Read Ireland Book Reviews
Issue 456
15 & 16 August 2009
Irish History
Rebel Heart: George Lennon, Flying Column Commander by Terence O’Reilly
Large Paperback; 20 Euro / 28 USD / 15 UK; 284 pages
This is the intriguing story of one of the most unusual figures of the struggle for independence. George Lennon, at 20, was the youngest commander of a flying column during the war of independence and fought for the anti-treaty side during the Civil War. When it became clear that the anti-treatyites had lost the war and that a guerilla campaign would cause the ordinary people to suffer he voluntarily laid down arms and surrendered to Free State forces in the burning ruins of Waterford in 1922, starting on a path that would take him far away from the country he fought for and very far from the path of violence. He emigrated to the US in 1926, returning in 1938 when he made earnest efforts to develop the national economy. Before he died, George had converted to Buddhism, written a play about his experiences and become as much a rebel of peace as he had been a fighting rebel.
The Life and After-Life of P.H. Pearse edited by Roisin Higgins and Regina Ui Chollatain
Large Paperback; 25 Euro / 32 USD / 19 UK; 272 pages [Add To Basket]
P.H. Pearse is one of the most contested figures in Irish history and, as an abstracted and abused icon, he has become increasingly detached from the writings and actions of the man. Despite his influence over twentieth-century Irish history and culture, Pearse has been under-studied in recent decades. This volume of essays redresses this academic imbalance and provides a long-overdue study. "The Life and After-Life of P.H. Pearse" brings together the work of an exciting range of leading contemporary scholars, such as Declan Kiberd, Joost Augusteijn, Angela Bourke and Thomas Hennessey.The book examines personal and family influences and reassesses Pearse as an educationalist, journalist, Irish language advocate, short story writer, radical thinker and political figure. The aim of the book is to revisit the life of Pearse with a view to his relevance to present day theories and teachings on history, language, literature and culture and presents a complete critical work in the lead up to the 100 year commemoration of his death.
Secret Victory: Ireland and the War at Sea, 1914-1918 by Liam Nolan and John E. Nolan
Paperback; 20 Euro / 28 USD / 16 UK; 320 pages,
Between 1915 and the entry of the United States into the war in 1917, merchant shipping was badly shaken by German submarines. In 1915 losses were exceeding the replacement rate of ships, and Britain's supply lines were seriously threatened. There was a brief respite when unrestricted submarine warfare was suspended following the sinking of the Lusitania. However, shipping losses were still high and the Kaiser agreed to allow the submarines to return to unrestricted attacks in 1917. Only the entry of the US in 1917 and the pursuit of a convoy system, saved the British supply lines from total strangulation.Cobh played a crucial and largely forgotten role in this battle for the Atlantic. It was from its secure harbour that British and American naval forces battled the German empire's submarines and navy. In this new and comprehensive study of the role Cobh played, Liam Nolan looks at the circumstances that surrounded the feat and at the interesting characters who commanded the navies and crewed the ships.
The Making of the Irish Poor Law, 1815-43 by Peter Gray
Hardback; 80 Euro / 110 USD / 65 UK; 380 pages [Add To Basket]
This is the first full account of the origins and introduction of the Irish Poor Law. Ireland had no national system for the relief of poverty before 1838. Following the enactment of that year, the island was covered by a network of 130 union workhouses, charged with the relief of destitution. These rapidly became notorious for the harshness of their internal regime, and for their catastrophic failure during the Great Famine. However, the Poor Law also represented the first official acknowledgement of state responsibility for social welfare and of the entitlement of the poor to some public assistance. It also created the first form of responsible local government in the Irish countryside.This book examines the debates preceding and surrounding the 1838 act on the nature of Irish poverty and the responsibilities of society towards it. It traces the various campaigns for a poor law from the later eighteenth century. The nature and internal frictions of the great Irish poor inquiry of 1833-36 are analyzed, along with the policy recommendations made by its chair, Archbishop Whately. It considers the aims and limitations of the government's measure and the public reaction to it in Ireland and Britain. Finally, it describes the implementation of the Poor Law between 1838 and 1843 under the controversial direction of George Nicholls. It will be of importance to those with a serious interest in the history of social welfare, of Irish social thought and politics, and of British governance in Ireland in the early nineteenth century.
The Politics of Expansion: The Transformation of Educational Policy in the Republic of Ireland, 1957-1972 by John Walsh
Large Format Paperback; 25 Euro / 30 USD / 20 UK; 350 pages [Add To Basket]
It is widely known that Irish education experienced dramatic changes in the 1960s and 1970s, but this transformation is often identified mainly or even exclusively with the achievement of free second level education. In fact the changes in education policy were much more radical and wide-ranging; it was not any single initiative but the adoption of a general reforming policy by the Irish state which opened the way to a new era in education. The period saw the rapid expansion of higher technical education, the emergence of comprehensive schools and the early development of special education. The influence of international organizations, especially the OECD, was crucial in stimulating educational change.Irish education moved with bewildering speed from a nineteenth century pattern of development into the international mainstream of the postwar era. The book gives a detailed and accessible discussion of the radical changes in Irish educational policy, which was transformed out of all recognition within a single decade. Making use of new archival sources and interviews with key participants, Walsh gives a balanced and original analysis of the forces making for change in Irish education and the obstacles they encountered. The book makes a significant original contribution to our knowledge of Irish education. The book will be of interest to scholars of modern Irish history, politics and public policy. It is essential reading for students of Irish education and of history of education more generally; it will also be invaluable to those with a professional or academic interest in Irish education.
The Dialogue of the Ancients in Ireland: a new translation by Maurice Harmon
Large Format Paperback; 20 Euro / 28 USD / 15 UK; 188 pages [Add To Basket]
The Dialogue of the Ancients of Ireland: A new translation of Acallam na Senorach Translated with introduction and notes by Maurice Harmon One of Ireland's greatest collections of stories and poems, The Dialogue of the Ancients of Ireland is a new translation by Maurice Harmon of the 12th century Acallam na Senorach. Retold in a refreshing modern idiom, the Dialogue is an extraordinary account of journeys to the four provinces by St. Patrick and the pagan Cailte, one of the surviving Fian. Within the frame story are over 200 other stories reflecting many genres – wonder tales, sea journeys, romances, stories of revenge, tales of monsters and magic. The poems are equally varied –lyrics, nature poems, eulogies, prophecies, laments, genealogical poems. After the Tain Bo Cuailnge, the Acallam is the largest surviving prose work in Old and Middle Irish. Emeritus Professor of Anglo-Irish Literature, UCD, Dr. Harmon is an internationally known poet, critic, editor, biographer and scholar. He has been engaged throughout his distinguished academic career with the rich traditions of his own country. As a poet, he brings to life the various poetic forms of the medieval text. The title poem of his most recent collection, The Mischevious Boy and other poems, 2008, has been set to music by Derek Ball. 'Maurice Harmon brings to his translation a wide expereince of modern Irish literature in English, in many areas of which, from O'Faolain to Beckett, he is an acknowledged expert. He here contends directly with a much earlier expression of Irishness as a part of a continuing process of cultural and textual renewal in which we as readers are privileged to participate'. From the Preface by Sean O Coilean, Professor of Modern Irish, NUI, Cork
A Short History of the 1916 Rising by Richard Killeen
Paperback; 10 Euro / 13 USD / 8 UK; 130 pages [Add To Basket]
This book explores the background to the rising, the development of the Fenian tradition running in parallel with the parliamentary tradition, the effect of the cultural revolution of the early twentieth century in forming the minds of the men who made Easter week, the gradual demoralisation of the Irish Parliamentary Party, and the crucial effects of the Great War. The book covers the events of the rising on a day-by-day basis, starting on Easter Sunday - the date originally set for the start - and continuing through to the surrender the following Saturday. In an epilogue, Killeen summarises the executions and the fate of the major survivors on both sides. He also locates the rising in the Irish historical memory, contrasting its high ideals with the reality of the new state to which it helped give birth.
Bombs Over Dublin by Sean McMahon
Paperback; 13 Euro / 18 USD / 10 UK; 100 pages
Large Format Paperback with 8 page full colour photo insert; 12 Euro / 16 USD / 10 UK; 300 pages [Add To Basket]
In the early morning of Saturday 31 May 1941 German planes dropped bombs on central Dublin, the first on the North Circular Road at 1.30 am, causing little damage, the second half an hour later in the middle of the North Strand, demolishing twenty houses and caused serious damage to forty-five others. A third bomb fell in Summerhill Parade. In the north inner city. There was substantial loss of life on the North Strand: twenty-seven people were killed outright and about eighty were injured. Nearly all the victims were among the poorest of Dublin s citizens. In Bombs over Dublin, the first book on the subject, Sean McMahon looks at the background to the bombings: Ireland's neutrality in what the country called the Emergency ; the Belfast Blitz of April and early May 1941 that was a forerunner of the Dublin bombing; why the bombing of neutral Éire happened; and the repercussions for de Valera's wartime administration and for relations between Ireland and the Allied and Axis powers.
Beneath Cannock’s Clock: The Last Man Hanged in Ireland by Dermot Walsh
Paperback; 13 Euro / 18 USD / 10 UK; 157 pages [Add To Basket]
She struggled. She tried to cry out. Manning stuffed a sod of earth into her mouth. But her cries were heard. A local professional man and his wife were out walking and noticing the forms on the grass initially thought it was a courting couple. The wife became concerned about the noise and thought that somebody was in distress. They decided to return to their nearby home, take their car and drive it down to the scene so that they could use the car lights to investigate their fears. When the lights focused on the place where they had seen the figures, a man jumped up and ran away. Catherine Cooper was dead, from suffocation.Michael Manning was a newly married young man of 25 and a cart man of Limerick. On that Wednesday in November 1953 his life took a series of turns that would lead to the brutal death of a 65 year old nurse and his death by hanging in early 1954.In this new book exploring the murder and the events that led to it, Dermot Walsh brings to light new information from the original Garda file and interviews with the original investigation team. Beneath the single eye of Cannock's Clock, fate and circumstance combined to ill effect.
Freney the Robber: The Noblest Highwayman in Ireland by Michael Holden
Paperback; 15 Euro / 20 USD / 11 UK; 250 pages [Add To Basket]
Freney, The Robber, was something of an Irish Robin Hood and in this new book, Michael Holden has sifted through the evidence, the legend and the heroic tales to bring to life one of Kilkenny's most interesting folk heroes. His name has lived on in folklore over the centuries and the highest mark of Kilkenny's esteem has often been the plaudit, 'As bold as Freney the Robber'.He was Kilkenny's most famous highwayman and is often referred to as the noblest of all Irish highwaymen owing to his tact and polished politeness in dealing with the many victims that he accosted on the roads of Ireland. His striking at the very heart of Ireland's oppressors, plundering their secure and guarded homes wielding a sledgehammer, and sharing his spoils with the poor, catapulted him into the limelight as a local hero. He risked life and limb in order to frustrate and defy the dreaded Redcoats at eviction scenes as they administered rough justice to the downtrodden locals. This Jekyll and Hyde-style character's escapades included escaping detection by exchanging places with a corpse, disarming and robbing a commanding officer in the presence of his troops and reversing the shoes on his horse in order to confuse his pursuers.
Exploring Irish Castles by Pat Dargan
Large Paperback; 17 Euro / 23 USD / 13 UK; 95 pages, with black-and-white photos throughout [Add To Basket]
The visitor to Ireland cannot but be impressed by the number of castles that are dotted across the landscape. At first glance it may seem as if all these structures are similar. This is not the case, however, as Irish castles fall into a range of different types in regard to their layout, shape, and scale. Exploring Irish Castles is a clear and comprehensive guide to Irish castles in which Pat Dargan identifies the various development periods of Irish castles and outlines the defining characteristics of the fortifications from each period. The author introduces us to each historic era and discusses the motivation and planning behind the construction of the castles. Following the success of Exploring Georgian Dublin, Exploring Irish Castles is a further testament to the expertise of the author. This guide is complete with a large number of photographs, and illustrations depicting castles from all over Ireland. In addition, the significance of what was achieved by these Georgian Dubliners is examined.
William Monsell of Tervoe, 1812-1894: Catholic Unionist, Anglo-Irishman by Matthew Potter
Hardback; 35 Euro / 42 USD / 28 UK; 220 pages, with 8 page black-and-white photo insert [Add To Basket]
William Monsell, first Baron Emly of Tervoe (1812-94) is one of the most significant yet also one of the most overlooked political figures of nineteenth century Ireland. His political career spanned sixty years, starting in the 1830s when Daniel O'Connell was at the height of his powers, until the 1890s, when Eamon de Valera was a boy. Monsell's extraordinary life saw him move from being an Anglican Tory to a Catholic Liberal and his dual conversion was greatly influenced by the terrible events of the Great Famine. His long period in the House of Commons (1847-74) was marked by service in a number of administrations under four Prime Ministers. He was the most prominent lay Catholic in Ireland and the chief spokesman for a large and influential, but now forgotten political group, the Catholic Unionists.He was also the key liaison between the British establishment and the Irish Catholic Bishops. This rich contextual biography offers a challenging re-appraisal of the received picture of nineteenth-century Ireland. It is a fascinating portrait of a man whose entire political life was devoted to reconciling the various dilemmas inherent in his ideology.
He was a Liberal Catholic devoted to an authoritarian Church, a reforming landlord opposed to the land agitation of the 1880s and 1890s and a patriotic Irishman who staunchly supported the union with Britain. Catholic, Liberal and Unionist; Irishman, Briton and adopted Frenchman; friend of Gladstone, Gavan Duffy and of Pope Pius IX; of Cardinal Newman, Lord Acton and of Cardinal Cullen, William Monsell was a major player in Ireland, Britain and Europe for many decades, whose undeserved slide into obscurity is reversed in this fascinating book.
A Bitter Wind by Joe McGowan Trade Paperback; 20 Euro / 28 USD / 15 UK; 284 pages, with two 8-page full colour photo inserts [Add To Basket]
Like WB Yeats, quoted at the outset, the author of this book, Joe Mc Gowan, believes that: The history of a nation is not in parliaments and battlefields, but in what the people say to each other on fair days and high days, and in how they farm and quarrel, and go on pilgrimage. Consequently this book takes us on a journey into the secret heart of Irish country life in the 20th century. It depicts the universal battle of man against the elements. Beginning with an account of the villagers’ death-defying efforts to recover wreckage from an unforgiving ocean, A Bitter Wind is an intriguing ramble through an Ireland of the heart that no longer exists.
Unfolded here are the beliefs of ordinary people, their superstitions, customs, fears and joys, their struggle to extract a living from the ruthless extremes of Nature on land, sea and shore. In these pages we re-live the adventures of ordinary individuals who, in snatching a livelihood from the elements, lived extraordinary lives.
The Irish people held on to their religion through persecution and famine. They clung also to the numerous beliefs and ritual practices, remnants of the Old Religions, that protected them against the unrelenting elements, seen and unseen. Portrayed here are the bewitched hares that stole milk from the farmer’s cows and the preventive measures and antidotes used against them. Stories of the Evil Eye, red-haired women and the seachrán ramble through the pages: all an integral part of the warp and weft of everyday life not so long ago. Home grown remedies for toothache, arthritis, mumps, ‘elf-shot’ cows and many other ailments are shown and much, much more…
Please note: Prices were correct at time of original posting but are subject to subsequent change without notice.
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