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Saturday, March 31, 2007
Read Ireland
Read Ireland Book Review – Issue 372
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Kicking a Dead Horse by Sam Shepard
(Paperback; 12 Euro / 16 USD / 9 UK)
This striking new play tells the story of one man’s quest for
authenticity. The play continues Dublin’s Abbey Theatre’s
exploration of Sam Shepard’s work and the theatre’s commitment
to Shepard as one of the most important playwrights of his
generation. The play was written for the Abbey Theatre and the
celebrated Irish actor Stephen Rea, and was first performed on
the Abbey’s Peacock Stage on 12 March, 2007.
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Casement by Angus Mitchell
(Paperback; 15 Euro / 20 USD / 11 UK; 186 pages)
Roger Casement (1864-1916) is remembered in England as a
"traitor", but passionately revered in Ireland as a founding
father of the Irish State. By 1913, with an international
reputation as a savior of the oppressed in Africa and South
America, Sir Roger Casement resigned from the Foreign Office and
devoted himself openly to the cause of Irish independence. He was
a founder of the Irish Volunteers and soon after the outbreak of
World War I traveled to Germany to seek international guarantees
for Irish independence. Returning to Ireland in 1916, he was
arrested on the eve of the Easter Rising, given a state trial in
London and executed for high treason.
Since his execution, Roger Casement’s place in history has
become a riddle entwined in the waging of war followed by the
delicate negotiation of peace that has defined Anglo-Irish
politics. Was Roger Casement’s rebellious nature motivated as
much by his ‘incorrigible’ Irishness as by his exposure of the
appalling crimes against humanity that he witnessed in Africa
and South America?
--------------------------
Wilde by Jonathan Fryer
(Paperback; 15 Euro / 20 USD / 11 UK; 160 pages)
This is one title in a series of short, illustrated biographies.
They tell the stories of those who have shaped our present and
our past, from Beethoven to Dietrich and from Einstein to
Churchill. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), self-styled master of the
"bon mot" turned Victorian bogeyman, was resurrected by a more
liberal age as St Oscar, slayer of the dragons of pomposity,
hypocrisy and cant. The big Irishman with the golden tongue had
posthumously proved that the world is not black and white. His
wit and paradoxes were understood as profound and moral and his
best plays were recognized as gems of English comedy. As
unrepentant Wildean Jonathan Fryer shows, Wilde had a genius for
extremes. Only the mediocre and the tedious were excluded.
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For the Love of My Mother by J.P. Rodgers
(Trade Paperback; Publishers Recommended Price: 20 Euro. Read
Ireland Book Review Special Price: 16 Euro / 21 USD / 12 UK; 410
pages)
"For the Love of My Mother" is the tragic and uplifting story of
one Irish mother and her son. Born into a life of poverty and
detained at the tender age of two for begging in the streets,
Bridget Rodgers proceeded to spend the next 30 years of her life
locked away in one institution or another. The orphanage came
first but after being raped and falling pregnant, she was sent
to a home for unmarried mothers where she gave birth, had her
son taken away from her and then was sent to one of the infamous
Magdalen Laundries. And that really is only the beginning of the
story. A truly gripping tale told by the son she thought she'd
lost for ever, it is a story of triumphing over poverty, a tale
of hope when there seems to be none, and a tribute to a mother's
love for her son.
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Ireland: This Land is Ours by Lewis Elia
(Trade Paperback; 20 Euro / 26 USD / 13 UK; 250 pages)
Michael Davitt was born in Straide, County Mayo, Ireland in 1846
at the height of the "Great Hunger". Overcoming many hardships,
he rose to become an international figure and one of Ireland's
most beloved patriots. This fictionalized biography brings back
to life the beginning of the fight for Irish independence.
Travel the journey with Michael Davitt as he struggles to break
the power of the landlords and take Ireland out of the feudal
system imposed upon the country by the British aristocracy.
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Empire of Analogies: Kipling, India and Ireland by Kaori Nagai
(Hardback; 40 Euro / 52 USD / 28 UK; 190 pages)
Starting from the analysis of the Irish characters in Kipling's
Indian stories, this book shows that the representation of the
British Empire was greatly indebted to analogies and comparisons
made between colonies. It contrasts two different ways of making
colonial analogies: 'imperialist' and 'nationalist'. Kipling, as
a young journalist, was keenly aware of the fact that Indian and
Irish nationalists drew analogies between each other's colonial
situation to make the case for self-government and British
misrule, and his repeated emphasis on Irish participation in the
Raj can be seen as a powerful 'imperialist'
counter-representation to these subversive analogies. With this
framework in mind, this book traces how Kipling's representation
of Empire changed over time as he moved away from India and also
how the hegemony of British imperialism faltered toward the end
of the nineteenth century. This book makes a major contribution
to post-colonialism studies in general and to the comparative
study of Ireland and India in particular.
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Ireland Painted by Marie Hennessy
(Small Gift Hardback; 10 Euro / 13.50 USD / 7 UK; 72 pages, with
full colour illustrations throughout)
Paintings are the ideal form in which to capture the lush green
landscapes, the barren wildness and the ever-changing skies of
Ireland. They are soft and atmospheric, or wild and moody, like
the place they describe. Here, the artist paints the landscape
she knows intimately. From Antrim to Wexford, Kerry to Mayo, she
encapsulates the feel of Ireland through its well-known places
and its obscure, secret corners. The gregcarr@readireland.ie
Please be sure to include your full mailing address and credit
card details including expiration date. You might like to
split this information into 2 or 3 emails for security.
You can of course also post your order to:
Read Ireland, 392 Clontarf Road, Clontarf,
Dublin 3,Ireland.
Telephone and Facsimile number is: +353-1-853-2063.
Read Ireland Web Site Home Page: http://www.readireland.ie/ or
http://www.readireland.com/
Please visit often! If I can be of any further assistance,
please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thank you very much for your continued support and custom.
Sincerely, Gregory Carr @ Read Ireland
are enhanced by an
evocative text which captures the essence of the land and its
people.
---------------------------------
Living and Working in Ireland 2ed by Joe Laredo
(Large Format Paperback; 23 Euro / 30 USD / 16 UK; 555 pages)
This book is the most comprehensive guide available to anyone
hoping or planning to live in Ireland.
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Irish-English Dictionary from Geddes & Grosset
(Small Format with Plastic Cover; 6 Euro / 9 USD / 4 UK)
A new compact Irish-English dictionary with over 20,000
heardwords.
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New in Paperback:
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The Emergency: Neutral Ireland 1939-45 by Brian Girvin
(Paperback; 14 Euro / 19 USD / 10 UK; 385 pages)
Brian Girvin has written a fresh and original history of Ireland
between 1939 and 1945. Drawing on new sources and recent
scholarship, he tells the story of what is known as The
Emergency in Ireland, but elsewhere as the Second World War.
Despite Ireland still being a member of the Commonwealth, Eamon
de Valera refused to join the war against Nazi Germany and
declared his country neutral. This decision, Girvin concludes,
cost de Valera his ultimate prize: a united Ireland. Woven into
this political maelstrom are the stories of the people who lived
through those years, those that went against the Government and
fought for the allies and those, who even if they disagreed,
were not easily allowed to express that opinion.
---------------
Available Again:
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Irish Family Feuds: Battles Over Money, Sex and Power by Liam
Collins
(Trade Paperback; 15 Euro / 20 USD / 11 UK; 260 pages)
Ireland is a land of feuds. People quarrel over money and love
but the most destructive disputes arise when family members fall
out. In this book the author explores the deeply divisive
boardroom battles that have shaken some of Ireland’s wealthiest
and best-known families. But it isn’t all about money and
power. Passion plays its part and sometimes leaves a bitter
legacy that is never healed. When a husband ran off with a
younger women his scorned wife planned her revenge, taking care
to cause him lasting damage. A child born to a businessman and
his new mistress provoked a family feud that has lasted many
generations. When sex, money and power collide, the results can
be catastrophic for the feuding clan. The author looks at cases
that have hit the headlines and delves into the secret world of
feuding families. The first printing sold out in a few weeks
and this new revised edition is likely to do the same – very
quickly!
-----------------------------
Stone Mad by Seamus Murphy
(Trade Paperback; 15 Euro / 20 USD / 11 UK; 230 pages)
Memories of seven years as an apprentice stonecarver by a
craftsman/artist who became one of Ireland's most repsected
sculptors. The young Seamus Murphy, studying modelling at the
Crawford School of Art in Cork in the early 1920s, took the
unusual step of apprenticing himself to a master stonecarver to
learn the ancient craft of the mason. 'Stone Mad' tells the
story of the seven years of growing knowledge of the challenges
and joys of stone - and of the men who worked it. His artistic
feeling for quality responded to his workmates' reverence for
the'well-made thing', their insistence on the making of the hand
before the mind and heart could properly speak. The result is a
book of surpassing beauty, full of warmth, humour and
perception.
'A delightful and classically simple book that incidentally
strikes far deeper than its subject implies. In the sharply
formal conversations of the stonemen the bitter-sweet flavour of
provincial Ireland is presented with neither sentiment nor
adornment; there are lines to read between, and it's a pleasure
to do so.' William Trevor, Guardian
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Fear of the Collar: My Terrifying Chidhood in Artane by Patrick
Touher
(Paperback; 12 Euro / 16 USD / 9 UK)
Life in Artane Industrial School was an education in cruelty and
fear. Run by the Christian Brothers, the school has become
synonymous with the widespread abuse of children in Ireland in
the 1940s and 1950s and is currently under police investigation.
Patrick Touher's story bears testament to the courage and
determination of the children who were forgotten by society.
Sent there at age eight, Patrick Touher spent eight long years
in Artane Industrial School under the oppressive rule of the
Christian Bothers.
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Highlights from the Previous Issue:
-----------------------------------
Issue 371 – Irish History
-------------------------
Dublin’s Nazi No. 1: The Life of Adolf Mahr by Gerry Mullins
(Trade Paperback; 17 Euro / 23 USD / 12 UK; 253 pages)
In the 1930s, Dr Adolf Mahr was head of the National Museum of
Ireland, where he earned the title .the father of Irish
archaeology.. He was also the head of the Nazi Party in Ireland,
and was dubbed .Dublin Nazi No. 1.. Under pressure from Irish and
British military intelligence, he left for Germany shortly before
the outbreak of war in 1939, never to return. To this day, he is
considered in some circles to have been a spy who used his
position at the museum to help prepare Germany.s invasion plan
of Ireland. During the war, he became director of
Irland-Redaktion, the German propaganda radio service that
broadcast into neutral Ireland. He was later arrested and
tortured by the British, and upon his release tried to return to
Ireland, but to no avail. He remains one of the most
controversial figures in twentieth-century Irish history.
The book also tells the story of Hilde Mahr, Adolf.s eldest
daughter, who had been a member of Hitler Youth in Ireland
before being trapped in Germany when the war began. She was
drafted into the National Labour Force, was stationed on the
roofs of Berlin buildings during air-raids, and several times
came close to death.
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Left to the Wolves: Irish Victims of Stalinist Terror by Barry
McLoughlin
(Trade Paperback; 30 Euro / 39 USD / 24 UK; 294 pages)
Between the end of the Russian Civil War in 1921 and Stalin's
death in 1953, the Soviet secret police sentenced over 4 million
persons on political grounds. Over 800,000 were shot and millions
died in the slave camps of the Gulag system. At the height of the
mass-repression - the Great Terror of 1937/38 - foreigners were
in great jeopardy. Knowing that a major war was coming, Iosif
Stalin and his cohorts decided to rid Soviet society of all
perceived or potential 'enemies'. Among the putative 'Fifth
Columnists' were non-Russian ethnic minorities, political
refugees from fascism and foreign-born Communists. At least
three of these countless victims were of Irish nationality. This
book describes their social background, how and why they entered
the semi-clandestine world of Communism and the reasons for
their residence in the USSR. Patrick Breslin was a graduate of
the International Lenin School who turned to journalism and
translating. Brian Goold-Verschoyle's visits to Moscow were
periodic until his masters in the Soviet espionage service sent
him to the Spanish cockpit in 1937. Finally, Sean McAteer was
given political refugee status in the new Russia in 1923 after
his flight from Scotland Yard. He used his language skills to
proselytize sailors for the world revolution or to teach
students the rudiments of English in exotic Odessa. Each man in
turn knew by time of arrest that the secret police NKVD rarely
released or acquitted anybody; and the fabricated charges they
were faced with increased their sense of isolation and
hopelessness. This realisation was all the more bitter
considering the faith they had placed in the Soviet experiment.
--------------------------------------
In Search of Ireland’s Heroes: The Story of the Irish from the
English Invasion to the Present Day by Carmel McCaffrey
(Hardback; 25 Euro / 30 USD / 17 UK; 290 pages)
In this engaging sequel to her previous book, In Search of
Ancient Ireland, Carmel McCaffrey tells the story of the
struggle between English and Irish aspirations in the centuries
since the first English incursions into Ireland in the twelfth
century. This is a narrative history filled with powerful
personalities and families who fought in battle and through
constitutional means to free Ireland from English control. With
an extensive use of original sources--letters, personal
accounts, and parliamentary documents--Ms. McCaffrey brings
these individuals to life and tells their story. We meet the
intrepid O'Neills, the colorful O'Donnells, the wily
Fitzgeralds, and many others whose passion for freedom and for
Ireland could not be conquered. The Irish, as the book recounts,
struggled over many generations to hold on to ancient lands only
to lose their fight in the Elizabethan wars. In the early 1600s
the ancient Irish Brehon laws were extinguished, and it seemed
as if the Gaelic past had been washed from memory. Yet the story
of Irish determination did not end there. Other generations took
up the effort to establish an Irish parliament free of English
control that would answer the needs of all citizens. With
extensive use of original source material from Parliamentary
records, personal accounts and letters McCaffrey brings to this
stirring history the same adroitness that prompted Terry Golway
of the New York Observer to call her first book marvelous...fine
storytelling and analysis. With 25 black-and-white photographs
and a map.
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Masters of Irish Music by Liam Gaul
(Trade Paperback; 18 Euro / 25 USD / 13 UK; 130 pages, with
black-and-white photos throughout)
A collection of some thirty profiles, "Masters of Irish Music",
which appeared periodically in "Ireland's Own" some time ago,
aims to gives readers an overview of some of the most
interesting and important figures in Irish music. It can be
dipped into, used as a work of reference - for writing or
preparing programme notes for a concert, for example - or simply
read from cover to cover. All of the people profiled have passed
on, leaving new generations to take up the challenge of
continuing the work started by these masters of Irish music, and
the men and women featured in this book can be an inspiration to
them.
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Weaving Tapestry in Rural Ireland by Meghan Nuttal Sayres with
photographs by Laurence Boland
(Hardback; 40 Euro / 54 USD / 26 UK; 200 pages, with full colour
and black-and-white photos throughout)
"Weaving Tapestry in Rural Ireland", this account of the Donegal
weaving co-operative features accounts of the various processes;
as well as interviews with weavers, spinners and dyers; and has
103 colour photographs of tapestries. This book brings into
focus key aspects of our heritage and shows how traditional
skills were adopted to produce modern tapestries of great beauty
and originality. "Weaving Tapestry in Rural Ireland" contributes
to the preservation of regional culture in the Gaeltacht, the
Irish-speaking sections of western Ireland. The weavers believe
their work is of importance because "large chunks of our
cultural heritage have been lost with the passing of just one
generation." Traditional methods of wool production are
presented in this book along with folklore, myth and local
archaeology which influences the weavers' practices, tapestry
design, self-perceptions and identities as artists and mentors
within their communities. Also included is a documentation of
the natural materials-plants and sea life-that their ancestors
used in dye recipes for the yarns in their sweaters and tweeds.
---------------------------------
Classics in Irish History Series:
---------------------------------
An Essay on Irish Bulls by Maria Edgeworth
(Paperback; 20 Euro / 27 USD / 14 UK; 152 pages)
First published in 1802, "An Essay on Irish Bulls" was intended
to show the English public the talent and wit of the Irish lower
classes. Originally devised by Maria's father, Richard Lovell
Edgeworth, Irish Bulls is an informal philosophic dialogue on
the nature of Bulls (logical absurdities) and jokes and jests in
general. Published at the time of the Union, the overarching
theme is the confusions of identity and the relationship of
Irish people to the English. This highly entertaining work has
not been published as a single book since the nineteenth
century. The editorial material and text for this edition are
reproduced from the "Pickering & Chatto Novels" and "Selected
Works of Maria Edgeworth", vol. 1. New introduction for this
edition is by Jane Desmarais.
-------------------------------
The Open Secret of Ireland by Thomas Kettle
(Paperback; 20 Euro / 27 USD / 14 UK; 122 pages)
The Open Secret of Ireland", published in 1912, consists of
articles primarily focused on Home Rule, offering both
historical and contemporary analyses. The collection includes
three articles focused on Unionism, particularly on Ulster
Unionism, and Kettle's description of 'The Hallucination of
Ulster' provides a fascinating insight into nationalist ideas
about the fragility of the unionist bloc and the
unreasonableness of their cause. This revealing and intriguing
collection offers many insights into the motivations of the old
Home Rule generation, convinced that their day had come and
utterly unaware of the radical course Irish politics were to
take in the next ten years. This edition includes an original
introduction by John Redmond. It contains a new introduction by
Senia Paseta.
-----------------------------------
The Philosophy of Irish Ireland by D.P. Moran
(Paperback; 20 Euro / 27 USD / 14 UK; 126 pages)
First published between 1898 and 1900 as a series of articles in
the "New Ireland Review", "The Philosophy of Irish Ireland" was
the most forceful manifesto produced by that section of the
Gaelic Revival movement which saw Irish identity as inextricably
Catholic and Gaelic. The book addresses the growing Catholic
professional class educated in secondary schools run by
religious orders, and attempts to instil a collective
consciousness in this nascent elite. It shows that the Gaelic
Revival would not inevitably lead to separatism; it could also
be deployed in the service of an aggressively reinvented less
deferential 'Catholic Whig' politics. It includes a new
introduction by Patrick Maume.
----------------
Available Again:
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Vanishing Ireland by James Fennell and Turtle Bunbury
(Large Format Hardback; 30 Euro / 39 USD / 24 UK; 180 pages,
with black-and-white photos throughout)
"Vanishing Ireland" is a unique collection of portrait
interviews looking at the dying ways and traditions of Irish
life and taking us back to an Ireland virtually unrecognisable
to today's post-boom generation. Illustrated with over a hundred
evocative and stunning photographs, we meet the people and
customs that shaped the cultural identity of the Irish nation.
Through their own words and memories, sixty-four men and women
transport us back to a time when people lived off the land and
the sea, when music and storytelling were essential parts of
life, when a person was defined by their trade. Divided into
five parts - Children of the Field, Children of the Music,
Children of the Horse, Children of the Trade and Children of the
Water - "Vanishing Ireland" brings together the stories of those
who lived through Ireland's formative years. We hear of children
harassed by the Black and Tans, of ceilis in kitchens, and the
rigours of working in the fields, of the wonder of electricity
and the devastation of emigration. From coalminers to saddlers,
farmers to fishermen, along with horse dealers, publicans,
housemaids and musicians - these remarkably poignant interviews
and photographs, in their simplicity and honesty, will make you
laugh and cry but, above all, will provide a valuable chronicle
that connects twenty-first century Ireland to a rapidly
disappearing world.
-------------------------------
Only a Couple Copies Remaining:
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Between the Mountains and the Sea: Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County
by Peter Pearson
(Hardback (Now Out of Print): 40 Euro / 52 USD / 30 UK;
Illustrated with over 700 photographs, old prints, maps,
etchings. 378 pages)
Dublin city is blessed in its location, between the splendid
Dublin/Wicklow mountains and the beautiful Dublin bay, and in
this setting the hinterland of the city has grown over the
centuries into a rich heritage of inner and outer suburbs as
important as the city centre itself. In this book, Pearson tells
of the geographical, economic and social history of this area,
its famous inhabitants, its agricultural development, methods of
transport, sport and recreational aspects, but most of all he
details the architectural heritage of the county which is
studded with riches from many different eras, and with the most
desirable homes in the country.
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