When he arrives at Clonliffe Seminary in the 1970s, it is a time in Ireland when priests are highly respected, and Odran believes that he is pledging his life to "the good."Forty years later, Odran's devotion is caught in revelations that shatter the Irish people's faith in the Catholic Church. He sees his friends stand trial, colleagues jailed, the lives of young parishioners destroyed, and grows nervous of venturing out in public for fear of disapproving stares and insults. At one point, he is even arrested when he takes the hand of a young boy and leads him out of a department store looking for the boy's mother.But when a family event opens wounds from his past, he is forced to confront the demons that have raged within the church, and to recognize his own complicity in their propagation, within both the institution and his own family.A novel as intimate as it is universal, A History of Loneliness is about the stories we tell ourselves to make peace with our lives. It confirms Boyne as one of the most searching storytellers of his generation.

    A little magic is about to come to sleepy Caracove Bay...Lexie and her husband Sam have spent years lovingly restoring No. 3 Cashel Square to its former glory. So imagine Lexie's delight when a stranger knocks on the door, asking to see the house she was born in over sixty years ago.Kathleen is visiting from America, longing to see her childhood home... and longing for distraction from the grief of losing her husband.And as Lexie and Sam battle over whether or not to have a baby and Kathleen struggles with her loss, the two women realise their unexpected friendship will touch them in ways neither could have imagined.In Caracove, there's more than a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

     Growing up in the small town of Grace’s Cove, Margaret never knew that she was different. She didn’t understand why people were unnerved by her ability to see what others could not. When her mother explains that she is special, gifted, her world shifts forever. Desperately wanting to be normal, Margaret is determined to seal that part of herself away. It seems as though she might succeed – until Sean Burke steps into her life. Sean is an apprentice on a fishing boat and is pursuing his dream of running his own fishing business. Tales of the fish pulled from the rumored-to-be-enchanted cove are legendary across Ireland, and Sean is determined to learn its secrets. What he doesn't expect is to be blindsided by his love for Margaret. Helpless to stop loving Sean, but unable to confess to her shameful secret, Margaret must face the truth about herself – or run away from it forever. From New York Times Bestselling author, Tricia O'Malley, comes a new romance series set on the rocky shores of Ireland. The Mystic Cove Series: Wild Irish Roots: Prequel Novella Wild Irish Heart Wild Irish Eyes Wild Irish Soul Wild Irish Rebel Wild Irish Roots: Margaret & Sean Wild Irish Witch

    One hundred thousand peasants have risen up against the Crown to the tales of men, women and children butchered as traitors. It is whispered that the feared and despised ghosts of Oliver Cromwell’s New Model army have returned seeking bloodshed, and no one is safe.Major Lorn Mullone, a man forged by war and torn by past failures, is sent by the government to apprehend Colonel Black, a dangerous and shadowy figure, who is harming the fragile peace talks with his own murderous retribution.In a race against time, Lorn must journey across a country riven by fighting, where at the walled town of New Ross, he discovers a new horror.In the desperate battle for peace, Lorn must survive for the sake of Ireland's future.Liberty or Death is an authentic historical story set against the brutal backdrop of Ireland's Great Rebellion, the first novella in The Soldier Chronicles series.

    But when they become engaged, Max’s father insists on a ‘left-handed marriage’, a custom among the German aristocracy in cases where the bride does not have the required pedigree. This means that, although Diana will be Max’s lawful wife, neither she nor their children will have any claim to Max’s eventual title or wealth. Deeply in love, Max and Diana agree to these terms and the newlyweds dazzle from Ascot to the Riviera and host lavish skiing parties at their estate in the Alps. However, as the dark clouds of war gather across Europe, Diana becomes concerned by her loving husband’s unpredictability and what she suspects are sinister secrets beneath his family’s glamorous lifestyle. When war is declared Diana finds herself caught between two sides, as her own Anglo-Irish family are fighting for the British and Max is an officer in the German army. Diana, refusing to leave her beloved husband, becomes a figure of mistrust in Germany and is portrayed as a treasonous woman in the British press. When Max is reported missing presumed dead, Diana is rejected by his family. Widowed, penniless, her reputation in tatters and her own family in Ireland destroyed by the war, Diana sets out to rebuild her life. *** A. O’Connor once more draws us irresistibly into the past and spins an extraordinary tale that holds us spellbound. Here again is that mixture of impeccable research and powerful storytelling that made The House and The Secrets of Armstrong House bestsellers

    That afternoon she went with her fiancée to watch Tipperary and Dublin play a gaelic football match at Croke Park. Across the city nine men lay dead in their beds after a synchronised IRA attack designed to cripple British intelligence services in Ireland. Trucks of police and military rumbled through the city streets as hundreds of people clamoured at the metal gates of Dublin Castle seeking refuge. Some of them were headed for Croke Park.Award-winning journalist and author Michael Foley recounts the extraordinary story of Bloody Sunday in Croke Park and the 90 seconds of shooting that changed Irish history forever. In a deeply intimate portrait he tells for the first time the stories of those killed, the police and military that were in Croke Park that day, and the families left shattered in its aftermath, all against the backdrop of a fierce conflict that stretched from the streets of Dublin and the hedgerows of Tipperary to the halls of Westminster.

    Among the commoners in the GPO was a young staff captain of the Irish Volunteers named Michael Collins. He was joined a day later by a fourteen-year-old messenger boy, Eoin Kavanagh. Four days later they would all surrender, but they had struck the match that would burn Great Britain out of Ireland for the first time in seven hundred years.The 13th Apostle is the reimagined story of how Michael Collins, along with his young acolyte Eoin, transformed Ireland from a colony into a nation. Collins’s secret weapon was his intelligence system and his assassination squad, nicknamed “The Twelve Apostles.” On November 21, 1920, the squad—with its thirteenth member, young Eoin—assassinated the entire British Secret Service in Dublin. Twelve months and sixteen days later, Collins signed the Treaty at 10 Downing Street, which brought into being what is, today, the Republic of Ireland.An epic novel in the tradition of Thomas Flanagan’s The Year of the French and Leon Uris’s Trinity, The 13th Apostle is a story that will capture the imagination and hearts of freedom-loving readers everywhere.

    Together with its earlier, sibling volume, it completes the arc of a remarkable career.Shortly before his death in 2013, Seamus Heaney discussed with his publisher the prospect of a companion volume to his landmark New Selected Poems 1966-1987 aimed at presenting the second half of his career, 'from Seeing Things onwards', as he foresaw it. Although he was unable to complete a edition/selection, he left behind selections that have been followed here. New Selected Poems 1988-2013 reprints the author's chosen poems from his later years, beginning with his ground-breaking volume Seeing Things (1991), his two Whitbread Books of the Year, The Spirit Level (1996) and Beowulf (1999), and his multi-nominated, prize-winning volumes, Electric Light (2001), District and Circle (2006) and Human Chain (2010). The edition concludes with two posthumously published works.

    This volume encapsulates the finest work from Seeing Things (1991) with its lines of loss and revelation; The Spirit Level (1996) where we experience "the poem as ploughshare that turns time / Up and over."; the landmark translation of Beowulf (1999); Electric Light (2001), a book of origins and oracles; and his final collections, District and Circle (2006) and Human Chain (2010), which limn the interconnectedness of being, our lifelines to our inherited past.

    Can the magic of the Emerald Isle and the Lady reunite these two wounded hearts?

    

    We tell them to stay alive or keep alive those who only live now in the telling. In Faha, County Clare, everyone is a long story...Bedbound in her attic room beneath the falling rain, in the margin between this world and the next, Plain Ruth Swain is in search of her father. To find him, enfolded in the mystery of ancestors, Ruthie must first trace the jutting jaw lines, narrow faces and gleamy skin of the Swains from the restless Reverend Swain, her great-grandfather, to grandfather Abraham, to her father, Virgil - via pole-vaulting, leaping salmon, poetry and the three thousand, nine hundred and fifty eight books piled high beneath the two skylights in her room, beneath the rain.The stories -- of her golden twin brother Aeney, their closeness even as he slips away; of their dogged pursuit of the Swains' Impossible Standard and forever falling just short; of the wild, rain-sodden history of fourteen acres of the worst farming land in Ireland -- pour forth in Ruthie's still, small, strong, hopeful voice.

    A time of strife and treachery. Political ambition and inter-tribal conflict has set the country on edge, testing the strength of long-established alliances.Following the massacre of their enemies at the battle of Cnucha, Clann Morna are hungry for power. Elsewhere, a mysterious war party roams the forests of the ‘Great Wild’ and a ruthless magician is intent on murder.In the secluded valley of Glenn Ceoch, disgraced druid Bodhmhall and the woman warrior Liath Luachra, have successfully avoided the bloodshed for many years. Now, the arrival of a pregnant refugee threatens the peace they have created together. Run or fight, the odds are overwhelming.And death stalks on every side.Based on the ancient Irish mythology and Fenian Cycle texts, the Fionn mac Cumhaill Series by Irish author Brian O’Sullivan is a gritty and authentic retelling of the birth and early adventures of Irish mythology Ireland’s greatest hero, Fionn mac Cumhaill. Gripping, insightful and utterly action-packed, this is Irish mythology/ fiction as you’ve never read it before.This classic Irish fantasy and historical adventure was a 2016 SPFBO Competition finalist and Irish bestseller. The book also includes the following extra content:* a glossary with explanations on ancient Irish cultural concepts* historical notes on the Fenian Cycle* a pronunciation guide and links to an online audio pronunciation guide

    It’s the bloodiest year of the Northern Irish ‘Troubles’ and sixteen-year-old Eimear O’Callaghan, a Catholic schoolgirl in Andersonstown, West Belfast, bears witness in her new diary. What follows is a unique and touching perspective into the daily life of an ordinary teenager coming of age in extraordinary times. The immediacy of the diary entries are complemented with the author’s mature reflections written forty years later. The result is poignant, shocking, wryly funny and above all, explicitly honest.This unique publication comes at a time when Northern Ireland is desperately struggling to come to terms with the legacy of its turbulent past. It provides a powerful juxtaposition of the ordinary, everyday concerns of a sixteen-year-old girl – who could be any girl in any British or Irish city at this time, worrying about her hair, exams, clothes, discos – with the unimaginable horror of a society slowly disintegrating before her eyes, a seemingly inevitable descent into a bloody civil war, fuelled by sectarianism, hatred and fear.Written by an experienced broadcaster and journalist, Belfast Days demonstrates how one person’s examination of her own ‘story’, upon rediscovering her 1972 diary on the eve of the publication of the Saville Report, provided her with a new perspective on one of the darkest periods in twentieth century British and Irish history.

    Mos, however, has a “sixth sense for history, a unique talent for finding lost things”. Lured from seclusion, despite his own misgivings, Mos is hired to locate the final resting place of legendary Irish hero, Fionn mac Cumhaill. Confronted by a thousand year old mystery, the distractions of a beguiling circus performer and a lethal competitor, Mos must draw on his knowledge of Gaelic lore to defy his enemies and survive his own family history in Beara. Beara: Dark Legends is the first in a trilogy of unforgettable Irish thrillers. Propulsive, atmospheric and darkly humorous, Dark Legends introduces an Irish hero like you’ve never seen before. Nothing you thought you knew about Ireland will ever be the same again.

    Though you may have never heard his name before, his story has already touched you in profound ways. Now, for the first time, novelist David Marlett brings that incredible story to life.Stretching from the dirty streets of Ireland to the endless possibilities of Colonial America, from drama on the high seas with the Royal Navy to a life-and-death race across England and up the Scottish Highlands, from the prospect of a hangman’s noose to a fate decided in the halls of justice, FORTUNATE SON is a powerful, relentless epic. Here nobility, duels, love, courage, revenge, honor, and treachery among family, friends and ancient enemies abound. And at its center is the most momentous trial in Irish history – the trial of Annesley v. Anglesea from which our modern “attorney/client privilege” was forged, and our concept of a “jury of one's peers” was put to the test.Carefully researched, vividly evoked, and lovingly brought to the page, FORTUNATE SON is an unforgettable work of fiction based on fact, one that will resonate deep within you long after you finish it.

    Ireland’s long struggle for self-government had suddenly become a radical and bloody fight for independence from Great Britain. Irish nationalists mounted a week-long insurrection, occupying public buildings and creating mayhem before the British army regained control. The Easter Rising provided the spark for the Irish revolution, a turning point in the violent history of Irish independence.In this highly original history, acclaimed scholar R. F. Foster explores the human dimension of this pivotal event. He focuses on the ordinary men and women, Yeats’s “vivid faces,” who rose “from counter or desk among grey / Eighteenth-century houses” and took to the streets. A generation made, not born, they rejected the inherited ways of the Church, their bourgeois families, and British rule. They found inspiration in the ideals of socialism and feminism, in new approaches to love, art, and belief.Drawing on fresh sources, including personal letters and diaries, Foster summons his characters to life. We meet Rosamond Jacob, who escaped provincial Waterford for bustling Dublin. On a jaunt through the city she might visit a modern art gallery, buy cigarettes, or read a radical feminist newspaper. She could practice the Irish language, attend a lecture on Freud, or flirt with a man who would later be executed for his radical activity. These became the roots of a rich life of activism in Irish and women’s causes.Vivid Faces shows how Rosamond and her peers were galvanized to action by a vertiginous sense of transformation: as one confided to his diary, “I am changing and things around me change.” Politics had fused with the intimacies of love and belief, making the Rising an event not only of the streets but also of the hearts and minds of a generation.

    When they had married their husbands they had embarked on very different lives. They married men of the establishment; one married a lecturer, two others married soldiers, another a civil servant. These women all knew each other and their lives became intertwined. For the seven women whose stories are told in Easter Widows, their husbands’ interest in Irish culture, citizenship and rights became a fight for independence which at Easter 1916 took the form of military action against the British. These men were among the leaders who formed a provisional government of the Irish Republic and issued a proclamation of Irish Independence.But the Rising was defeated, and the leaders were arrested and hastily executed. Some of the widows broke under the strain of their experiences and this story tells of miscarriage and tragedy. Yet for another of the women, the execution of her husband allowed her to return from self-imposed exile, freed from the fear that her son would be taken from her by her estranged husband. This is also a story of women of power and success – some of the widows emerged from the shadows to become leaders themselves. It is a human story told against the backdrop of the years of conflict in Ireland 1916-1923 - the Rising, the War of Independence and the Civil War. Easter Widows introduces all the characters separately through the romances of these seven women – Lillie, Maud, Kathleen, Aine, Agnes, Grace, Muriel – before bringing their stories together in a cohesive narrative. These interlinking stories are clearly embedded in an authentic historical account.

    And none more so than Ireland's. Ireland's light floods the landscape, luring the senses with a restless presence. The water surrounding and carving through the island reflects back to us the ever-changing movement of the wind-blown clouds and light. Stop for a minute and the settings change: what was straight is bent, light is dark, still is in motion. It is as though an unseen hand directs the wind, the clouds, and the light to harness our attention.Ireland: A Luminous Beauty is a collection of stunning full-color photographs by some of Ireland's finest landscape photographers with concise text blending history, myth, and a sense of place. Many of the photographs were taken in the early morning light or as the sun set. That hour after sunrise and before sunset, with the sun low in the sky, is known to photographers as the golden hour and favored for its soft, diffused light.We take a journey to one of the most beautiful places in the world. From the ancient stone monuments of the Boyne Valley to the treacherous stone steps of Skellig Michael; from the distinctive columns of the Giant's Causeway and the spectacularly sited Dunluce Castle ruins to lush, green countryside and fields of heather; from the limestone of the Burren (the rockiest part of Ireland) to exuberant stretches of flowers and gardens; from a moody sea and crashing surf to massive stone cliffs battered by the relentless pounding of the waves, and from steely rivers to tranquil lakes, it's all here.The Irish respond to this dramatic environment by transforming it into one that solidifies and enriches their own sense of place. We all have this instinct to create our own space, but the Irish have made an art of it. Through the ancient, natural, and cultivated landscapes, surrounded by history and legend, we discover and celebrate the spirit of Ireland and its luminous beauty.

    Sharing with us their memories of times past, through words and stunningly evocative photographs, we hear of some adversity and hardship but an overriding sense of identity and belonging in small communities and towns where people rely on their neighbors. We lose ourselves in a world where life was simpler, as stories are shared beside fires, over cups of tea and glasses of whiskey, and over fences and hedges as we meet the people who have lived through times of change as the past comes alive through their words.

    Elizabeth’s mother rang her morning, noon and night. He’s driving me mad with his pepper talk, she said, I’ll crown him if he talks to me about the need for Vietnam to join the International Pepper Community and duties and postmen one more time! The cracks one begins to see in families.Flight is the story of four travellers as their journeys intersect one winter in Dublin.Sandrine, a Zimbabwean woman who has left her husband and son behind in the hope of making a better life for them in Ireland, is alone and secretly pregnant. She finds herself working as a carer for Tom and Clare, a couple whose travels are ending as their minds begin to fail. Meanwhile Elizabeth, their world-weary daughter, carries the weight of her own body’s secret.Set in Ireland in 2004 as a referendum on citizenship approaches, Flight is a magically observed story of a family and belonging, following the gestation of a friendship during a year of crisis. A story of arrival and departure, the newly found and the left behind, Flight is among a new breed of Irish novel – one that recognizes the global nature of Ireland experience in the late 20th century, and one that considers Ireland in the aftermath of the failed Celtic Tiger.

    The welcome from her cousins, Dermot and Bryan, is confusing. One is warm, the other aggressive. The outwardly antagonistic Bryan makes it very clear he doesn't want her there. Dermot is delighted to meet her.Honor stands up to Bryan, letting him know his trail of baggage has nothing to do with her. Despite their confrontational and hostile relationship, an undeniable attraction creeps insidiously into the house on Robinhill Farm. They both desperately try to stifle the sparks, but living under the same roof makes it impossible. Unable to cope with the turmoil of living with Bryan, Honor runs away, straight into the arms of charming Sean.Shattered, Bryan finally takes control of his irrational belief that all women are evil, and fights to bring back the woman he loves. But is it too late?

    However this changes after he meets Anna, a Dutch schoolgirl, on holiday. During their romantic, care-free, pen-pal exchanges, full of tales of the present and hopes for the future, Michael gives no clue of his true life, at a time when the ‘troubles’ dominated Northern Ireland. Anna is enchanted by Michael and his words, which include poems painting beautiful visions of idealistic Irish life as well as stories describing the warmth and humour of the people surrounding him. What Michael doesn’t write about is the trauma he experiences, which leaves him all but invisible to his peers, silently suffering as the conflict rages around him. Little does he know the profound effect that his words will have on others…

    It then housed just 112 paintings. Today the gallery holds over 15,000 works of European art and is notable both for its extensive collection of Irish art and its Italian baroque and Dutch masters paintings. For this anthology, published to mark the 150th anniversary of the National Gallery of Ireland, fifty-six Irish writers have contributed short stories, essays, and poems inspired by pictures in the collection. These literary responses to art are by turns profound, playful, and insightful. Authors include acclaimed figures in contemporary Irish literature, such as Colm Toibin, John Banville, John Boyne, Roddy Doyle, Colum McCann, Paula Meehan, Paul Muldoon, John Montague, and Seamus Heaney. The pictures that the writers have selected are intriguingly diverse. They range from old master paintings by Caravaggio, Rembrandt, El Greco, and Velazquez to works by Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists such as Claude Monet and Pierre Bonnard, as well as works by Irish artists such as Jack B. Yeats, John Lavery, Gerard Dillon, and Paul Henry. The book is organized alphabetically by writer and each text is illustrated with the chosen work in color. Edited with preface by Janet McLean, Curator of European Art 1850 1950 at the NGI."

    You are thrown to safety but your four-month old daughter, trapped in her car seat, drowns. Four years after that horror, you return from a trip to the shore and lift your four-month-old son from his carrier only to realize he's dead, too, a victim of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Twenty-two years later, your 25-year old son drowns while swimming in a Malawi, Africa lake. How do you survive that first death, never mind the second, or the third? Ask Mags Riordan of County Kerry, Ireland. Only the blessing of her son Billy, the boy who later drowned, carried Mags through those first two deaths. Her reaction to Billy's loss caused Mags to do something beyond simple survival, though - it caused her to do something transformative, and remarkable. Returning to Malawi on the one-year anniversary of Billy's death, she saved the life of a local boy who would otherwise have died from a simple infection, and realized the desperate need for a medical clinic. With virtually no relevant experience, medical or otherwise, Mags founded a clinic that to date has saved and transformed the lives of tens of thousands of Malawians. If any of us wonders "What can one person do?" we need only look to Mags Riordan as a living, breathing example of someone who put aside her despair, and her comfort zone, in an effort to help and heal, proving the world truly can be changed, even by just two hands, and one single broken heart.

    Patrick's Day, Christmas, Easter, Funerals and Weddings. There are even some traditional blessings in Gaelic (translation included, of course). PLUS there are fantastic photographs and illustrations that highlight these powerful and positive messages and help you get in touch with their Irish origin. These Irish Blessings are messages of hope, comfort, support and joy ... here is an example of just one of the 100 you will be getting in this book. It is known as "A Blessing from St. Patrick" May the road rise to meet you, May the wind be always at your back, May the sun shine warm upon your face, May the rains fall soft upon your fields, And, until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of His hand. Buy this book for yourself or as a gift to bring some joy to a friend or family member who could use your support right now. Other books by Jean LeGrand include Irish Proverbs - Over 200 Insightful Irish Proverbs in 15 Categories Irish Treats - 30 Dessert Recipes for St. Patrick's Day or Whenever You Want to Celebrate Like the Irish Irish Toasts - Over 100 Very Cool Things to Say When You Raise Your Glass in Celebration Irish Drinks - 27 Cocktail Recipes for St. Patrick's Day or Whenever You Want to Celebrate Like the Irish Irish Dinner - 38 Recipes for St. Patrick's Day or Whenever You Want a Hearty Traditional Irish Meal

    That root of bitterness keeps them apart until a letter from Keith’s grandmother, Ruth, draws Naomi to Londonderry to find she’s too late. Ruth has passed on. After the death of his beloved grandmother, Keith has also come to Londonderry only to open the door to his past…Naomi...beautiful as ever, the girl who broke his heart.A mysterious painting in Ruth’s attic brings up questions about their grandparents’ entwined past and their own broken romance. But more comfortable with the unspoken languages of art and music, Naomi and Keith find it difficult to share their old hurts and true feelings.Will the majestic coastline of Northern Ireland inspire them to speak the words to bring peace to their grandparents’ memory and to rekindle love?

    It also includes an introduction by Jody Allen Randolph, editor of Close to the Next Moment: Interviews from a Changing Ireland, and ‘Two Poets and a City’, a conversation between Eavan Boland and Paula Meehan in which the two poets reflect on their shared city and the role it has played in their lives and in their work.

    Orange abandons his family in a pay-by-the-week motel on the outskirts of Portland and takes off for Mexico.Mrs. Orange is devastated and depressed, possibly still suffering the side effects of giving birth to Malcolm s newborn brother Ross in the parking lot of a shopping mall. Malcolm is delighted, anticipating his first permanent home. He coerces his unresponsive mother into taking a job at a local retirement village and as part of her pay the family are allowed to move into Chalet 13, becoming the youngest residents on a cul-de-sac of elderly individuals and couples, each with their own story of loss and survival to share.Two weeks after moving into Chalet 13, Malcolm finds himself covered in tiny, rapidly enlarging holes; he concludes that he is literally disappearing. As his mother is so traumatized that she has lost her grip on English and cannot bring herself to touch her own children. Malcolm is forced to employ the assistance of his elderly neighbors as he embarks upon a quest to find an antidote before he disappears completely."

    This referendum is the culmination of one of the most rapid and transformative changes in Irish society over the last century. In this book, Una Mullally charts the development of the movement from its origins to the present day.

    For ease of identification, the species are divided into colour categories and within each category the species are grouped by, for example, the number of petals in the flower or whether the species carries its flowers in a cluster or a spike. In easily understood terminology, focus is put on the main identifying features of each plant, by colour, size, shape of flower, leaf, habitat, flowering season, and where in Ireland it might be found.

    Because of this, history has not allocated MacDíarmada the prominent role he deserves in the organisation of the Easter Rising.This book gives Seán MacDíarmada his proper place in history. It outlines his substantial role in the detailed planning of the Rising, which led to him signing the Proclamation of the Irish Republic: second only to Tom Clarke.

    Through a dangerous ritual, Brigid remembers her past life – a rare power – as a goddess of the Túatha de Danann. She must hide this secret from druids in her own order who are jealous of the talent she possesses and would use their combined magic to seize her power. When she confronts Patrick, the charismatic leader of the newly-arrived Christians, she realizes they have a shared history, tied together by a bond formed lifetimes before. As Brigid persists in reminding him of their past and of his promise to help her revive the Danann, Patrick denies the deal he made as a lonely slave boy to a goddess he believed to be only in his imagination.

    A virtual tour of the city and its environs, If Ever You Go takes the reader on a journey through streets broad and narrow, featuring verse both familiar and new, historical and contemporary, by writers whose work adds up to a intimate and revealing portrait of a place and its people. Contributors include poets already synonymous with the city - Swift, Yeats, Joyce, Beckett, Clarke and Kavanagh, among them - as well as a host of others, Kinsella, Heaney, Boland, Bolger and Meehan among them, who have made some part of it their own. Street singers and balladeers rub shoulders with haiku and performance poets in a book that sets its heart on the very streets we live, work and play on. Groundbreaking in its reach, celebratory in its outlook, If Ever You Go is a record of the epiphanies and disappointments, the morning visions and the late-night wanderings that between them make up the map of a city where poetry truly matters.

    These women were vital to the revolutionary movement. They were part of a generation who made a conscious decision to stand up for not only their rights, but also the rights of future generations, at a time when society viewed the role of women as that of mother and wife. The independence movement could not have succeeded without their contribution, which saw them put themselves in great danger in order to help free their country. The book also tells the story of those who, though not directly involved, lost so much as a result of that conflict. For they were the wives, mothers, sisters and girlfriends of the men who fought for Irish freedom, and their story is one that needs to be told. History, they say, is written by the victors, and more often than not the victors are men. The women from this period are the forgotten generation and it is now time to remember them.

    They soared across the seas in battleships. They charged across the tortured earth with bayonets fixed. They wrapped bandages and dabbed softly in the field hospitals. They prayed, they sang, they killed, they wept and they died.Popular historian Turtle Bunbury is renowned for uncovering important forgotten stories from our past. Here he reveals many never-before-heard tales of the Irish heroes and heroines whose lives coincided with one of the most brutal conflicts our world has ever known -- including nuns, artists, sportsmen, poets, aristocrats, nationalists, nurses, clergymen and film directors.By turns poignant, enlightening, whimsical and darkly comic, this is history as it should be -- free-wheeling and finely tuned to the rhythms of the human heart.REVIEWS'Magnificent book...a superb production...something to be proud of...' Gay Byrne on Sunday with Gay Byrne, Lyric FM.'An absolutely beautiful book... A lavish production with lots of pictures, lots of maps - it really captures the whole era.' Patrick Geoghegan on Talking History, Newstalk FM'A piece of Irish history that was sort of wilfully forgotten for a long time. The Glorious Madness is wall to wall with tales of some very interesting characters, including a number who played an important role in Irish history.' Anton Savage - Savage Sunday, Today FM'The impressively versatile Turtle Bunbury is known for his sensitively written, well-observed Vanishing Ireland series of books and his appearance on RTE's Genealogy Roadshow. He also toured this year as one of the lecturers in the Great War Roadshow, headed by Myles Dungan. Now, also marking the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, Bunbury marches into what once would have been a no-man's land for historians ... There is much to enjoy here. Bunbury has an eye for irony and pathos and a fluid attractive writing style. It's packed worth personalities and stories of courage under fire amid truly unimaginable slaughter, of mind-boggling military incompetence and of individuals emotionally afflicted by reports of courage in another cause at home. The cast of characters is formidable.' Emmanuel Kehoe, Sunday Business Post[In The Glorious Madness] Turtle continues the wonderful listening and yarn-spinning he has honed in the Vanishing Ireland series, applying it to veterans of the First World War. The stories he recreates are poignant, whimsical and bleakly funny, bringing back into the light the lives of people who found themselves on the wrong side of history after the struggle for Irish independence. This is my kind of micro-history. John Grenham, The Irish Times A wonderful book packed with great individual stories and pictures which bring the Irish participation in the Great War vividly alive. Sean Farrell, Irish Independent Based on first-hand accounts of the conflict, this collection of character portraits and stirring anecdotes brings to life the hopes, fears and ambitions that defined Ireland's 'lost generation'. Peter Costello, The Irish Catholic Turtle Bunbury's book about the Great War is a great read, a dramatic confection of remarkable stories about remarkable events and individuals slapped together with great dexterity and professionalism. ... This is military history as entertainment on a scale we have not seen since, well, the First World War ... This is one book that can be judged by its cover. Padraig Yeates, Dublin Review of BooksTurtle Bunbury has pulled together a sumptuous collection of stories that show the Irish contribution to the Great War with extraordinary tales of derring-do. This is the book you must give your father, and when he opens it on Christmas day there will be stories that will surprise even him ... This is not a 'deep dive' history book, but it is a colourful record of Ireland's Great War and a tribute to many of her heroes. Andrew Melsom, Irish Examiner, 15 January 2015

    Arrogant, cold, but a brilliant soldier, FitzStephen commands a castle yet although his mother was a princess his father was a lowly steward. When a Welsh rebellion brings defeat and a crippling siege, his highborn comrades scorn him, betraying him to the enemy. A hostage of his cousin, Prince Rhys, FitzStephen is disgraced, seemingly doomed to a life of obscurity and shame.Then King Diarmait arrives ...Diarmait is the ambitious overlord of an Irish kingdom. Forced to flee by the High King of Ireland, he seeks to reclaim his lands by any means possible and that includes inviting the Normans in. With nothing left to lose and perhaps a great deal to gain FitzStephen agrees to lead the Irishman s armies, and to drive Diarmait s enemies from his kingdom. His price? Acceptance, perhaps ... or perhaps a kingdom of his own?

    Eight months. Lives end. Lives begin. March to November navigates the entangled points of view of Tracey Duggan and her circle of friends and foes in modern-day Belfast, Ireland as they struggle with bereavement, broken marriages, broken dreams and broken minds. All Tracey wants is a normal life. All she has, however, is violence and betrayal from those closest to her. Can Tracey escape the pattern of destructive relationships that plague her? Will her new boyfriend Tommy decide to be right or be happy? Will her sister-in-law Molly find the strength to deal with her new situation? Will her brother, Dermot let go of his past and man up to his mistakes? Can Dermot’s lover, Sheila really have it all? Belfast is not the city of bombs and bullets of their childhood, but it’s still full of trouble for these five as they alternately walk, run and stumble along the road toward a shocking finale.

    Often times and without choice, our actions and interactions within the environments in which we grow, live, work, and play, define our worldviews and shape who we are. Anyone who has faced traumatic events may look for an outlet to share their experiences in the hopes they are not alone in their struggles. In hindsight, however, the realization is that we are all human, and each and every one of us has a unique story to tell.

    A complete year of projects! Over 50 full-color photographs shot on location in scenic Cork, Ireland make this book a feast for the eyes as well as an inspiration in the kitchen and at the craft table. Twelve baking recipes, seven knitting patterns, and five sewing projects are yours to make your own. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how simple it is to make and create these functional projects from scratch. Written by Evin O'Keeffe, author of the 2014 Blog Awards Ireland award-winning craft blog EvinOK.com.Inspired by her Irish-American Grandma's recipe box and craftiness, this book showcases a year of creativity in baking, knitting, and sewing. In this age of mass consumption and branding, there is magic in being able to create something unique and special. Something all your own, from the heart. The materials were carefully chosen from local artisans in Ireland and Nova Scotia who sell globally online, most of whom are woman-owned and operated. The recipes were perfected over generations, then given a modern twist and tested by volunteers. Each knitting and sewing pattern was tried and tested as well. Finally, this book was funded by an enthusiastic crowd of Kickstarter backers.Contents: 13 recipes; 7 knitting patterns; 5 sewing projects. Paperback: 86 pages Publisher: Anchor and Bee (October 1, 2014), anchorandbee.comLanguage: English ISBN-13: 978-1910567005 Praperback Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.2 inches

    But a chance meeting at Logan Airport introduces them to Aoife, an elderly Irish widow who is returning home to the joys and stresses of her tight-knit family. Encouraged by their conversation with Aoife, the sisters are determined to see more than the usual tourist attractions. By veering off the beaten paths, they find holy wells and unexpectedly encounter ghosts and fairies. They sing in pubs and have fun meeting interesting people. Their new experiences ignite passions both spiritually and physically. Through rich descriptions of Ireland’s beautiful scenery and the stories told by its people, this tale brings readers along on a colorful and engaging journey.

    T. Cosgrave has been neglected by scholars in comparison with other prominent twentieth-century Irish leaders. This biography, by a leading Irish historian, uses sources not previously consulted to examine his career as local politician, rebel, minister, head of government for almost ten years, and opposition leader. In particular, it assesses his role as a state-builder and a key figure in the Irish democratic tradition.

    And Cara had been foolish enough to ignore her. In Ireland to be Maid of Honor in Kate’s wedding, Cara hasn’t a clue that the handsome Irishman who is seated next to her is the infamous brother of her cousin’s fiancé. And William O’Reilly doesn’t plan on telling her. Not yet, anyway. Silver-tongued and devilishly handsome, William had Cara wondering if he is the same man she met on the plane. Should she give him a chance or heed her cousin’s warning and keep him at a distance? The same unique and quirky characters from What Happens in Ireland come together again to celebrate the wedding of Kate and Jack in the fresh and humorous sequel, Deceive Me in Ireland. Like Kate Barrow, her cousin Cara discovers that resisting the charms of an Irishman isn’t as easy as it seems. William O'Reilly is as silver-tongued as his brother, Jack and determined to make the woman realize his worth. And her own.

    The most frequent reader response to Felicity’s 2012 memoir The House on an Irish Hillside has been ‘I didn’t want it to end’. This little book draws readers back to the fire on the hearth, frosty walks on long beaches, and the enchantment of storytelling, music and good company at the most festive time of the year. It’s the perfect virtual Christmas card or stocking filler in which the power of Ireland’s myths and legends meets the power of the internet, and the water for the first cup of tea in the morning is still filtered through heather, black bog and fissured stone, straight from the mountain. Felicity Hayes-McCoy was born in Dublin, Ireland, where she studied Irish and English language and literature at university before moving to London, England, in the 1970s to train as an actress. Her thirty year career as a writer spans broadcast and digital media, books and music theatre. She and her husband, opera director Wilf Judd, now live and work both in inner city London and at the western end of Ireland’s Dingle Peninsula. In her memoir The House on an Irish Hillside (Hodder & Stoughton 2012) she describes how finding and restoring their Irish house reintroduced her to a place and a way of life that she first fell in love with as a teenager, and to which she’d always known she’d return when the time was right. She is currently working on Enough Is Plenty, a lifestyle book illustrated with her own photographs, which will be published by The Collins Press in 2015.

    He was a member of the Supreme Council of the IRB from 1915 and was one of the rebels who planned the 1916 Rising. He was the first signatory of the Proclamation of Independence and was with the group that occupied the GPO. He was executed on the 3rd of May 1916.This accessible biography outlines Clarke's life, from joining the Republican Brotherhood as an eighteen year old, to his execution at the age of fifty-nine.

    History, culture, strangeness and beauty are all here -- along with a list of the local hostelries to visit and let the experience soak in. Sprinkled with the wit of Murphy and O’Dea, best known for the Feckin’ Collection. Key attractions include:Christ Church Cathedral Dublin CastleThe Chester Beatty LibraryThe Guinness StorehouseTrinity CollegeTemple BarRoyal Hospital, Kilmainham (IMMA)Old Jameson DistilleryO’Connell Street & The GPOAnd many more!

    Killer In The Cloud is based in a small town in the midlands of Ireland and follows Garda Michael Wesley as he attempts to solve an old murder case in an effort to prevent the closure of his local station.When he receives a strange parcel, following news of his unofficial investigation reaching a local newspaper, he realises there is more to the case than meets the eye and enlists the help of an old friend

    This book contains a selection of the best Letters - written in a personal and entertaining style - and cover topics such as Irish surnames, Counties, Culture, traditions and travel. So, if you have Irish ancestry in your family tree you may be really interested to hear all about the very rich world of your Irish heritage.

    These poems were first published in 1982, and are a commentary in the sensual and visionary world which opens out in the connection between language and motherhood, celebrating moments of great intensity.

    His writing is rich and poised, full of beauty and sharply-observed irony, and his fascination with anxiety is majestic. In Oils, his debut pamphlet, he inhabits characters from paintings, cartoons, history and everyday life, including an atheist, a teacher, and a possible princess. This is an extraordinary collection which balances breathtaking romance with profound self-doubt, revealing the glory in the grotesque." (from the back cover)

    Considering the Irish as the first postcolonial minority, she argues that the Irish case demonstrates an English solution to the larger problem of the collapse of multi-ethnic empires in the twentieth century. Drawing on an array of new archival evidence, Moulton discusses the many varieties of Irishness present in England during the 1920s and 1930s, including working-class republicans, relocated southern loyalists, and Irish enthusiasts. The Irish connection was sometimes repressed, but it was never truly forgotten; this book recovers it in settings as diverse as literary societies, sabotage campaigns, drinking clubs, and demonstrations.

    It has been the largest urban center on a deeply contested island since towns first appeared west of the Irish Sea. There have been other contested cities in the European and Mediterranean world, but almost no European capital city, David Dickson maintains, has seen sharper discontinuities and reversals in its history--and these have left their mark on Dublin and its inhabitants. Dublin occupies a unique place in Irish history and the Irish imagination. To chronicle its vast and varied history is to tell the story of Ireland.David Dickson's magisterial history brings Dublin vividly to life beginning with its medieval incarnation and progressing through the neoclassical eighteenth century, when for some it was the "Naples of the North," to the Easter Rising that convulsed a war-weary city in 1916, to the bloody civil war that followed the handover of power by Britain, to the urban renewal efforts at the end of the millennium. He illuminates the fate of Dubliners through the centuries--clergymen and officials, merchants and land speculators, publishers and writers, and countless others--who have been shaped by, and who have helped to shape, their city. He reassesses 120 years of Anglo-Irish Union, during which Dublin remained a place where rival creeds and politics struggled for supremacy. A book as rich and diverse as its subject, Dublin reveals the intriguing story behind the making of a capital city.

    Walsh’s words in this case are there to feed the adrenaline rush of the event as a whole... you don’t so much as see Ballyturk as you surrender to it.”— New York Times“Delirious and captivating…this is thrilling theatre, visceral and cerebral, hilarious and sad.” — Irish ExaminerI thought we knew everything there was to know . . .The lives of two men unravel over the course of ninety minutes. Where are they? Who are they? What room is this, and what might be beyond the walls?Gut-wrenchingly funny and achingly sad, and featuring jaw-dropping moments of physical comedy, Ballyturk is an ambitious, profound and tender work from one of Ireland’s leading playwrights.One of our most innovative and beguiling writers, Enda Walsh is the author of five Edinburgh Fringe First Award–winning plays, including The Walworth Farce and The New Electric Ballroom. His other plays include Penelope, misterman and the book for the Tony and Olivier Award–winning musical Once. He also wrote the screenplay for Hunger, which won the Caméra d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

    To ex-RAF pilot Cameron Hatcher, single and free is the only way to be. Rather than go home to Ireland to be embroiled in a second brutal war, Cam chooses to barnstorm North America, giving crowds across the continent a taste of flight. Georgie is just a pleasant evening’s distraction before he and his partner move on. But when mechanical problems ground the show, Georgie becomes more than a distraction. Between his growing feelings for her and the strong pull of loyalty to country and family, Cam is hard put to steer a true course. Go home and fight for Ireland’s independence? Or pursue a woman who’s told him her dreams come before any man? Love costs. Can the price be too high?

    While he was winning a Grand Slam and touring with the Lions, Jack Kyle was also studying to be a doctor. When he retired from playing rugby—as the world's most-capped player—his sense of adventure and medical ambition led him to settle in Chingola, Zambia, where he spent the next 34 years of his life. For many years, he was the only medically-trained surgeon in the town, and so faced many challenges, not the least the appearance of and devastation caused by AIDS. Written as a series of conversations with his daughter, Justine, this book reveals Jack Kyle as a supremely gifted rugby player, a dedicated surgeon, and a gentle family man.

    Memorable and accessible, these early lyrics are presented in their classic incarnations by literary giants from both sides of the Irish Sea: in examples by W. H. Auden, Flann O'Brien, Alfred Lord Tennyson, John Montague, Robert Graves and Frank O'Connor. But the anthology is much more than a survey of canonical texts; through a series of specially commissioned poems, fresh eyes are brought to bear on these ancient poems: by Seamus Heaney and Eil�an N� Chuillean�in, by Paul Muldoon and Kathleen Jamie, by Ciaran Carson and Christopher Reid, and many others. The experience is enhanced still further by the enabling hand of Riordan himself, in a sweep of exquisite translations of his own made especially for this publication. Unforgettable and inspirational, a book for giving and for keeping: The Finest Music by some of the art-form's finest players.

    In this striking début collection she focuses on moments of discovery, from the first controlled nuclear reaction to the shape of an avalanche as witnessed from its catchment area. These are epiphanies with consequences.

    To fill the dark hours, he began to write the story of his childhood in Northern Ireland in the 1920s and 30s, through WWII and up to leaving his home to work in England as a pharmacist in the early 1950s. His wife and daughters had asked him to do this many times before, having heard the stories often over the years.His book is a fascinating and amusing insight into a lost way of life in a poor farming community, where the main mode of transport was the bicycle and, as such, when a weekly bus was introduced to the area the excitement was immense. It features an interesting cast of neighbours and local characters, each with their own individual views on life.

    The feelings of guilt and later the prospect of losing her senior job in the NHS conspire to create a perfect storm in her world and Ann is left suffering from a serious mental health problem. In an effort to understand the cause of her illness, Ann journeyed back through her childhood reflecting on her Irish roots and how emigration may have impacted on her ability to deal with stress. Ann recalls her life as a child in Falcarragh on the north coast of Donegal, Ireland, and the shock of being transplanted into war-scarred, inner-city Coventry where the family struggled with poverty, separation, their mother’s poor health and father’s drink problem. The Road Taken explores the nature of emigration, the loss of homeland and its impact on personal identity. Ann’s story is not uncommon. It has been shared by thousands of people, uprooted from their family, friends and culture to settle in foreign place.

    All keen readers, the members accepted the challenge to contribute to the collection to mark ‘The Gathering Ireland 2013’; the year-long celebration of Ireland, its people and all that is great about its connections, both at home and abroad. With ‘The Gathering’ as a broad theme, group members were invited to take up the challenge to produce a collection to be published as this e-book. The only criterion applied was that contributors would not be existing Goodreads Authors, so this is a first time publishing experience for all these contributors. Some have not produced a creative writing piece since they were at school – a long time ago for some, not so long for others. The pieces are printed here as they were received, and were not edited, revised or curated in any way. Some contributors communicated over the Goodreads Group; exchanging ideas, sharing experiences, offering encouragement. Others opted to work on their own. As well as being a rewarding creative project in its own right, the Goodreads Ireland 2013 Writing Challenge will deliver an additional tangible benefit – all profits from sale of this e-book will be donated to the National Adult Literacy Agency, an independent charity in the Republic of Ireland committed to supporting people experiencing numeracy and literacy difficulties to access learning opportunities. Bernie, Jack, Lucia, Declan, Barbara, Cathleen, Edmund and Ted all started with a blank page and now see their work published. As well as representing a satisfactory conclusion of this particular challenge for each of the writers, the publication of this collection should prove to be an inspiration for our fellow Goodreads Ireland Group members. Why not set your own challenge to write a creative piece this year?

    Few writers at work today, in verse or fiction, can give the sense of rich, fecund, lived life that Heaney does.' John Banville 'More than any other poet since Wordsworth he can make us understand that the outside world is not outside, but what we are made of.' John Carey 'Heaney's voice, by turns mythological and journalistic, rural and sophisticated, reminiscent and impatient, stern and yielding, curt and expansive, is one of a suppleness almost equal to consciousness itself.' Helen Vendler

    The book includes numerous untold stories about the band members and other groups who were part of Dublin's music scene from that time, including the Boomtown Rats, the Virgin Prunes, the Blades and the Black Catholics (who made a habit of disrupting U2 gigs), and focuses on artists, such as Guggi, who began to make their mark at that time. There are also wonderful stories about the long-gone music venues of that era, such as the Dandelion Market."Where the Streets Have 2 Names" is both a celebration of an iconic band and a superb evocation of the Dublin of thirty years ago, it is a must-have gift for all U2 fans and music lovers.

    A decorated hero of the Battle of the Somme, he returned from the war with the rank of Captain and transferred his military expertise to the now rampant IRA, serving as Director of Training, and greatly impressing Michael Collins with his extraordinary daring and nerve. Soon befriending Collins and becoming his close confidante, he accompanied him to the Treaty talks in London in 1921, and in the Civil War that followed Dalton oversaw the bombardment of the Four Courts, personally manning an 18-pounder artillery gun. He then masterminded and led the audacious seaborne landings and successful recapture of Cork City and ‘Munster Republic’ from Anti-Treaty forces, but was ultimately traumatised when Collins died in his arms at Béal na Bláith. In his expansive biography, Sean Boyne vividly portrays Dalton’s experiences and the vital role he played in the politics and wars that created the independent Irish state. Dalton was the first Senate Clerk and he became a pioneer of the Irish film world, founding Ardmore film studios and establishing the Irish Film industry. An attractive and high-achieving figure in Irish life in war and peace, Dalton’s heroism allowed him to live his many lives to the full, and this compelling biography does justice to a figure who will captivate all those interested in modern Irish history and the birth of the state.

    He drew up a list of ‘true’ ghost stories, researched each in detail, and set out to photograph Haunted Ireland. Collating the ghost stories with powerful images of where these stories played out, Haunted Ireland reveals an engrossing catalogue of tales of the unexplained, the spooky unknown, haunted caves, phantom ships, poltergeists and many other strange tales. These stories will amuse or raise the hairs on the back of your neck.

    This is a book for everyone: parents who want to put better bread in their kids' lunch-boxes, those who want to bake things for themselves, and people hoping to save money and have some fun in the kitchen.

    626 Pages.

    An Irish-Speaking Island investigates the role in these developments of the population who spoke Irish in their daily lives—whether as a first or second language—and links the history of language contact and bilingualism with the broader history of Ireland in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.            As late as 1840, Ireland had as many as four million Irish speakers—a significant proportion of the total population—who could be found in every county of the island and in all social classes and religious persuasions. Their impact on the modern history of Ireland and the United Kingdom cannot be captured by a simple conclusion that they became anglicized. Rather, Nicholas M. Wolf explores the complex ways in which the transition from Irish to English placed a premium on adaptive bilingualism and shaped beliefs and behavior in the domestic sphere, religious life, and oral culture within the community. An Irish-Speaking Island will interest not only historians but also scholars of linguistics, folklore, politics, literature, and religion.Winner, Michael J. Durkan Prize for Books on Language and Culture, American Conference for Irish StudiesWinner, Donald Murphy Prize for Distinguished First Books, American Conference for Irish Studies

    From the mid-1990s the country split again, becoming the battleground for the largest African war in history, as armies and rebel groups from Rwanda, Angola, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Namibia and other countries crossed into the Congo to support one side or the other, or simply to loot the rich resources. Major operations ended – or paused – in 2002, but the old hatreds and constant lure of the Congo's natural resources continue to boil over into periodic outbreaks. Featuring specially commissioned full-colour artwork and rare photographs, this is the harrowing story of the wars that ravaged the Congo for four decades.

    Taking over from the fallen Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith, Cumann na nGaedheal leaders such as W. T. Cosgrave and Kevin O'Higgins won a bloody civil war, created the institutions of the new Free State, and attempted to project abroad the independence of a new Ireland.            In response to the view that Cumann na nGaedheal was actually a reactionary counterrevolutionary party, Afterimage of the Revolution contends that, in building the new Irish state, the government framed and promoted its policies in terms of ideas inherited from the revolution. In particular, Cumann na nGaedheal emphasized Irish sovereignty, the "Irishness" of the new state, and a strong sense of anticolonialism, all key components of the Sinn Féin party platform during the revolution. Jason Knirck argues that the 1920s must be understood as part of a continuing Irish revolution that led to an eventual independent republic. Drawing on state documents, newspapers, and private papers—including the recently released papers of Kevin O'Higgins—he offers a fresh view of Irish politics in the 1920s and integrates this period more closely with the Irish Revolution.

    All except Furniture Anderson who instead is grappling with growing up (even though he’s already 28!) his name, his best friends mother making advances on him, a French fry stealing French model; his relationship to Pamela Anderson, his fathers disillusionment that he doesn't share his love of the sport and his grandfathers sometimes quoted ramblings. He wants to fit in but none of these things will let him!