Roddy Doyle's winning trio of comic novels depicting the daily life and times of the Rabbitte family in working-class Dublin.The CommitmentsStill one of the freshest and funniest rock 'n' roll novels ever written, Doyle's first book portrays a group of aspiring musicians on a mission: to bring soul to Dublin.The SnapperDoyle's sparkling second novel observes the progression of twenty-year-old Sharon's pregnancy and its impact on the Rabbitte family - especially on her father, Jimmy Sr - with with, candor, and surprising authenticity.The VanSet during the heady days of Ireland's brief, euphoric triumphs in the 1990 World Cup, this Booker Prize nominee is a tender and hilarious tale of male friendship, midlife crisis, and family life.--back cover

    Few people understand that in one part of the United Kingdom there exists a society where what matters most is religious origin and affiliation; still fewer empathize with the deep-rooted passions aroused by this. Tony Parker spent five months in the heart of Belfast talking to the people who make up this riven and self-destructive society. He interviewed priests and politicians, schoolchildren and students, bus drivers, doctors, nurses, lawyers, shop assistants, community workers, single mothers, soldiers, and police. He earned the trust of prisoners, their parents and children, and, perhaps most remarkably of all, Catholic and Protestant extremists implacably committed to violence as their means of expression. As Mary Loudon wrote in the Sunday Telegraph, "Tony Parker is an interviewer with an extraordinary capacity to filter what people say to him without turning their words his color." Through him the voices of the people of Belfast are heard for the first time, and the effect is devastating.

    This luminous journey is marked by memories of his lonely childhood, secrets of his doomed young mother, and his passion for a woman who is as unreachable as the stars.

    His readings are legendary and each new collection, from his collaboration with Brain Lynch, Endsville (1967) to Daddy, Daddy (winner of the 1990 Whitbread Poetry Award), Crazy about Women (1991) and Greetings to Our Friends in Brazil (1999) has borne out the truth of Ezra Pound's dictum that "literature is news that stays news".This book contains Durcan's own selection from his work. It is a literary milestone that has set the seal on his reputation as a poet of international standing.

    With clarity and objectivity, Coogan examines the IRA's origins, its foreign links, bombing campaigns, hunger strikes and sectarian violence and its role in the latest attempts to bring peace to Northern Ireland. Meticulously researched and featuring interviews with past and present members of the organization, this is a compelling account of modern Irish history.

    It looks at the history, influences and development of the laws, as well as what little remained of them in contemporary Irish law. Brehon Law survived in Ireland until the 17th century when it was finally supplanted by the English common law. Brehon law was first transcribed in the 7th century, but had existed long before in the form of customs that were passed down the generations in the oral tradition. This vintage book will appeal to those with an interest in Irish history, and it is not to be missed by collectors of related literature. Contents include: "Ancient Law", "The Existing Remains of Irish Law", "The Senchus Mor", "Legislative Assemblies", "Classification of Society", "The Law of Distraining", "Criminal Law", "Leges Minores", "Native, Not Roman", and "Conclusion". Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.

    Her object was to determine the condition of the poor and discover why so many were emigrating to America. Eschewing fancy hotels and fine carriages, she travelled a good deal on foot and rested at common lodging-houses and even peasant cabins. This provided a unique opportunity to study the lifestyle and character of the ordinary folk at close quarters, and what the pious Mrs. Nicholson observed has left posterity with an invaluable record of the customs and traditions of the Irish peasantry, from faction fights to funeral cries, and a graphic account of the hardships that Ireland's poor had to bear. This new edition has had notes added to aid the reader who is perhaps less familiar with Irish history and social history.

    The stories recounted range from the well-known -- Patrick, Brendan, Brigit -- to those less likely to be familiar -- Monesan, Samthann and Aidan. Vivid portrait illustrations by Susan McLean-Keeney add to the prayerful beauty of the book.

    From the multitude of great pillars at Carnac to the elegance of the avenue that leads to the stone circle of Callanish in the Hebrides, visitors have stared in awe but departed in ignorance. There has been nothing to inform them. From Carnac to Callanish, the first book on the subject, describes the types, which range from pairs of isolated stones in the far south-west of Ireland to networks of long lines in Scotland, Dartmoor and Brittany, in a sequence of architectural chapters that stress the increasing social and commercial connections between regions hundreds of miles apart. Information about excavations, megalithic art, astronomical analyses, legends, all these are used to provide explanations of why the rows were erected, when, and what was their purpose.The book contains a history of research from late mediaeval times to the present day; offers a chronology for the development of the lines from Neolithic times around 3500 BC, to the middle of the Bronze Age a hundred generations later; and reveals how early processional avenues leading to stone circles developed into multiple lines that were added to systematically over many generations before the tradition culminated in simple cult centres for families, easy to put up, yet containing delicate sightlines to the sun or moon. Scholarship and vivid evocation are combined to present a narrative that is as accessible to the enthusiast as the expert, and the text is augmented by distribution maps, statistical tables, plans and diagrams, as well as numerous photographs which illustrate the magnificence of these splendid but enigmatic rows.

    Tells the story of Biddy Early who was a remarkable woman who possessed extraordinary powers and natural gifts of knowing the unknown.

    Some of his most iconic characters are men of the cloth, and few writers have portrayed the unique demands of the priesthood with as much empathy, honesty, and wit. This collection, edited and introduced by his widow, Harriet O’Donovan Sheehy, brings together the best of O’Connor’s short fiction on the subject.From “An Act of Charity,” the ironically titled tale of church efforts to cover up a curate’s suicide, to “The Sentry,” an exquisite blend of drama and satire sparked by the British army’s invasion of a priest’s onion patch, these sixteen stories capture the full range of pressures visited on the Irish clergy. “Peasants” is a lesson in what happens when a man of God places law and order above compassion, while “Achilles’ Heel” reveals that even a bishop can be rendered powerless by his housekeeper. “The Frying-pan” and “The Wreath” are sad and lovely portraits of priests caught between their vows of celibacy and their natural desire for human connection.In the rituals and contradictions of the priesthood, Frank O’Connor found one of his greatest motifs. The Collar showcases an artist at the peak of his powers and shines a brilliant light on a fascinating world too often hidden in shadow and sentiment.

    A hired man on a farm in Juneau County, Wisconsin, he was among the first to anwer Lincoln's call for volunteers in 1861. Sullivan fought in a score of major battles, was wounded five times, and was the only soldier of his regiment to enlist on three separate occasions.An Irishman in the Iron Brigade is a collection of Sullivan's writings about his hard days in President Lincoln's Army. Using war diaries and letters, the Irish immigrant composed nearly a dozen revealing accounts about the battles of his brigage-Brawner Farm, Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg as well as the fighting of 1864. Using his old camp name, Mickey of Company K, Sullivan wrote not so much for family or for history, but to entertain his comrades of the old Iron Brigade. His stories-overlooked and forgotten for more than a century- are delightful accounts of rough-hewn Western soldiers in the Eastern Army of the Potomac. His Gettysburg account, for example, is one of the best recollections of that epic battle by a soldier in the ranks. He also left a from-the-ranks view of some of the Union's major soldiers such as George McClellan, Irvin McDowell, John Pope, and Ambrose Burnside.An Irishman in the Iron Brigade is in part the story of the great veterans' movement which shaped the nation's politics before the turn-of-the-century. Troubled by economic hardship, advancing age, and old war injuries, Sullivan turned to old comrades, his memories, and writing, to put the great experiences of his life in perspective.

    The author vividly recreates the tense and hope-filled atmosphere of the years 1917-1921, and provides a rich gallery of portraits of those in the company of whom he fought.

    The author also reveals that most of the leading Volunteer figures were Freemasons and that freemasonry played an important role in radical politics and the evolution of the United Irish movement.

    

    This edition also includes details of the Family History Centres of the Mormon Church, one of the world's richest genealogical archives.

    Described clockwise from Wicklow to Mournes, in 70 walking routes.The plan divides the peaks into 5 groups, and at the start of each is described Paddy's Way - the way the author tackled them, so that anyone who wants to emulate him has full directions.

    Kinship is a central element in all human societies and was of particular significance in early medieval Ireland and Wales where government institutions were, in general, weak. T. M. Charles-Edwards examines the forms of kinship found in Ireland and Wales at the earliest periods for which documentation is sufficient (the seventh century for Ireland and the twelfth through thirteenth centuries for Wales). His analysis of kinship vocabulary and careful consideration of the available evidence enables him to take the discussion back to earlier periods. This is the first extended scholarly treatment of the topic. It is an intensively researched, erudite, and fascinating study of the interplay of tradition and innovation in the development of kinship from the prehistoric to the medieval period.

    With the country's fertile, loamy soil to yield fine produce and herbs; grassy fields to feed dairy cattle; plentitude of animals from rabbits to pheasant to catch and cook; and ocean waters teeming with fish, there's a cornucopia of fresh and wonderful foods to choose from. Not to mention the pubs, with the best ales and most excellent whiskeys in the world. Take a taste of Ireland as you tour through its rivers and lakes, plains and countrysides. It's an unrivaled voyage.

    Loyalist terrorist Michael Stone unleashed a deadly rampage at their funeral, killing three people and leaving 50 more wounded before he was apprehended.STONE COLD not only looks at Stone's life but reveals sensational new evidence regarding the two soldiers who were caught up in the funeral cortege for the Milltown victims. The televised act of frenzied mob violence that resulted in their murders, battered senseless and then shot, sent shockwaves around the world and through Belfast itself.Martin Dillon's gripping account draws on his extensive conversations with Stone, now serving a life sentence in the Maze Prison, to present a chilling portrait of a charming, boastful, meticulous, sentimental and, above all, lethal killer.

    Splendid new photographs, many taken from the air, present a breathtaking selection of more than 70 important properties. Key masterpieces have been included from every period: the imposing medieval fortification of Dunsany Castle; the first piece of domestic architecture at Carrick-on-Suir: a wealth of grand country houses built in the elegant Palladian style, such as Castletown, Russborough, and Powerscourt; virtuoso works from the Regency period, including Mount Stewart, Barons Court, and Castle Coole; and inventive Gothic Revival houses built in the fashionable crenellated style, such as the magnificent Glin and Tullynally castles. While these buildings have been chosen for their outstanding architectural interest, others, like Abbey Leix, have been selected for their sumptuous interiors. Jacqueline O'Brien's more than 300 full-color photographs capture not only aerial and landscape views of the houses and gardens, but also the wealth of interior detail and furnishings. Desmond Guinness's stimulating and lively text offers much new information. Together, they reveal how the cumulative effects of architecture, plasterwork, paneling, furniture, paintings, and silver, allied to fascinating family traditions, have endowed each of the great houses and castles with a character all its own. An invaluable list of architects and craftsmen who worked in Ireland - including Richard Castle, Robert Adam, James Gandon, Sir Richard Morrison, and Michael Stapleton - and a special section on Irish decorative arts complete this unparalleled volume.