, the Kilkee races, hurling and dancing on green and strand, the drink and temperance scenario, and faction fighting; and then there were the tourists and visitors, including day-trippers, and a summer ‘transplanting of a little Limerick’ in the hotels and lodges of Kilkee, all nicely and humorously.
Please note: Prices were correct at time of original posting but are subject to subsequent change without notice.
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