A moving account of the cruel reality of life inside a home for unmarried mothers in 1950s Catholic Ireland written by a young woman who took up a position of midwife in the home run by the Sacred Heart nuns.

    Determined to keep what little he has, he returns to his homeland in Ireland and enrolls at Saint Enda's school in Dublin. Saint Enda's headmaster is the renowned scholar and poet, Patrick Pearse--who is soon to gain greater fame as a rebel and patriot. Ned becomes totally involved with the growing revolution...and the sacrifices it will demand.Through Ned's eyes, 1916 examines the Irish fight for freedom--inspired by poets and schoolteachers, fueled by a desperate desire for independence, and played out in the historic streets of Dublin against the backdrop of World War I. It is the story of the brave men and heroic women who, for a few unforgettable days, managed to hold out against the might of the British Empire to realize an impossible dream.

    Her groom was a farmer almost four times her age. Despite a pre-nuptial agreement guaranteeing that there would be no sex, her husband raped her repeatedly. He also beat her. Although she made desperate pleas for help, the legal system, the police and the clergy failed to come to her aid. Sold into Marriage is the story of that girl's loveless marriage, as told to journalist Sean Boyne, her rape, subsequent pregnancy and suicide attempt and her eventual escape to London and freedom.

    For Eneas McNulty, a happy, innocent childhood in County Sligo in the early 1900s gives way to an Ireland wracked by violence and conflict. Unable to find work in the depressed times after World War I, Eneas joins the British-led police force, the Royal Irish Constabulary—a decision that alters the course of his life. Branded a traitor by Irish nationalists and pursued by IRA hitmen, Eneas is forced to flee his homeland, his family, and Viv, the woman he loves. His wandering terminates on the Isle of Dogs, a haven for sailors, where a lifetime of loss is redeemed by a final act of generosity. The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty is the story of a lost man and a compelling saga that illuminates Ireland's complex history.

    Here are its people, their lives driven by love, faith, and duty, surviving in a culture that blends tradition with transformation.

    This joint biography looks first at their very different upbringings and early careers. Both fought in the 1916 rising, although it is almost certain that they did not meet during that tumultuous week. Their first encounter came when Collins had been released from jail after the rising but de Valera was still inside. Collins was one of those who wanted to run a Sinn Fein candidate in the Longford by-election of 1917. De Valera and other leaders opposed this initiative but the Collins group went ahead anyway and the candidate won narrowly. The incident typified the relationship between the two men: They were vastly different in temperament and style. But it was precisely in their differences and contradictions that their fascination lay. De Valera, the political pragmatist, hoped to secure independence through political agitation, whereas the ambitious Collins, with his restless temperament and boundless energy, was an impassioned patriot who believed in terror and assassination. T. Ryle Dwyer examines the years 1917-22 through the twists and turns of their careers. In an epilogue, he considers the legacy of Collins on de Valera's later political life. This book is the first attempt to examine both men in a comparative light.

    This beautifully packaged boxed set of Marita Conlon-McKenna's masterful famine trilogy, with a beautiful cover by PJ Lynch.

    And during the eleven months the conflict lasted, brother fought against brother, sundering families for generations, and opening a divide in the country's politics that only now is beginning to fade. This unrivaled pictorial record and remarkable history of the war's passage pays poignant testimony to the courageous men and women prepared to fight to the death for what they believed morally right. It also serves as a sober reminder of the excesses of political zeal and how they came to haunt future generations.

    . . . Her poems offer a curative gift of merciful vision to a country blinded by its own blood and pain, as her narrators wait more or less patiently in their 'difficult knowledge' for the healing of their country's wounds" (San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle).

    The account he provides of life with the Provisionals is of a dark and claustrophobic world, of an iron grip which they hold over their own communities - a grip as tight and vicious as any Mafia stranglehold - and of a ruthless and cynical disregard for human life. Gilmour tells of corruption and double-standards that see young volunteers knee-capped for petty theft, while the high-ups steal with impunity; and of the life of a man trapped in no-man's-land, in a dirty war in which both the IRA and the security forces exploit children trapped in dead-end estates.

    "Tara Road," her first full-length novel since "The Glass Lake," again shows her incomparable understanding of the human heart in the tale of two women, one from Ireland, one from America, who switch lives, and in doing so learn much about each other, as well as much about themselves. Ria lived on Tara Road in Dublin with her dashing husband, Danny, and their two children. She fully believed she was happily married, right up until the day Danny told her he was leaving her to be with his young, pregnant girlfriend. By a chance phone call, Ria meets Marilyn, a woman from New England unable to come to terms with her only son's death and now separated from her husband. The two women exchange houses for the summer with extraordinary consequences, each learning that the other has a deep secret that can never be revealed.Drawn into lifestyles vastly differing from their own, at first each resents the news of how well the other is getting on. Ria seems to have become quite a hostess, entertaining half the neighborhood, which at first irritates the reserved and withdrawn Marilyn, a woman who has always guarded her privacy. Marilyn seems to have become bosom friends with Ria's children, as well as with Colm, a handsome restaurateur, whom Ria has begun to miss terribly. At the end of the summer, the women at last meet face-to-face. Having learned a great deal, about themselves and about each other, they find that they have become, firmly and forever, good friends.A moving story rendered with the deft touch of a master artisan, "Tara Road" is Maeve Binchy at her very best — utterly beautiful, hauntingly unforgettable, entirely original, and wholly enjoyable.

    The keepers of Kinvara Light, a lighthouse off the rugged west coast of Scotland, are home for Christmas. Robert Sutherland finds little comfort at home, for his wife is embittered by his long absences and her son's cerebral palsy.

    This ambitious volume comes at a time when Irish music and culture is experiencing a genuine renaissance, as evidenced by the popularity of such phenomena as Riverdance.Only a handful of books have attempted to present an overall picture of Irish traditional music, and many of these are now outdated or out of print. Since the late 1960s, the traditional music scene has changed radically: the commercial life of traditional music has mushroomed, bringing with it tremendous growth in what might be called music tourism. At the same time, an energetic revivalism has taken hold, the result of a wealth of new approaches to playing and spirited debate over the influence of traditionalism in Irish music.Fintan Vallely has harnessed the expertise of dozens of specialists who between them present a remarkably comprehensive picture of the field, incorporating ancient history, past ideals, and contemporary ideologies. The companion presents A-Z descriptions of individuals, traditions, and instruments, as well as an analysis of the modern history of traditional music-making. Biographical entries cover significant musicians and composers and central themes; central themes within traditional music, such as the oral tradition, the Bardic system, and the politics of Irish music, are given extended entries.Not just the ideal reference for the interested enthusiast, The Companion to Irish Traditional Music provides a unique resource for every home, school, or library with an interest in the distinctive rituals, qualities, and history of Irish traditional music and song.

    This moving work involves colloquial voices and utterance from the Irish tradition and affirms an inheritance which includes emigration and pilgrimage to the United States. All Souls centres on the long title poem, an afterhours stumble homewards encountering the living and the dead, and 'The Use of Memory', a heartbreaking restoration of the lives of two mothers lost in childbirth and a father and son adrift on the tides of dislocation, poverty and pain. Chronicler and celebrant, Michael Coady has shaped a book of unusual integrity, inviting us to enter its world and concerns.

    A reader that gathers a diverse range of writers like Aristotle, Rousseau, Kant, Marx and Jefferson to examine the nature of 'citizenship'

    However, David Lyons' stunning photography provide a fresh and vibrant image of the Irish landscape. It helps to have a feel for your subject, and David Lyons has exactly that: an Ulsterman who has concentrated on landscape photography, his vision of Ireland has been focused over the years. Images of well known locations and of the unexpected sit together in Ireland and provide a wonderful view of town and country.Ireland is divided roughly into quarters, into the four traditional provinces of Ireland – Ulster, Munster, Leinster, and Connaught – with each province's history featured. From the myths and fables of Celtic Ireland – Cuchulainn and Finn MacCool, the Daughters of Lir and the "little people" – through the historical remnants of Norman and British Ireland, the castles and cathedrals, Georgian Dublin and Protestant Belfast, to the new Ireland, the tiger economy of the European Union, the creativity of Ireland's heritage is portrayed in the photographs. But it is the timeless Irish landscape, the beauty and wildness, so ably captured by David Lyons' camera, that makes the greatest impression.

    A day of family reunions, meals, and fun, Halloween brings people of all ages together with rhyming, storytelling, family fireworks, and community bonfires. Perhaps most important, it has become a day that transcends the social conflict found in this often troubled nation. Through the extensive use of interviews, The Hallowed Eve offers a fascinating look at the various customs, both past and present, that mark the celebration of the holiday. Looking through the lenses of gender, ethnicity, and religious affiliation, Jack Santino examines how the traditions exist in a nonthreatening, celebratory way to provide a model of how life could be in Northern Ireland. Halloween, concludes Santino, is a marriage of death and life, a joining of cultural opposites: indoor and outdoor, domesticity and wildness, female and male, young and old.

    "The Shadow of the Gunman" and "The Plough with Stars," two installments in the Dublin Trilogy, give a realistic look at life in the slums of Dublin. Meanwhile, "The Silver Tassie," originally rejected by William Bulter Yeats (director of the Abbey Threatre), is a tragicomedy based on the cruel horrors of World War I. It shows the price which the common people have to pay for the stupidities of war. "Purple Dust "and "Hell and Healing a"re also included in this volume which show O'Casey's use of expressionism and symbolism.

    Having abandoned the trappings of city life, she finds contentment in harvesting the fruits of the hedgerows, taking care of her animals and running her own business, Philippa's Pantry. But her isolation is interrupted by the carry-on of the local beau monde and the sudden unwelcome arrival of her wayward brother and sister. In the midst of chaos, while her defences are down, she is captivated by a tall figure in a tweed jacket and attempts to seduce him. The opportunity arises in her little wood where the bluebells are bursting forth and the damp earth offers no impediment to passion ... but something else does, something Philippa could never have dreamt of.

    A fascinating, shocking, and important work of investigative journalism.--Jim Doyle, San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle. 32 photos.

    The most complete Irish course available today, this text/audio program is ideal for those who plan to travel to Ireland or who want to get in touch with their Irish roots.

    Kelly mines a rich seam of humour and sadness out of the resilience of a people rich in hospitality and generosity, imagination, culture and tradition.

    This collection of hymns, poems, and meditations for everyday activities will help the reader connect the spiritual life with daily life -- the sacred with the profane -- and have a sense of "praying constantly." The volume's interior design features full-color art and graphics.

    Since its initial publication in 1826, the Life of Theobald Wolfe Tone, comprising the autobiography as well as a monumental collection of his journals, letters and political writings, has been regarded by historians as an indispensable source for the history of the 1790s, and for the life of Tone himself. Its blend of candid memoir, frank diary entries and political passion has contributed to the mystique of this Protestant revolutionary and founding father of Irish republicanism, who strove to promote ‘the common name of Irishman’ in place of the political and religious barriers that had divided his country. While there have been a number of abridged versions of the 1826 Life as compiled and edited by Tone’s son William, this is the first new unabridged edition of the work. Using Tone’s original manuscripts, editor Thomas Bartlett has restored passages suppressed – for reasons of primness and prudence – by the Tone family. Tone emerges in these pages as a man of great energy, wit and commitment. The development of his political ideas, the intimate details of his danger-filled life, the power of his prose – all are on display throughout this extraordinary compendium. Tone’s Life, documenting the drama of his brief career, forms his most enduring legacy.

    Did You Here the One About the Irishman? shows how both nationalists and loyalists are dependent on one another; Joyriders, grew out of the work Reid did with residents at the notorious Davis Flats estate and is structured around the day-to-day activities of four Catholic teenagers on a youth training scheme running at a now-disused textile mill in Belfast and plays on the idea of Britain taking a joy-ride through Ireland; The Belle of Belfast city shows Dolly, a former music-hall star whose bawdy songs and unconventional antics conjure a magical Belfast far removed from that represented by her nephew Jack, a hardline loyalist politician. My Name, Shall I Tell You My name? is "Fierce, poignant…a formidable portrait of intransigent, archaic patriotism" (The Times) and Clowns (the sequel to Joyriders) is a "warmhearted, compassionate play". (The Guardian)

    IRISH GEORGIAN explores the distinctly Irish signature of the style and examines the revival of interest in a magnificent cultural legacy. 142 color photos.

    That place is Belfast, the city of her birth. This book details the events in Belfast from the time of Titanic's conception and laying of her keel to the time when Belfast and Ulster mourned the loss of loved ones on the ship's only voyage.

    Keane, one of Ireland's most prolific and respected literary figures, died on 30 May 2002 at the age of 73, after a long and difficult battle with cancer. John B. was born in 1928 in Listowel, County Kerry and it was here that he spent his literary career, running a pub which provided him with inspiration for his characters and ideas.His first play, Sive, was presented by the Listowel Drama Group and won the All-Ireland Drama Festival in 1959. It was followed by another success, Sharon's Grave, in 1960. The Field (1965) and Big Maggie (1969), are widely regarded as classics of the modern Irish stage and jewels in a crown which includes such popular hits as Many Young Men of Twenty, The Man from Clare, Moll, The Chastitute and The Year of the Hiker. His large canon of plays have been seen abroad in cities as far afield as Moscow and Los Angeles. Big Maggie ran on Broadway for over two months in 1982 and The Field was adapted into an Oscar-winning Hollywood film, starring Brenda Fricker and Richard Harris, in 1991.But it was not just in his plays that John B. Keane managed to portray all aspects of humanity with both wit and truth. He also wrote many fine novels, including The Contractors, A High Meadow and Durango. Durango was adapted for the big screen, starring Brenda Fricker and Patrick Bergin. A writer of essays, short stories and letters, his humorous words live on in Celebrated Letters of John B. Keane, More Celebrated Letters, The Best of John B. Keane and The Short Stories of John B. Keane. In 1987 John B. Keane received a special award for his enduring place in Irish life and letters from the Sunday Independent/Irish Life. In that year he also won a Sunday Tribune Arts Award and in 1988 he was chosen as the recipient of the Irish-American Fund Award for Literature. In 1999 he was presented with a Gradam medal, the Abbey Theatre's highest award. He was a member of Aosdana and the recipient of honorary doctorates from Trinity College, Dublin, Limerick University and Marymount College, New York.John B. Keane remains one of Mercier's best-loved and best-selling authors.

    Yet this irresistible rogue is also the Marquess of Sherbourne, reputed to be such a tyrannical landlord his tenants call him His Devilship. And its one of trhese tenants, a radiant redhead, who quickly ignites passiona flame in him. DOUBTFUL HEARTThe dashing stranger wins the affection of Kathleen McNamaras little daughter and awakens in the widow emotions too long denied. Now, Kathleen finds herself yearning desperately for Shane, even though hes said to be a friend of Lord Sherbourne, the man she believed murdered her husband. Kathleen despises Sherbourne with all the fierce intensity of her fiery nature. And it is just this proud and heartfelt spirit that Shane fears, for he knows when she learns his ture identity, she will hate him forever unless he can unmask her husbands real killer and prove himself worthy of her love.

    First published in 1930, this book offers an insight into life in the newly independent Ireland. No aspect of society is immune from his attack.

    The first book-length treatment of an important Confederate regiment composed mostly of Irish immigrants who were involved in most of the important Civil War battles in the East.

    A special section covers uses of the common prepositions, the building blocks of the Celtic language. Available in both hardcover and paperback editions, this dictionary makes a great gift for anyone who's Irish or interested in this lyrical language.

    

    which was put down over the summer months, and whose leaders died or were imprisoned. Among them was Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the best-known contemporary Irish nationalists. This major edition of Wolfe Tone's writings consists mainly of Tone's correspondence, diaries, autobiography, pamphlets, public addresses and miscellaneous memoranda (both personal and public). Volume I covers Tone's youth, from his baptism in 1763, his university years, and his early career as a barrister and increasingly radical political pamphleteer and organizer, until June 1795 when he set sail for America.

    This album of warm and personal photos by Nutan of musicians who have shaped the revival of traditional Irish music pairs biographies and interviews with the portraits.

    The essays reclaim the study of nature as a major contribution to Irish culture and a significant field of Irish studies, drawing out the links between scientific study, history, art and popular culture. Seán Lysaght explores the question of nomenclature in a bilingual society; Michael Viney gives a lively critical history of hunting, shooting, and other field sports; Dorinda Outram examines the relationship between the standard continental models of natural history and the Irish experience; John Feehan writes of the challenges of conservation and environmentalism; J.H. Andrews presents the history of the mapping of Ireland's physical geography; David Cabot discusses the essential texts of Irish natural history; and in three magisterial essays editor John Wilson Foster traces the traditions associated with perceptions of Irish nature, elucidates the complex relationship of "nature and nation" in the nineteenth century, and, in "The Culture of Nature," takes us on a dazzling tour from Yeats, Wilde, Kavanagh, and Heaney to the cultural implications of eco-tourism, deep ecology, genetic engineering, and artificial life. The essays are accompanied by more that fifty photographs, maps, paintings, and engravings that illustrate the visual culture of Irish nature. In Nature in Ireland, the disciplinary boundaries that have partitioned the study of nature are cleared away with wit, style, and scrupulous scholarship. It is a landmark publication in the study of Irish history, science, and culture.

    This guide offers a comprehensive introduction to the rich religious tradition of the Celts. Contents include:Historical and mythological roots of Celtic spirituality.Important Celtic holy days and their rituals.The powers of Celtic goddesses and gods.Easy guidelines for setting up a Celtic altar.Instructions for creating and using Celtic divination tools such as Runes and Ogham Sticks.

    No memorization drills.LEARN RUSSIAN AS YOU LEARNED ENGLISHYou learned English by listening. With Pimsleur, you listen to learn Russian. This Language Program was developed by renowned memory expert, Dr. Paul Pimsleur. His research led him to the realization that the most important use of memory is in language learning. Based on this, Dr. Pimsleur designed a learning program that works for any language. The Pimsleur Language Program is an integrated system which immerses you in the language, encouraging you to hear, understand and use the language all at the same time.Now you can take advantage of Dr. Pimsleur's research. At the completion of these eight lessons you will comfortably understand and speak at a beginner level.

    Topics include parades, the Irish language, murals, Halloween, motorcycling costume, the Titanic and womanhood. It is suggested that symbols are "daring us to laugh".