Best of
Ireland

2019

Wild Irish Rose


Ava Miles - 2019
    In fact, Becca O’Neill loathes him so much that she won’t even serve him the award-winning scones her famed Wild Irish Rose Bed and Breakfast is known for. Even worse than that (and not getting scones is bad in Trevor’s book): Becca has an ornery cat, a mischievous Irish setter, and a famous ghost all intent on making sure he fails. Then there’s the woman herself. If she weren’t so indignant about his business offer, they might have a good romance budding. Worst of all: his Uncle Arthur and Aunt Clara Hale show up from Dare Valley hoping to help him get hitched—not exactly the help he was looking for. How in the world is he going to make this deal with his heart—and his dignity—staying intact?

Bloody Christmas


Caimh McDonnell - 2019
    However, his festivities are interrupted when someone attempts to assassinate him while he’s trying to take a leak – is nothing sacred? The thing is, the assassin isn’t all he initially appears, and Bunny soon finds himself in a race against time to trace a kidnapped child before the people who ordered the hit realise that he is considerably less dead than they had hoped.  Bunny is making a list but he’s only checking it once because time is of the essence and some people need a refresher in the meaning of Christmas. Bloody Christmas is a limited edition standalone novella that will be available until December 31st. All proceeds will go to the Peter McVerry Trust, an Irish housing and homeless charity committed to reducing homelessness and the harm caused by substance misuse and social disadvantage.  It is set just after A Man With One of Those Faces, book 1 of the bestselling Dublin Trilogy series that melds high-octane action with an acerbic Irish wit.

This Is Happiness


Niall Williams - 2019
    Nobody remembers when it started; rain on the western seaboard is a condition of living. But now – just as Father Coffey proclaims the coming of the electricity – the rain clouds are lifting. Seventeen-year-old Noel Crowe is idling in the unexpected sunshine when Christy makes his first entrance into Faha, bringing secrets he needs to atone for. Though he can't explain it, Noel knows right then: something has changed. As the people of Faha anticipate the endlessly procrastinated advent of the electricity, and Noel navigates his own coming-of-age and his fallings in and out of love, Christy's past gradually comes to light, casting a new glow on a small world. Harking back to a simpler time, This Is Happiness is a tender portrait of a community – its idiosyncrasies and traditions, its paradoxes and kindnesses, its failures and triumphs – and a coming-of-age tale like no other. Luminous and lyrical, yet anchored by roots running deep into the earthy and everyday, it is about the power of stories: their invisible currents that run through all we do, writing and rewriting us, and the transforming light that they throw onto our world.

Leonard and Hungry Paul


Ronan Hession - 2019
    Who like to read. Who take satisfaction in their work. Who are resolutely kind. Leonard and Hungry Paul is the story of two friends trying to find their place in the world. It is about the uncelebrated people of this world. And it asks a surprisingly enthralling question: Can kind people change the world?

Constellations


Sinéad Gleeson - 2019
    A map, a tracing of connections and a guide to looking at things from different angles. How do you tell the story of life that is no one thing? How do you tell the story of a life in a body, as it goes through sickness, health, motherhood? And how do you tell that story when you are not just a woman but a woman in Ireland? In these powerful and daring essays, Sinead Gleeson does that very thing. In doing so she delves into a range of subjects: art, illness, ghosts, grief, and our very ways of seeing. In writing that is in tradition of some of our finest writers such as Olivia Laing, Maggie O'Farrell, and Maggie Nelson, and yet still in her own spirited, warm voice, Gleeson takes us on a journey that is both personal and yet universal in its resonance.

Republic of Shame: Stories from Ireland's Institutions for 'Fallen Women'


Caelainn Hogan - 2019
    In the Magdalene laundries, girls and women were incarcerated and condemned to servitude. And in the mother-and-baby homes, women who had become pregnant out of wedlock were hidden from view, and in most cases their babies were adopted - sometimes illegally.Mortality rates in these institutions were shockingly high, and the discovery of a mass infant grave at the mother-and-baby home in Tuam made news all over the world. The Irish state has commissioned investigations. But the workings of the institutions and of the culture that underpinned it - a shame-industrial complex - have long been cloaked in secrecy and silence. For countless people, a search for answers continues.Caelainn Hogan - a brilliant young journalist, born in an Ireland that was only just starting to free itself from the worst excesses of Catholic morality - has been talking to the survivors of the institutions, to members of the religious orders that ran them, and to priests and bishops. She has visited the sites of the institutions, and studied Church and state documents that have much to reveal about how they operated. Reporting and writing with great curiosity, tenacity and insight, she has produced a startling and often moving account of how an entire society colluded in this repressive system, and of the damage done to survivors and their families. Republic of Shame is an astounding portrait of a deeply bizarre culture of control.

Boulevard Wren and Other Stories


Blindboy Boatclub - 2019
    Ireland's most acclaimed satirist is back with a second collection of short stories to provoke, unsettle and illuminate.Roving through the centuries, from the barren fields of the Famine-struck West to the hyperreal adscape of our technocratic present, the second collection of short stories from Blindboy Boatclub is a wild and exhilarating hike along the knotted paths of the Irish subconscious.From the time-travelling effects of tweed suits, to a vengeful farmer who hypnotises old people into believing they're cows after his farm is turned into a nursing home, these stories are characteristically surreal, yet littered with moments of profound insight and quiet devastation.

100 Poems


Seamus Heaney - 2019
    He never managed to do this himself, and no other edition exists that has such a broad range, drawing from the first to the last of his prizewinning collections. But now, finally, the project has been returned to, resulting in an intimate gathering of poems chosen and introduced by the Heaney family. In 100 Poems, readers will enjoy the most loved and celebrated poems, and will discover new favorites. It is a singular and welcoming anthology, reaching far and wide, for now and for years to come.

The Irish Princess


Elizabeth Chadwick - 2019
    Diarmit seeks help from King Henry II, an alliance that leads him to the charismatic Richard de Clare, lord of Striguil, a man dissatisfied with his lot and open to new horizons.Diarmit promises Richard wealth, lands, and Aoife's hand in marriage in return for his aid, but Aoife, has her own thoughts on the matter. She may be a prize, but she is not a pawn and she will play the game to her own advantage.From the royal halls of scheming kings, to staunch Welsh border fortresses and across storm-tossed seas to the wild green kingdoms of Ireland, The Irish Princess is a sumptuous, journey of ambition and desire, love and loss, heartbreak and survival.

In Sunshine or in Shadow: How Boxing Brought Hope in the Troubles


Donald McRae - 2019
    At the height of the Troubles, Gerry Storey ran the Holy Family gym from the IRA's heartland territory of New Lodge in Belfast. Despite coming from a family steeped in the Republican movement, he insisted that it would be open to all. He ensured that his boxers were given a free pass by paramilitary forces on both Republican and Loyalist sides, so they could find a way out of the province's desperate situation. In the immediate aftermath of the 1981 Hunger Strikes, Storey would also visit the Maze prison twice a week to train the inmates from each community, separately. In itself, this would be a heroic story, but Storey went further than that: he became the trainer for world champion Barry McGuigan and Olympian Hugh Russell, who became one of the most famous photographers to document the Troubles. Even with all his success and the support of both sides, Storey still found himself subjected to three bomb attacks from those who were implacably hostile to any form of reconciliation. He also worked with the Protestant boxer Davy Larmour, who fought two bloody battles in the ring against Russell, his Catholic friend. At the same time, in Derry, the British and European lightweight champion Charlie Nash fought without bitterness after his brother was killed and his father was shot on Bloody Sunday – the most infamous day of the conflict.  Now, Donald McRae reveals the extraordinary tale of those troubled times. After years of research and intimate interviews with the key characters in this story, he shows us how the violent business of boxing became a haven of peace and hope for these remarkable and compassionate men.  In Sunshine or in Shadow is an inspirational story of triumph over adversity and celebrates the reconciliation that can take place when two fighters meet each other in the ring, rather than outside it.

Burned: The Inside Story of the ‘Cash-for-Ash’ Scandal and Northern Ireland’s Secretive New Elite


Sam McBride - 2019
    Revealing the wild incompetence of the Northern Ireland civil service and the ineptitude and serious abuses of power by some of those at the head of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), now propping up Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government and a major factor in the Brexit negotiations, this scandal exposed not only some of Northern Ireland’s most powerful figures but revealed problems that go to the very heart of how NI is governed. A riveting political thriller from the journalist who covered the controversy for over two years, Burned is the inside story of the shocking scandal that brought down a government.

When All Is Said


Anne Griffin - 2019
    The story of a lifetime.If you had to pick five people to sum up your life, who would they be? If you were to raise a glass to each of them, what would you say? And what would you learn about yourself, when all is said and done?This is the story of Maurice Hannigan, who, over the course of a Saturday night in June, orders five different drinks at the Rainford House Hotel. With each he toasts a person vital to him: his doomed older brother, his troubled sister-in-law, his daughter of fifteen minutes, his son far off in America, and his late, lamented wife. And through these people, the ones who left him behind, he tells the story of his own life, with all its regrets and feuds, loves and triumphs.Beautifully written, powerfully felt, When All Is Said promises to be the next great Irish novel.

Fresh Eggs and Dog Beds 3: More living 'The Dream' in Rural Ireland


Nick Albert - 2019
    But three years later, with the economy crashing and the house refurbishments unfinished, their plan for a tranquil life is falling apart. Are they in danger of replicating the very lifestyle they had hoped to escape, or can they get their lives back on track? Only time will tell.Chock-full of laughter and with a few tears too, this third installment of their quirky life in County Clare sees these whimsical chicken farmers forge ahead with the renovations, make new friends, rescue more dogs, eat a lot of cake and dance joyfully, whilst enduring floods, droughts, fire and ice, and debating the curious problem of what to do with 300 eggs.

Mahoney: A Novel


Andrew Joyce - 2019
    From the first page to the last, fans of Edward Rutherford and W. Michael Gear will enjoy this riveting, historically accurate tale of adventure, endurance, and hope. In the second year of an Gorta Mhór--the Great Famine--nineteen-year-old Devin Mahoney lies on the dirt floor of his small, dark cabin. He has not eaten in five days. His only hope of survival is to get to America, the land of milk and honey. After surviving disease and storms at sea that decimate crew and passengers alike, Devin's ship limps into New York Harbor three days before Christmas, 1849. Thus starts an epic journey that will take him and his descendants through one hundred and fourteen years of American history, including the Civil War, the Wild West, and the Great Depression. Mahoney is recommended for fans of Barbara Kingsolve, Herman Wouk, Cormac McCarthy, Ayse Kulin, Frank Delany, James Michener, William Kent Krueger, and Louis L'Amour's The Sacketts series.

The Memory of Music: One Irish family – One hundred turbulent years: 1916 to 2016


Olive Collins - 2019
    One Irish family – One hundred turbulent years: 1916 to 2016 Betty O’Fogarty is proud and clever. Spurred on by her belief in her husband Seamus’s talent as a violin-maker and her desire to escape rural life, they elope to Dublin. She expects life there to fulfil all her dreams. To her horror, she discovers that they can only afford to live in the notorious poverty-stricken tenements. Seamus becomes obsessed with republican politics, neglecting his lucrative craft. And, as Dublin is plunged into chaos and turmoil at Easter 1916, Betty gives birth to her first child to the sound of gunfire and shelling. But Betty vows that she will survive war and want, and move her little family out of the tenements.Nothing will stand in her way. One hundred years later, secrets churn their way to the surface and Betty’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren uncover both Betty’s ruthlessness and her unique brand of heroism.

Charlie Savage


Roddy Doyle - 2019
    Giving a unique voice to the everyday, he draws a portrait of a man – funny, loyal, somewhat bewildered – trying to keep pace with the modern world (if his knees don’t give out first).

Double Agent: My Secret Life Undercover in the IRA


Kevin Fulton - 2019
    "I am a British soldier and I'm saving lives. I'm saving lives. I'm a British soldier and I'm saving lives..."'Kevin Fulton was one of the British Army's most successful intelligence agents. Having been recruited to infiltrate the Provisional IRA at the height of The Troubles, he rose its ranks to an unprecedented level. Living and working undercover, he had no option other than to take part in heinous criminal activities, including the production of bombs which he knew would later kill. So highly was he valued by IRA leaders that he was promoted to serve in its infamous internal police - ironically, his job was now to root out and kill informers.Until one day in 1994, when it all went wrong. . . Fleeing Northern Ireland, Kevin was abandoned by the security services he had served so courageously and left to live as a fugitive. The life of a double agent requires constant vigilance, for danger is always just a heartbeat away. For a double agent within the highest ranks of the IRA, that danger was doubled. In this remarkable account, Kevin Fulton - former intelligence agent, ex-member of the IRA - tells a truth that is as uncomfortable as it is gripping.

The Detective Lottie Parker Series: Books 1-3


Patricia Gibney - 2019
     The first three thrillers from million copy bestseller Patricia Gibney, introducing you to maverick Detective Lottie Parker. The Missing Ones: The hole they dug was not deep. A white flour bag encased the little body. Three small faces watched from the window, eyes black with terror. The child in the middle spoke without turning his head. ‘I wonder which one of us will be next?’ When a woman’s body is discovered in a cathedral and hours later a young man is found hanging from a tree outside his home, Detective Lottie Parker is called in to lead the investigation. The trail leads Lottie to St Angela’s, a former children’s home, with a dark connection to her own family history. Suddenly the case just got personal. As Lottie begins to link the current victims to unsolved murders decades old, two teenage boys go missing. She must close in on the killer before they strike again, but in doing so is she putting her own children in terrifying danger? Lottie is about to come face to face with a twisted soul who has a very warped idea of justice. The Stolen Girls: The young woman standing on Lottie’s step was a stranger. She was clutching the hand of a young boy. ‘Help me,’ she said to Lottie. ‘Please help me.’ One Monday morning, the body of a young pregnant woman is found. The same day, a mother and her son visit the house of Detective Lottie Parker, begging for help to find a lost friend. Could this be the same girl? When two more girls are found dead, Lottie is forced to put the demons of her own past aside to catch a very clever killer before they claim another victim … The Lost Child: ‘Let me out! Please…’ My tiny fists pound the door, but my voice reverberates off the stone walls and hangs in the air as if suspended by spider’s webs. No one comes... Years later, a woman is found face-down in a pool of blood. Detective Lottie Parker is called to the remote farmhouse in the bleak Irish countryside. A black rain jacket makes Lottie think she knows the killer’s identity, but then she finds a disturbing clue: is the murder linked to an old case at St Declan’s asylum? A case investigated by her own father, just before he took his life. When another victim is left for dead, and a young girl goes missing, Lottie knows she has to act fast. Can she uncover the truth before another life is taken? This gripping series will have you up in the small hours turning the pages. Fans of Karin Slaughter, Rachel Caine and Rachel Abbott will love the Detective Lottie Parker Series. Read what everyone is saying about the Detective Lottie Parker books: ‘OMG it is a cracking book!! … Patricia Gibney is my favourite author at the moment and my best find of the year – this book was fantastic, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.’ Donna's Book Blog, 5 stars ‘WOW.

For the Good Times


David Keenan - 2019
    They love sharp clothes, a good drink, and the songs of Perry Como - whose commitment to clean living holds up a dissonant mirror to their own attempts to rise above their circumstances. They dream of a Free State, and their methods for achieving this are uncompromising, even as they fully indulge in the spoils of war.Keen to make a difference, the boys find themselves in the incongruous position of running a comic-book shop taken over by the IRA. Their clandestine activities belong in the x-rated pages of graphic fiction: burglary, blackmail, extortion, torture, and murder - and they become transfixed by the initiatory possibilities of free-reign criminality.But when punk rock arrives and the hard edge of the decade starts to reveal its true paranoid colours, Sammy finds himself increasingly isolated, especially after bizarre and gruesome away days in Glasgow and London. Camaraderie and loyalty is the fuel of a terrorist cell. When those virtues prove faulty, the game is up - and Sammy's world starts to shrink as he is assaulted by terrifying visions.For the Good Times shouts and sings with visionary depth and power. It is not just a book about the IRA, but an exploration of what it means to 'go rogue', of the heartbreak and devastation that commitment to 'the cause' can engender, of ideas of martyrdom, fatherhood, and self-sacrifice. It unpacks any dewy-eyed romance associated with the Troubles while re-visioning it as a time of psychological and spiritual intensity where the nature of day-to-day reality itself was up for grabs. And through a dizzying amalgam of modernist prose, roughhouse vernacular and hallucinatory Irish humour, it establishes David Keenan as one of our most fearless literary stylists.

Becoming Herself


Maureen Reid - 2019
    you were told you won't be accepted because you don't sound like everyone else... you want more choices than your world offers... you love a man you can never have ... you need to reconnect with the land you left behind? That is Margaret's story. Becoming Herself is the tale of a woman's road to self-discovery in the first half of the 20th century. It is as current as today's headlines. On her first day in America, seven-year old Maggie Clancy is placed in an orphanage by her grieving widowed father. She is told that from now on she will be called Margaret. Maggie will no longer exist. She will have to forge her own path in this new world of upstate New York. Her lovely singing voice provides her the needed entry. In an era when she loses the corset and gains the right to vote, Margaret struggles with balancing the roles of wife and mother with her longing to do even more with her life. She's a witness to the prejudices experienced by Irish immigrants and to Americans questioning the patriotism of their German-Americans neighbors during WWI. Despite that, she hopes and believes that man's inhumanity to man will lessen when women make their voices heard. Margaret embraces the changes and challenges of a world that's experiencing airplanes in the skies, radios in the parlor and women beginning to assert their independence inside and outside the home. Margaret yearns to find the Maggie who's been lost by returning to Ireland, the land of her birth. In Becoming Herself, Margaret shares her dreams, conflicts, and never- to- be-told secrets. It is the story of a woman searching to become all she is capable of being.

My Name Is Bridget: The Untold Story of Bridget Dolan and the Tuam Mother and Baby Home


Alison O'Reilly - 2019
    Alone and pregnant. Bridget gave birth to a boy, John, who died at the home less than two years later. Her second child was once again delivered into the care of the nuns and was taken from her. She would go on to marry a wonderful man and have a daughter Anna Corrigan, but it was only after Bridget's death that Anna discovered she had two brothers her mother had never spoken about. Anna became compelled to try and uncover any information she could about her baby brothers. What followed was the revelation that the remains of 796 babies were buried on the site of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home. Anna was left to wonder, were her brothers among them? Here, with Alison O'Reilly, she pieces together the mystery.

Night Swimming


Doreen Finn - 2019
    Nine-year-old Megan lives in a redbrick house in Dublin with her mother, a beautiful and lonely artist, and her grandmother; her father's whereabouts are a mystery that she often thinks about.When an American family moves in downstairs and Megan's mother begins a tentative affair with the father, everything that Megan is sure of starts to unravel.  From her friendship with the boy next door to the strange food that the new family cooks, from her relationship with the impossibly sophisticated Beth to the possibilities opened up by the temptation of swimming at night, it is a summer that will impact Megan in ways she could never predict.

Lily at Lissadell


Judi Curtin - 2019
    Lily is going into service in the Big House – Lissadell.Lily’s employers, the Gore-Booth family, are kind, but life as a young housemaid can be hard: Lily works long days, she has to learn to get along with the staff, particularly her roommate, the sullen and uncommunicative Nellie, and she misses her home and family.But when Maeve, daughter of Constance Markievicz and niece of the Gore-Booths, comes to visit and decides to paint a portrait of Lily an unusual friendship begins between the two girls from such different worlds.A warm and engaging story about friendship, life in the early 20th century and how the political world affects everyone.

Kilbride House


Sheila Forsey - 2019
    Victoria Goulding, a Protestant, falls in love with Canice Meagher, born on the Blasket Islands and a Roman Catholic. To be together they must elope. Before their escape, the hand of fate plays its cards and changes their lives irrevocably.Sixty-three years later, in the leafy suburbs of New York, Edith Goulding, Victoria’s sister, has died. Edith left Ireland in the winter of 1955 all those years ago, never to return. In her will she has insisted that her daughter Catherine and granddaughter Lainey visit Kilbride.Kilbride House, despite all its grandeur, holds shocking memories within its walls – memories that have slipped through the cracks of time. As the ghosts awaken the lies begin to unravel, and everything is altered. The past cannot remain untold.

Seamus Mallon: A Shared Home Place


Seamus Mallon - 2019
    This is his personal testament.In A Shared Home Place, Mallon evokes his happy childhood in the Protestant heartland of Markethill, south Armagh, and dwells on the turbulent years of constitutional politics in the maelstrom of near-civil war during the 1970s and 1980s. He was the target of both loyalist violence and republican vilification, and his harrowing depictions of tit-for-tat brutality in Northern Ireland's most bloody region outside Belfast bear poignant witness to the tragedy of hatred between neighbours.Mallon complemented John Hume in laying the foundations of the peace process and gives fascinating insights into what took place behind the scenes of negotiation that led to the Good Friday Agreement. Now in his eighty-third year, Mallon reflects upon this hard-won deal with the Ulster Unionists and calls for a new beginning – a shared home place in which Irish unity can only be achieved through parallel consent.This timely memoir encompasses the social and political history of Northern Ireland, and offers hope for its future.

The Salmon of Knowledge


Celina Buckley - 2019
    Finnegas, a wise, elderly poet, spends his days fishing for the Salmon of Knowledge. He meets Fionn, a young boy who hopes to become a brave warrior, but who must first find a poet to instruct him. Follow the story of a young boy who sets out to become a warrior but, in an unexpected twist, acquires much more than he had ever expected to gain.

Children of the Troubles


Joe Duffy - 2019
    Instead, on 15th August 1969, he became the first child killed as a result of the 'Troubles' - one of approximately 190 children who would die in the conflict in Northern Ireland. From the teenage striker who scored two goals in a Belfast schools cup final to the aspiring architect who promised to build his mother a house, to the little girl who never got her first taste of peanut butter, Children of the Troubles tells the previously untold story of Northern Ireland's lost children and the lives that might have been. "They took a child off the road, put his hood over his head and murdered him. I think the world should know these things." Maureen Rafferty, mother of Philip RaffertyBased on original interviews with more than 100 families, as well as extensive archive research, this unique book includes many children who have never been publicly acknowledged as victims of the Troubles, and draws a compelling social and cultural picture of the era. Much loved, deeply mourned, and never forgotten, Children of the Troubles is both an acknowledgement of and a tribute to young lives lost.

A Great Beauty


A. O'Connor - 2019
    He lives a life in hiding, conducting guerrilla warfare, outsmarting the authorities, a figure of mystery and intrigue. Very few know even what he looks like. He occasionally finds rest and comfort with the family of Kitty Kiernan, his best friend’s sweetheart. Then Michael finds himself falling in love with the complex and enigmatic Kitty.Lady Hazel Lavery, wife of famous artist Sir John Lavery, is considered the most beautiful and charming society hostess in London. An American of Irish descent, haunted by a tragic past, she sets out to use her friendships with men like Winston Churchill to bring peace to Ireland.When Michael, recently engaged to Kitty, arrives in London as part of the Irish peace delegation, he finds himself the centre of intense public fascination. Hazel Lavery takes Michael under her wing and navigates him through London high society. They form a close bond and soon are engulfed in rumours of an affair and accusations that Michael has been seduced by the glamour of London and by Hazel. Kitty all but despairs at the situation but is determined to fight for him.After the infamous Anglo-Irish Treaty, Ireland veers towards civil war. As Michael, Hazel and Kitty arrive in Dublin that fateful week in August 1922,the war is at its zenith – and this love triangle is about to implode with devastating results.An epic story of war, love, suspense, betrayal and murder – the Michael Collins story

The Accidental Spy


Sean O'Driscoll - 2019
    A bored trucker from New York took a holiday to Ireland with his new girlfriend and brought down the IRA. Just a quick Google search reveals the level of interest across Britain, Ireland and the US into exactly how this ordinary blue-collar worker found himself at the centre of an espionage ring. David Rupert, a complete outsider with no connection to Ireland, rose to the very top of the Real IRA, all while working for the FBI and British intelligence. But the story is really about just how a bored, frustrated New York trucking manager becomes one of Britain's most valued spies, brings down the entire IRA structure and makes $10 million dollars in the process. Along the way he finds himself in the most extraordinary and terrifying situations - he is involved in major terrorist operations, sets up an Iraqi sting operation and organises US arms shipments with a man being trained to kill the then British prime minister, Tony Blair.

The Summer Isles: A Voyage of the Imagination


Philip Marsden - 2019
    To reach them, Marsden must head north, sailing a course along the exposed and exhilarating western coasts of Ireland and Scotland. It is a course that has been followed for centuries by explorers and adventurers, fishermen and monks, all drawn to the western seas and their distant horizons. But as much as the journey of men, this book is about the journey of ideas: of nostalgia and a very particular kind of geographical yearning; of a culture and language that has been shaped by its dramatic topography; of the local legend and lore that live on to this day.Combining travel writing, memoir and cultural history, The Summer Isles is a book about the search for real places, for imagined places, and for places that might always exist somewhere in between.

Torn Asunder


Renny deGroot - 2019
    This is a story about a conflicted man, opening in Dublin, 1916 and set during one of Ireland’s most turbulent eras.

All the Walls of Belfast


Sarah Carlson - 2019
    Fiona’s mom fled with her to the United States when she was two, but, fourteen years after the Troubles ended, a forty-foot-tall peace wall still separates her dad’s Catholic neighborhood from Danny’s Protestant neighborhood.After chance brings Fiona and Danny together, their love of the band Fading Stars, big dreams, and desire to run away from their families unites them. Danny and Fiona must help one another overcome the burden of their parents’ pasts. But one ugly truth might shatter what they have…

Seaside Daisy: A Wildflowers of Ireland Mystery


Sherrie Hansen - 2019
    But when the real owner lays claim to the gold, she loses everything, including her fickle, new friends. Can Daisy find it in herself to start over? With Cavan’s help, the sea captain’s ghost, and her granny’s quilt to point the way, the quest for more gold is soon underway. But when a priest ends up dead and a pirate takes up the search, Daisy may have to learn the hard way that gold can be a blessing, or gold can be a curse. Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way might be a hard foe to tame, but the townsfolk of Dingle soon learn that even the roar of the sea is no match for a Fitzpatrick with her mind made up.

Where are you, Puffling?


Erika McGann - 2019
    They hear lots of stories of the puffling helping others, but they just cannot find their fluffy, black chick. Finally, they spot her - on a boat out at sea! The puffling is too small to fly home, so the animals of Skellig work together and come up with something very clever ...

King Of The Blind: A Toast to Music, Mirth, Storytelling and Whiskey


Caiseal Mór - 2019
    Turlough O’Carolan is the eighteen-year-old son of a blacksmith, born into turbulent times in seventeenth century Ireland. In 1688, at the age of eighteen, he falls in love and dreams of becoming a great harp player to impress his sweetheart. On the summit of a sacred hill at midnight, a hill reputedly inhabited by the Good People, the Fair Folk of legend he expresses a heartfelt desire. As the old saying goes; be careful what you wish for, you’ll most certainly get it.Almost immediately he is struck down with a terrible sickness, smallpox. He experiences a beautiful yet disturbing vision in which he meets the Queen of the Good People. She grants him the gift of music however, there is a price to pay for it. When he awakes the sickness has cost him his eyesight. Within two years of being blinded Turlough learns to play the harp and takes to the road as a travelling musician. In time he’s be considered the greatest of all the Irish harpers. His music is still played all around the world today. To the end of his days he always maintained that Otherworldly beings, known in Ireland as the Good People, granted him the gift of music and were responsible for at least some of his compositions. This is a story from a time when the veil between the worlds was thinner and belief in the mystical Good People, was still strong.

Angels with Blue Faces


Lyra McKee - 2019
    They also murdered the centre's caretaker, 29 year-old Ken Campbell.

Irish Gothic Fairy Stories: From the 32 Counties of Ireland


Steve Lally - 2019
    Each county and its people are unique, but the one thing they all have in common is their respect and regard for the "The Good Folk," the Fairies of all Ireland. Steve Lally and Paula Flynn have compiled this magnificent collection of fairy tales from each county in Ireland. This book is a contemporary take on some classic stories and will be enjoyed for generations to come.

Anseo


Una-Minh Kavanagh - 2019
    In the days that followed, Úna-Minh had only one niggling regret: that she had not responded in her first language, Irish.Úna-Minh was adopted as a newborn from Hanoi, Vietnam, in 1991 by a single woman from Kerry. Six weeks later she arrived in her new home of Ireland. Raised in a loving home by her teacher mother and retired Garda grandfather, Úna-Minh was instilled with a multi-faceted sense of Irish identity. In her first book, Úna-Minh writes honestly about how the racist attack on Parnell Street was a catalyst for her to live through Irish in a twenty-first century way: online, globalised, in activism and feminism. And she talks frankly and humorously about tackling trolls, flirting abroad, gaming and her passion for creating accessible content in Irish.Sprinkled throughout with funny and relatable Frása an Lae (phrase of the day), this is the heart-warming and important story of a diverse and contemporary Irish life.

Nóinín


Máire Zepf - 2019
    When she meets a young man online, she knows he isn’t like the others boys at school: he understands her totally and she falls for him, head over heels. She doesn’t have much time anymore for her best friend, Eimear – she’s hooked on her newfound love.When Nóinín ventures out to meet him offline, she never comes back.Heartbroken, Eimear blames herself for Nóinín’s disappearance. How can anyone know who to trust?

All in a Doctor's Day: Memoirs of an Irish Country Practice


Lucia Gannon - 2019
    Tipperary – husband and children in tow – Dr Lucia Gannon was a blow-in determined to build a practice that would provide solace for the sick, worried and confused.Journey with her as she builds a life in this tight-knit community. Meet the wily pensioner trying to pass an eye exam to continue her career as a dangerous driver; the lonely widower who needs someone to take the time to listen; the stressed teenager coping with an eating disorder and the frightened elderly woman who doesn’t want to leave her home.Discover what it means to be the one people bring their problems to – problems that are not always medical, but still require discretion, kindness and a willingness to provide a listening ear to those on the tricky journey of life.

A Run in the Park


David Park - 2019
    Angela and Brendan are racing towards a wedding day that is increasingly tainted by doubts. Yana runs to free herself from the darkness of the past and to remember her missing brother. Cathy thinks about the secret she has been unable to share. Running takes Maurice past his daughter's house, the place he is not allowed to enter. Over the nine weeks unexpected friendships are forged, challenges faced and by the time of their final run together all will grasp a new commitment to life itself.

From Barley to Blarney: A Whiskey Lover's Guide to Ireland


Sean Muldoon - 2019
    The book begins with an in-depth introduction to whiskey and its history in Ireland, including what makes each style of Irish whiskey unique. What follows is a detailed tour, including photographs, around the four Irish provinces, and of the 22 different distilleries and the unique Irish whiskeys each produces, as well as a discussion of the booming present and promising future for Irish whiskey producers. Each province also highlights the best of Ireland's 50 iconic bars and pubs, linking past to present and providing the ultimate whiskey tourist itinerary. The fun really begins when the masterminds behind 2015’s “World’s Best Bar,” Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog, share 12 original mixed-drink recipes tailor-made for Irish spirits.

One Man’s Terrorist: A Political History of the IRA


Daniel Finn - 2019
    This book is a riveting new history of the radical politics that drove a unique insurgency that emerged from the crucible of 1968. Based on extensive archival research, One Man’s Terrorist explores the relationship between the IRA, a clandestine army described as ‘one of the most ruthless and capable insurgent forces in modern history’, and the political movement that developed alongside it to challenge British rule. From Wilson and Heath to Thatcher and Blair, a generation of British politicians had to face an unprecedented subversive threat whose reach extended from West Belfast to Westminster.Finn shows how Republicans fought a war on several fronts, making use of every weapon available to achieve their goal of a united Ireland, from car bombs to election campaigns, street marches to hunger strikes. Though driven by an uncompromising revolutionary politics that blended militant nationalism with left-wing ideology, their movement was never monolithic, its history punctuated by splits and internal conflicts. The IRA’s war ultimately ended in stalemate, with the peace process of the 1990s and the Good Friday Agreement that has maintained an uneasy balance ever since.

When the Tree Falls


Jane Clarke - 2019
    An elegiac sequence, inspired by the loss of her father, moves gracefully through this second collection. Rooted in the everyday and backlit by mystery, here are poems to savour and return to, for the pleasure of finely honed lines that powerfully evoke the depth of our connections to people, place and nature. Jane Clarke’s first collection, The River, was published by Bloodaxe in 2015 to both critical and public acclaim.

For Ava: An incurable illness, A reluctant activist, An ongoing campaign


Vera Twomey - 2019
    Where they hoped to find treatment and support in the medical system, they found only frustration. The only medication that would have any effect on Ava's condition is a form of medicinal cannabis that was unavailable in Ireland. Thus began the family's fight to alleviate their daughter's suffering and give her a chance at life. Faced with an intransigent system and political establishment, Vera's campaign eventually culminated in her decision to walk from Cork to Leinster House in Dublin in protest to ask health minister Simon Harris for help in person. For Ava tells the story of the campaign for Ava's medication and the family's move to the Netherlands in order to legally access the medication that would save her life. It also pays tribute to the people who helped Vera achieve her goal. Above all, this is a moving story about the lengths a parent will go to for their child's health and happiness.

The Great Irish Weather Book


Joanna Donnelly;Illustrated by Fuchsia MacAree - 2019
    From cold fronts to climate change, satellites to storms, this book contains everything you've ever wanted to know about the weather. Beautifully illustrated by Fuchsia MacAree, and containing lots of interesting facts and experiments, this is a book that every curious child will love. Ages 9+

47 Seconds


Jane Ryan - 2019
    . .Detective Garda Bridget Harney’s obsession with Séan Flannery began when he claimed his assault on an underage victim was consensual.WITH FAIRNESS, INTEGRITY, REGARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, DILIGENCE AND IMPARTIALITY . .But the case against him fell apart. Bridget realises no rules hinder Flannery, so why should they hinder her?UPHOLDING THE CONSTITUTION AND THE LAW AND ACCORDING EQUAL RESPECT TO ALL PEOPLE . . .When a severed arm is found in a pig carcass in Dublin docks, her instincts tell her Flannery is involved. Her colleagues say there is no evidence. But Bridget refuses to let Flannery slip further into the darkness.

An Unravelling


Elske Rahill - 2019
    Hers has been a life of unselfpitying service, from her working class Dublin girlhood to her current status as the wealthy widow of a famous artist.But her own children, particularly her daughter Eileen, are her life's great failure: unhappy, self-indulgent women who resent the younger generation's apparent freedom from guilt and their unconventional family arrangements. This intricate web of female relationships comes under terrible strain when Molly, her health sapped by her constant efforts on behalf of others, decides to consult the family solicitor about changing her will.This is a novel of great tenderness in its depiction of the small pleasures of family life and ruthless in its portrayal of the dangerous power of money.

You, Me and Other Stuff


L.M. Barrett - 2019
    Perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes, Marian Keyes and David Nicholls. Declan's a tad annoyed. Not only has the love of his life run off with 'Superman' but she's also unwittingly caused his current hostage situation. This is the story between two childhood friends and the 'stuff' that always gets in the way of their relationship. Mostly the fact that Sarah is engaged to another man and Declan is being held prisoner.Find out what Sarah did to cause Declan's current situation and if Declan will ever forgive her. Can things ever go back to the way they were? Read now to find out.  - A fabulous read! I've smiled, I've laughed, I've empathised, I've found myself rather emotional and I've loved every single sentence...- Wonderful writing, hooks you in from page one...

Gaeilge: A Radical Revolution


Caoimhín De Barra - 2019
    It isnt your teachers fault you dont speak it. Billions of euros are not spent every year on its promotion. Replacing Irish with English has not been an economic blessing for Ireland. As a historian of languages and someone who learned Irish as an adult, Caoimhín De Barra offers both academic and personal insights into Irelands complex relationship with its national language. This book explains why most people dont learn Irish at school, where the deep hatred some have for the language comes from, and how people who want to learn Irish can do so successfully. Drawing upon the history of other minority languages around the world, De Barra demonstrates why current efforts to promote Irish are doomed to fail and proposes a radical solution for how to revive An Ghaeilge so it can again become the first language of the Irish people.

Granuaile: The Pirate Queen (Little Library #1)


John Burke;Fatti Burke - 2019
    They lived in a castle in Clew Bay and Granuaile spent her childhood sailing boats of all shapes and sizes. Granuaile’s parents wanted her to be a lady and get married, but Granuaile had other ideas. So she cut off her hair and set out to sea...

Maureen O'Carroll: A Musical Memoir of an Irish Immigrant Childhood


Maureen O'Carroll - 2019
    This enchanting memoir is told through the eyes of the middle child of the ten O’Carroll children, mischievous Maureen, who went on to become an acclaimed cellist.After years of periodic imprisonment in Ireland for their fight for independence, Maureen’s parents immigrated to Sydney, Australia with their large family in 1930. The patriarch, John O’Carroll, sets up in the storefront of their Balmain terrace house a barbershop, The Anchor Hairdressing Salon, which becomes a hub of activity for the locals. Maureen’s mother, May Gahan O’Carroll, a fearless and honored participant in the 1916 Irish Uprising, supplements the family’s income with her fortune-telling gifts. Reversing the letters of her last name, she calls herself “Madame Llarraco”. Throughout this colorful memoir infused with Irish history, local politics, Catholicism and the humorous struggles of Depression-era life, music remains a vital theme. It is instrumental in the family rising above their hard circumstances to achieve a better life. Remarkably, all ten children were musicians.This evocative memoir, written by the mother-daughter team of Maureen O’Carroll and Leora O’Carroll, is a beautiful, poignant and entertaining story of family, adaption and overcoming tough times to survive - and indeed thrive.

Full of Grace


Orla McAlinden - 2019
    Everyone knows Gemma McCann's secret, as she tries to balance the sadness of a dream unfulfilled with the love that surrounds her. Aloysius puts his body on the line to keep his motherless boy safe, and his principles intact. A complex web of friendship, enmity, lies and kindly deceptions weaves through a small rural community. People face their troubles. And the Troubles. Which of them can keep their faith in humankind during these dark decades in Northern Ireland? Returning to the beloved characters who populate Orla McAlinden's award-winning debut The Accidental Wife, and introducing many new ones, Full of Grace probes deep into stories of love, betrayal, survival and belonging, in a changing land. Including The Visit, the short story that won the 2016 Bord Gais Irish Book Award, and Breathing, the Wasafiri New Writing nominated short story, along with 19 brand new stories, Full of Grace turns an unsentimental eye and prize-winning prose onto everything from Bloody Sunday to Brexit and beyond.

Counterinsurgency and Collusion in Northern Ireland


Mark McGovern - 2019
    Now, more than twenty years since the Good Friday Agreement, the story of collusion remains one of the most enduring and contentious legacies of the conflict, a shadow that trails British counterinsurgency to this day. Here Mark McGovern turns back the clock to the late 1980s and early ‘90s—the ‘endgame’ of the Troubles and a period defined by a rash of state-sanctioned paramilitary killings. Drawing on previously unpublished evidence, and original testimony of victims’ families and eyewitnesses, McGovern examines several dozen killings of republicans and their families and communities that took place in the Mid-Ulster area. Placing these accounts within a wider critical analysis of the nature of British counterinsurgency and the state use of agents and informers, McGovern paints a damning picture of covert, deniable, and unlawful violence.

Unfinished business: The politics of 'dissident' Irish republicanism


Marisa McGlinchey - 2019
    Based on a series of interviews with over ninety radical republican activists from the wide range of groups and currents which make up 'dissident' republicanism, the book provides an up-to-date assessment of the political significance and potential of the groups who continue to oppose the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement. By assessing the inherent political tensions in 'the new Northern Ireland' it shows that the 'dissidents' are much more than traditionalist irreconcilables left behind by Gerry Adams' entry into the mainstream. Instead the book suggests that the dynamics and trajectory of 'dissident' republicanism are shaped more by contemporary forces than historical tradition and that by understanding the "dissidents" we can better understand the emerging forms of political challenge in an age of austerity and increasing political instability internationally.

A Broad Church: The Provisional IRA in the Republic of Ireland, 1969–1980


Gearóid Ó Faoleán - 2019
    The sheer level of sympathy and support that existed for militant republicanism demonstrates that the longevity of the ‘Troubles’ was due in large part to this widespread tolerance and aid. Former IRA volunteers attest to in interviews and previously unpublished accounts of training camps in the Republic. Juried courts for IRA suspects were phased out as both juries and judges were regularly acquitting republicans in cases of blatant IRA activity. The extent of activity, training, financing, demonstrations and goodwill for the IRA in the Irish Republic is rarely if ever acknowledged in Irish mainstream media or the education curriculum. This book will dramatically change that view forever.

Working Class Heroines: The Extraordinary Women of Dublin's Tenements


Kevin C. Kearns - 2019
    What emerges is an intimate and poignant celebration of the mammies and grannies that held the fabric of family life in an environment of hardship and, often, cruelty. Through vivid tales of how they coped with grinding poverty, huge families, pitiless landlords, the oppressive Church, dictatorial priests, feckless and often abusive husbands, and these remarkable women shine with astonishing dignity, wit, pride and a resilient spirit, despite their struggles.

Rise Up and Repeal: A poetic archive of the 8th amendment


Sarah Brazil - 2019
    On 25 May 2018, the Irish people voted by an overwhelming majority to repeal the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, and instead to add the wording, “Provision may be made by law for the regulation of termination of pregnancy.” Bringing together poetry and other writing from Ireland and beyond, Rise Up & Repeal celebrates Ireland’s historic choice, honours the hard work of consciousness-raising which helped to make it happen, and lets many voices speak, collectively and individually, about what this day means to them.

Shenanigans: The US-Ireland Relationship in Uncertain Times


Trina Vargo - 2019
    Vargo served as the Irish-issues adviser to every Democratic presidential campaign from Dukakis through Obama. She founded the US-Ireland Alliance and the prestigious George J. Mitchell Scholarship program, which introduces future American leaders to the island of Ireland. And she created the annual Oscar Wilde Awards to bring together creatives in the field of entertainment. Vargo has navigated the corridors of power in Ireland and the United States, experiencing first-hand the deep affection each country holds for the other. She has also seen valuable opportunities squandered—and sabotaged—by those on both sides of the Atlantic who jealously defend their turf against imaginative ideas. Vargo became part of the Clintons’ “enemies list” as a result of her work on Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008. She has been attacked by a vocal, but determined, few as a result of a truth-to-power opinion piece on immigration, and a member of the Irish parliament demanded she be hauled before the body’s Foreign Affairs Committee. She even had to battle the Irish Film Board in her efforts that resulted in J.J. Abrams filming "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in Ireland. Vargo passionately believes the US-Ireland relationship needs to evolve and to survive. This page turning memoir gives an unvarnished account of the challenges and poses serious questions about the future of the relationship that should be carefully considered by anyone who cares deeply about both countries.

Bending to Earth: Strange Stories by Irish Women


Maria GiakanikiKatharine Tynan - 2019
    We focused on the merits of each writer and their contribution, arranging stories in a sequence that we hope makes for an agreeable read. As one might expect, these selected tales reflect the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and preoccupations of each author. While there might not be a formal pedigree in the supernatural tradition, there is certainly a more ethereal sense of connection that characterises these writers and their offerings to strange literature.

The Gallowglass: Book One in the Chronicles of Philip Williams


Jason Henry Evans - 2019
    If only he knew his troubles were just beginning. While recovering in a hospital in Antwerp, a distant relative arrives to dangle an irresistible offer in front of him: The Royal Irish army. All of Ireland is in an open revolt and Queen Elizabeth is going to war. The time to strike is now. As the army trains in Dublin, it will need experienced English officers to lead it. Buoyed by the chance to fight for Queen and Country, Philip accepts, bringing along some old friends who also survived Calais. Once in Ireland, Philip meets two Irishwomen. Nualla asks for his aid while Colleen asks for his heart. Will he be able to protect either of them from the coming violence? As Philip trains his new company, old grudges tear at the fabric of the army. Meanwhile Irish rebels and Scottish mercenaries raid and the survivors whisper the name of a monster: Solomon Red Beard O’Donnell. Will Philip and his friends have enough time to turn Irish peasants into soldiers? If they don’t Solomon Red Beard will spread the rebellion and Ireland will be lost.

Liam Mellows, Soldier of the Irish Republic: Selected Writings, 1914–1922


Conor McNamara - 2019
    Mellows was at the forefront of the republican movement in Ireland from its inception. Following the Easter Rising, he spent four years as the IRA’s representative in New York, attempted to import arms into Ireland, was jailed, and – worst of all – branded an informer by the Mayor of New York. Arriving back in Ireland in 1920, Mellows was responsible for the importation of arms for the republican forces during the Independence struggle. Bitterly opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, he became an implacable opponent of Michael Collins, and his role in helping form the anti-Treaty IRA in 1922 contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War. Mellows’ execution in December 1922 was among the most divisive acts of the new Irish state, and he remains an enigmatic icon for Irish republicans. Liam Mellows, Soldier of the Irish Republic, examines his beliefs, his fraught personal relationships and political betrayals, and sheds new light on his struggle in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds.

Donegal Tarantella


Moya Cannon - 2019
    This sixth collection by one of Carcanet’s most celebrated Irish poets gathers together lyrics poems musing on history, on archaeology, geology and on the deep need of the human spirit to find expression in music and song.

Pocket Old Irish Stories: Classic Tales to Delight and Entertain


Fiona Biggs - 2019
    Kings and farmers, monsters and fairies, magic and mayhem - all the ingredients of classic legends are to be found between the pages of this book. Packed with 19 age-old tales drawn from Ireland's ancient tradition of storytelling, including stories of the legendary Fionn MacCumhail, these yarns will delight younger readers, and those young at heart - as they have for generations. Illustrated by Marina Pessarrodona

Constance Markievicz: The Rebel Countess (Little Library #3)


John Burke - 2019
    She spent her life working to make these things happen. With rebellion in the air, she was asked for advice on how a lady should dress. Her answer? ‘ Dress suitably in short skirts and strong boots, leave your jewels in the bank and buy a revolver.’ And the Easter Rising began...

The Irish Abortion Journey, 1920-2018


Lindsey Earner-Byrne - 2019
    

FROM LUCIFER TO LAZARUS A LIFE ON THE LEFT


Mick O'Reilly - 2019
    O’Reilly discovered socialism and militant trade unionism in the early 1960s when he joined the National Union of Vehicle Builders. He went on to join the committee of the Irish Communist Party in 1967 and the Dublin Housing Action Committee, and helped establish Connolly Youth. He took part in strikes against the European Economic Community and negotiated for protection for car workers. This book explores the power struggles and negotiations that O’Reilly has faced throughout his career, without generalities or truisms. After a party dispute in 1977, O’Reilly was employed by the Transport and General Workers’ Union, and in 1979 negotiated a huge equal pay claim. Later, O’Reilly’s Labour Left group sparked reform within the Labour Party, establishing that its leader must be elected by its members. O’Reilly was even suspended from the Party for a time before the charges against him were proven to be untrue, and he was reinstated in 2004. Despite navigating a career filled with adversity, O’Reilly remains decent, honest and humble. The authenticity of From Lucifer to Lazarus: A Life on the Left emphasises these often overlooked values, setting itself apart as a unique, intimate read. The foreword is written by Gene Kerrigan of The Irish Independent.

Partitions: A Transnational History of Twentieth-Century Territorial Separatism


Arie Dubnov - 2019
    In the twentieth century, at least three new political entities--the Irish Free State, the Dominions (later Republics) of India and Pakistan, and the State of Israel--emerged as results of partition. This volume offers the first collective history of the concept of partition, tracing its emergence in the aftermath of the First World War and locating its genealogy in the politics of twentieth-century empire and decolonization.Making use of the transnational framework of the British Empire, which presided over the three major partitions of the twentieth century, contributors draw out concrete connections among the cases of Ireland, Pakistan, and Israel--the mutual influences, shared personnel, economic justifications, and material interests that propelled the idea of partition forward and resulted in the violent creation of new post-colonial political spaces. In so doing, the volume seeks to move beyond the nationalist frameworks that served in the first instance to promote partition as a natural phenomenon.

Saint Patrick Retold: The Legend and History of Ireland's Patron Saint


Roy Flechner - 2019
    Convicted in a trial by his elders in Britain and hounded by rumors that he settled in Ireland for financial gain, the man who was to become Ireland' patron saint battled against great odds before succeeding as a missionary. Saint Patrick Retold draws on recent research to offer a fresh assessment of Patrick's travails and achievements. This is the first biography in nearly fifty years to explore Patrick's career against the background of historical events in late antique Britain and Ireland.Roy Flechner examines the likelihood that Patrick, like his father before him, might have absconded from a career as an imperial official responsible for taxation, preferring instead to migrate to Ireland with his family's slaves, who were his source of wealth. Flechner leaves no stone unturned as he takes readers on a riveting journey through Romanized Britain and late Iron Age Ireland, and he considers how best to interpret the ambiguous literary and archaeological evidence from this period of great political and economic instability, a period that brought ruin for some and opportunity for others. Rather than a dismantling of Patrick's reputation, or an argument against his sainthood, Flechner's biography raises crucial questions about self-image and the making of a reputation.From boyhood deeds to the challenges of a missionary enterprise, Saint Patrick Retold steps beyond established narratives to reassess a notable figure's life and legacy.

The First Rose Of Tralee: The Love Story That Inspired Ireland's Famous Festival


Patricia O'Reilly - 2019
     William Pembroke Mulchinock, heir to West Villa, is obliged to let go of his dream of being a poet to run the family estate. When they meet they are dazzled by love. The Great Famine is about to grip the country, Daniel O’Connell is holding monster rallies, pushing for Repeal of the 1801 Union, and the young lovers are caught up in the politics of the time. Can their love survive political turmoil and bridge the great divide between rich and poor? Over one hundred years later, the annual Rose of Tralee International Festival was established, taking its inspiration from the 19th-century love song which tells the story of ‘Mary, the Rose of Tralee’.

The Irish Insult Generator


Books Gill - 2019
    With The Irish Insult Generator under your oxter, you'll be effin' and blindin' with the best of them in no time! This gas flipbook lets you mix and match uniquely Irish insults, so the next time some awful gombeen annoys you, you can send them on their way!

Brian Boru: The Warrior King


John Burke - 2019
    Brian Boru grew up in a large warrior family over 1,000 years ago in Killaloe, Ireland. One of twelve sons, Brian and his brothers practiced raids on other counties from the River Shannon. Eventually, Brian's army and navy grew to be so big that he became King of all Ireland. But up in Dublin, the Vikings were invading. So he gathered his men and went into battle. Ages 6+.

Wild Stories from the Irish Uplands


John G. O'Dwyer - 2019
    This means the Irish highlands have been accessible to humans since the dawn of history. Small wonder then, that these mountains did not become distant objects of reverence and fear, as they did with the huge and difficult to access summits in other countries. Instead, they became a unifying feature of the landscape and have been purposefully woven into the myths and legends used to bind communities. No matter where you go, the Irish uplands have been loaded with history and legend while being lauded in song and story, for through the ages they have been intertwined with the course of Irish history. John G O'Dwyer is a veteran hiker who has spent much of his life exploring the Irish hill country and interacting with those who inhabit these high places. He has now brought together this experience in a fascinating collection of stories from the Irish uplands. All of human life is there: rapparees, rebels, rogues and revered mystics, every one of whom has, at some time, seen it in their interest to interact Ireland's highest places.

Eamonn Doyle: Made in Dublin


Eamonn Doyle - 2019
    Focused on D1, Dublin’s city center, photographer Eamonn Doyle’s three major bodies of work, “i,” “On,” and “End” brought together here, tell the tale of today’s Dublin and, in doing so, tell a broader story of today’s Ireland. Doyle’s street photography is a thrill to the system, revealing the extraordinary within the ordinary to paint a striking portrait of a modern and multicultural capital city. Reproduced in vivid color, the commonplace is seen anew and made epic as the city’s inhabitants appear in stark, black and white going about their daily business. Doyle’s work features everyday life through the lens and voice of the street. Punctuating Doyle’s photography are specially commissioned narratives by celebrated writer Kevin Barry, evoking the sights, smells, sounds, and sensations of a Dubliner’s daily life.

Irish Aran: History, Tradition, Fashion


Vawn Corrigan - 2019
    Arans communicate warmth, comfort and a sense of home, which people the world over continue to respond to, even though the connection to our rocky outcroppings in the Atlantic Ocean may be long forgotten. Aran grew up in the harsh environment of the Aran Islands where everyday wear consisted of home-spun fabrics and knits. Today Aran survives as part of a rich craft heritage and as high and slow fashion on the catwalks of the world. Vawn Corrigan explores the history, mythology and growth of this iconic design in this beautiful and informative hardback book.

The King's Irish: The Royalist Anglo-Irish Foot of the English Civil War


John Barratt - 2019
    The "cessation" or truce which King Charles reached with the Irish Confederates in September 1643 enabled him to begin shipping over troops from Ireland to reinforce the Royalist armies.During the following year the "Irish", as they were frequently if inaccurately known by both sides were an important factor in the war. The Nantwich campaign (December 1643-January 1644), the consolidation of Royalist control in the Welsh Marches during the spring of 1644, the Marston Moor campaign, and the Battle of Montgomery (September 1644) all received major contributions from the troops from Ireland.Other troops from Ireland, mainly from the province of Munster, provided important reinforcements for the Western and Oxford Royalist armies during the 1644 campaigns in western and southern England. The "Irish" were still a significant part of the Royalist army during the Naseby campaign of 1645, and elements remained in action until the end of the war.The book will look at the Irish campaign and its influence on the experience and behaviour of the troops when they reached England. It will examine their equipment, logistical care, and experience following their return.It will look at the performance of some of the troops, such as the "firelocks" who changed sides and became valuable additions to the Parliamentarian forces. Also examined is the controversial topic of "native Irish" troops who were involved, and a number of prominent indiduals who also srved in the war.Full use is made of extensive contemporary primary sources and also later research.

Gaze Against Imperialism


Padraig Robinson - 2019
    This built-in absence defers to the imagination of the reader, who, far from filling a gap, becomes a potential producer (as overhearer). The poetic narrative begins in the Irish Queer Archive, National Library of Ireland in 2014, where Robinson initially tracked tensions between legal reform activism and the social economy of the emerging 'gay scene' in 1980s Ireland. The long form text A Quare Invisibility opens the book by rehearsing a route through the archive; ending with finding a photocopy of a photograph depicting a protest with a banner reading Gays Against Imperialism (Dublin 1982). Eight 'scenes' of recorded dialogue follow with University Librarian Cathal Kerrigan, co-founder of the small lobby group, Gays Against Imperialism. This present day oral history faces repetitions in a history too current to repeat so soon. Through a queer poetics, dissolving national borders, A Quare Invisibility is then the 'ear' of the book; a non-psychoanalytic ear, that is, overly aware of the violence of naming; the dual incarceration of speech; and 'gay liberation' in the framework of a merely liberated patriarchy. By articulating the homonym Gaze and Gays, the title not only refers to the generative misunderstandings in any public utterance, but also to the space between reading and listening.

Drinking with My Father's Ghost: A Journey Through Ireland's Pubs


Hugh Reilly - 2019
    While cleaning out his library we found a hidden treasure: traveling across Ireland in the spring of 1980, he had kept a journal describing the pubs he visited and the people he met along the way.As I read through the journals, an idea began to take shape: what if I went back to some of the pubs he had visited in 1980 to see if they still existed, and if they had changed?

The Last Battle of Moytura


Sean Fitzgerald - 2019
    This was a time when Gods walked among us. And these were the Gods of chaos and wild nature. Punctured animal patterns and symbols protect these warriors. They wear no clothing in battle, lest they should hide the figures on their bodies which give them protection from death. With each story, it introduces us to the importance of Lugh Lamhfada, the Morrígan, the Dagda and many more. With every single page highly illustrated with Celtic knotwork threaded through images of deities and nature. With the information drawing on archaeological and historical research, as well as literary and oral sources on Celtic deities and rituals.