September tends to be a big month for books. A combination of the first flush of christmas fare and a rash of titles that could be released anytime during the year but which would suffer against the massive bulk of titles that will hit the shelves in October. It is an interesting bag this month with two books of the Month, both non-fiction.
Open Dissent: An Uncompromising View of the Financial Crisis
Mike Soden
9781842182123
€16.99 | PB | 200pp
Blackhall Press
Economics | September 2010
About The Book
Open Dissent is an analysis of the financial crisis from the point of view of someone on the inside.
With 35 years’ experience in banking internationally and, latterly, in Ireland, Mike Soden was one of those at helm, shaping and changing modern banking. Mike Soden retired as chief executive of Bank of Ireland in 2004 after a 35-year career in Irish and international banking. He has since become a frequent and popular contributor to the Irish media on financial and economic matters.
A History of the Internet and the Digital Future
Johnny Ryan
9781861897770
£17.95 | HB | 248pp
Reaktion Press
Technology | September 2010
About The Book
A great adjustment in human affairs is underway. Political, commercial and cultural life is changing from the centralized, hierarchical and standardized structures of the industrial age to something radically different: the economy of the emerging digital era.
A History of the Internet and the Digital Future tells the story of the development of the Internet from the 1950s to the present, and examines how the balance of power has shifted between the individual and the state in the areas of censorship, copyright infringement, intellectual freedom and terrorism and warfare.
Published This Month ~ September 2010
Adomnán of Iona Theologian, lawmaker, peacemaker
Jonathan Wooding
9781846821028
€50.00 | HB | 336pp
Four Courts Press
Biography | September 2010
About The Book
The abbot of Iona in the late 7th century, Adomnán, a kinsmen of the founder St Columba, was one of the most remarkable thinkers of his era. The author of the magnificent Life of Columba as well a widely-influential guide to the Holy Places of the Near East, he was also responsible for the celebrated Cáin Adomnáin – a ground-breaking law tract on the protection of non-combatants. Adomnán was also a major figure in the Easter Controversy and his scholarship directly influenced that of Bede. The studies in this volume, rising from a conference held on Iona on the 13th centenary of Adomnán’s death, celebrate his achievements.
Desmond Leslie The Biography of an Irish Gentleman 1921-2001
Robert O’Byrne
9781843511632
€ 20.00 | HB | 216pp
The Lilliput Press
Biography | September 2010
About The Book
Film producer, writer and cult UFOlogist, Desmond Leslie was one of Ireland’s leading eccentrics. This is the first biography of his extraordinary life.
Will Mammy Be Coming Back for Me?
Shane Dunphy
9780717143863
€ 14.99 | PB | 256pp
Gill & Macmillan
Biography | September 2010
About The Book
When Shane Dunphy first met Jason he was a tiny, tortured five-year-old who had stopped speaking, and who terrorised others with his angry, violent behaviour. Gradually, with remarkable patience, Shane and the team win Jason’s trust and, slowly, he begins to speak and reach out for the help and comfort he so desperately needs. Eleven years later, Shane is shocked to find Jason’s file coming across his desk again.
The Big Book Of Hope
Various
9781842234679
€ 15.99 | TPB |
Poolbeg
Charity | September 2010
About The Book
This extraordinary collection celebrates The HOPE Foundation and – hopefully – will play a significant role in publicizing and supporting its courageous work. A potent blend offiction, memoir and non-fiction, the contributions explore the theme of ’hope’ and its vital presence in all our lives.
Across The Divide
Brian Gallagher
97818471726
€ 7.99 | PB | 240pp
O’Brien Press
Children’s | September 2010
About The Book
What happens when your best friend ought to be your enemy?
Liam and Nora form an unlikely friendship when he lends her a helping hand during a music competition. Liam’s father, a mechanic, is a proud trade union member, while Nora’s father is a prosperous wine importer. When Jim Larkin takes on the might of the employers in 1913, resulting in strikes, riots and lockouts, Liam and Nora’s friendship is challenged and their loyalties torn.
Age 14 An Irish Boy Soldier
Geert Spillebeen
9781848890565
€ 6.99 | PB | 224pp
The Collins Press
Children’s | September 2010
About The Book
The tragedy of child soldiers today is something we associate with distant wars, in Sudan, Sierra Leone, or Sri Lanka. To twelve-year-old Patrick Condon from Ballybricken, County Waterford, the war seems distant too. Wishing to escape his impoverished life, he adopts the identity of his seventeen-year-old brother John, and enlists in the British army in 1913. He enjoys his newfound independence and makes friends easily. His training drills feel almost like a game, and the battle that breaks out following the murder of the Austrian Crown Prince seems far away. But the war is very real, and it is only a matter of time before John is at the front, achieving the adventure and glory he craves in the most tragic way possible.
Dancing In The Dark
P.R. Prendergast
9781847171856
€ 7.99 | PB | 192pp
O’Brien Press
Children’s | September 2010
About The Book
Things haven’t been easy for Jessie since her brother James – sports star and popular kid – died. Her mum and dad are lost in grief and she’s feeling isolated at school; when the popular girls on her dance team give her a hard time, she just can’t seem to remember the routines …
… and Jessie can still see James. Talk to him, or quarrel with him, more like! They always bickered when James was alive, so why change now?
Eva’s Journey
Judi Curtin
9781847172242
€ 7.99 | PB | 272pp
O’Brien Press
Children’s | September 2010
About The Book
Rich, spoilt, high-maintenance Eva Gordon likes fancy, sophisticated things so when her parents sell their sell their holiday home and their expensive car Eva can’t understand why her dad can’t fix things.
But when Eva’s dad loses his job and she has to move house and change schools, she realises life has changed for good. She’s determined to hate her new life, until a chance visit to a fortune teller gives her the idea that doing good may help her to get her old life back. Eva (with the help of her friend Victoria) starts to help all around her, whether they want it or not!
Hugh O’Flaherty His Wartime Exploits
Alison Walsh
9781848890589
€ 6.99 | PB | 128pp
The Collins Press
Children’s | September 2010
About The Book
Hugh O’Flaherty, a cheerful Kerryman who loved sport, was in Rome in 1939 when the Second World War broke out. Unable to watch from the safe haven of the Vatican as people were arrested and sometimes killed, he set up an escape organisation for Allied POWs, Jews and others who needed help. By the time the Allies freed the city, he had helped over 6,500 people. At a time when the church is in crisis, this is an enduring story of one priest’s battle for good in the face of evil, recounted with the pace of a thriller. Written especially for children, this is based on the best-selling biography, The Vatican Pimpernel by Brian Fleming.
It’s Great Being Little
Nita Fitzgerald
Illustrated by Francesca Carabelli
9781847171764
€ 7.99 | PB | 32pp
O’Brien Press
Children’s | September 2010
About The Book
‘I don’t want to be little,’ Susie tells her granny. ‘I want to be BIG.’
‘What?’ says Granny. ‘But It’s GREAT being little. Why, you can do all sorts of things …’
A charming, beautifully illustrated story for all little people who can’t wait to be big.
The Snowmelt River
Frank P Ryan
9781874082484
€ 8.99 | PB |
Swift Publishers
Children’s | September 2010
About The Book
Four friends are drawn to the fabled mountain of Slievenamon, a mountain enshrined in magic and legend, on the summit of which is the Gate of Feimhin, which will take them into the enchanted but war-ravaged world of Tir, a strange land of magic and wonder.
Understanding Ireland’s Economic Crisis Prospects For Recovery
Stephen Kinsella/Anthony Leddin
9781842181980
€ 30.00 | PB | 250pp
Blackhall Publishing
Economics | September 2010
About The Book
This book contributes both macro- and micro-economic perspectives, with chapters written from diverse perspectives on the same theme – just how small open economies might prosper in the medium term, following a domestic and international economic downturn of historic proportions. Understanding Ireland’s Economic Crisis will be policy relevant, accessible, and written to stimulate public debate.
An Irish Country Christmas
Patrick Taylor
9780863224225
€ 19.99 | HB | 480pp
Brandon
Fiction | September 2010
About The Book
Christmas is drawing nigh, but there is little peace to be found on earth, especially for a young doctor plying his trade in the glens of rural Ireland. But the wintry days and nights are not without a few tidings of comfort and joy. Between their hectic medical practice, Rugby Club parties, and the Christmas Pageant, the two doctors still find time to play Santa Claus to a struggling single mother with a sick child and not enough money in the bank. Snow is rare in Ulster, and so are miracles, but that doesn’t mean they never happen. . .
Becoming Scarlett
Ciara Geraghty
9780340963500
£ 7.99 | PB | pp
hachette Ireland
Fiction | September 2010
About The Book
Now, Scarlett is back in her childhood home with her plan in tatters and a baby on the way, while John Smith – actuary, proper grown-up and Scarlett’s boyfriend – has left her to join an archaeological dig in a tiny village somewhere in Brazil.
But that’s not the worst bit.
The worst bit is she can’t be sure who the father of the baby is . . . even though she’s slept with exactly four-and-a-half men in her entire 35 years.
Rules for a Perfect Life
Niamh Greene
9780141048659
€ 9.99 | PB | 336pp
Penguin
Fiction | September 2010
About The Book
Rules for a perfect life . . .
Rule One: Do not ditch the man everyone says is perfect for you because he eats the last yellow jelly-baby in the bag.
Rule Two: Do not move to a shack in the country to ‘find yourself’ and inadvertently become an object of ridicule for the locals.
Rule Three: Do not fall for a man who has two children who hate you, a saintly dead wife you can never live up to and a mother who thinks you are the hired help.
Maggie wants the perfect life – but if she keeps breaking the rules can she ever have it?
Sarah Love
Geraldine O’Neill
9781842234303
€ 15.99 | TPB | pp
Poolbeg
Fiction | September 2010
About The Book
As she puts the final stitches in her perfect wedding dress, Sarah Love receives dreadful news which wrecks all her future plans. Heartbroken and humiliated, she leaps at a chance to make a fresh start away from her native Tullamore. Within a week she has crossed the Irish Sea, and is lodging with other young women in a house off Newcastle city centre, just a short walk from Harrison’s the rundown knitting and sewing shop where she will work for reserved and troubled spinster, Lucy Harrison. Sarah now finds herself amongst people of different classes, religion and race, and when her Irish nationality is attacked she must discover the skills to survive.
Since You’ve Been Gone
Emma Heatherington
9781842234099
€ 9.99 | PB | pp
Poolbeg
Fiction | September 2010
About The Book
They call it Little Hollywood, and Millfield – a village nestled somewhere in the north of Ireland – is truly stage and screen obsessed. Taylor Smith, TV actor and media darling, is Millfield’s pride and joy – and then he lands a juicy part in the real Hollywood . . . Erin O’Brien is the love of his life. She’s a TV personality in her own right but, with Taylor away in the Hollywood Hills, she finds it difficult to cope. But that’s what a glass or three of red wine is for, isn’t it?
The Cards Of The Gambler
Benedict Kiely
9781848400825
€ 10.99 | PB | 250pp
New Island
Fiction | September 2010
About The Book
This classic novel from renowned novelist, short-story writer and broadcaster Benedict Kiely follows the trials of a doctor who becomes a gambler and loses everything.
The Only Glow Of The Day
Martin Malone
9781848400771
€ 11.99 | PB | 250pp
New Island
Fiction | September 2010
About The Book
A new historical novel from the author of The Silence of the Glasshouse, based on the author’s one-hour play for RTÉ Radio 1, Rosanna Night Walker.
It is the winter of 1863 and Rosanna Doyle is living rough on the Curragh grasslands, within walking distance of a large military encampment. The novel follows her arrival at a ‘wren’s nest’ (furze bush), her life among the women there, and her meeting with journalist Richard Tone.
The novel is grounded in historical fact; the character of Tone, the pressman who writes about the lives of the ‘wren women’, is based on a journalist who Charles Dickens sent to write about the women living rough in the Curragh
The Parson’s Revels: Notes & Introduction by Catherine Skeen
William Dunkin
9781846822778
€29.95 | HB | 160pp
Four Courts Press
Fiction | September 2010
About The Book
William Dunkin (1705–65) is the most undeservedly neglected of eighteenth century Irish poets. Swift called him ‘the best English poet in the Kingdom’ and his contemporaries considered him as good as Pope. But Dunkin’s works were last printed in 1770 and few readers have had a chance to enjoy his energetic and original verse since then. This edition of The Parson’s Revels, one of his most entertaining poems, has been transcribed from a contemporary manuscript and edited by Dr Catherine Skeen of Villanova University. It introduces to a new audience one of the most lively and humorous poets of 18th-century Ireland.
Ireland’s Animals Myths, Legends and Folklore
Niall Mac Coitir
9781848890602
€ 27.99 | HB | 296pp
The Collins Press
Folklore | September 2010
About The Book
This compilation of folklore, legends and history relating to animals in Ireland uses the Classical elements of fire, earth, air and water to discuss the personalities and spirits of animals. It includes description of their relations with people and being hunted for food, fur, sport, or as vermin, as well as their position today. Find out how and when non-native animals arrived in Ireland and how the boundary between wild and domestic animals has been more uncertain than people realise.
An Irish Butcher Shop
Pat Whelan
9781848890596
€ 25.00 | HB | 280pp
The Collins Press
Food & Drink | September 2010
About The Book
Good meat is one of life’s sublime pleasures. Pat Whelan has a passion for everything about it, so it’s no surprise Rick Stein lists him as one of his Food Heroes. From the quickest pan-fried steak to a slow-cooked dish, Pat understands how to get the best taste experience from cooking. His knowledge of animals and butchery gives him an edge and Pat is enthusiastic about teaching everyone the joys of meat cookery. Each cut requires a certain method of cooking, and he outlines methods and recipes for popular and less fashionable cuts of meat. This book is intended to demystify meat cookery and help people explore its wonderful taste opportunities. It includes Pat’s favourite tried and tested recipes; dishes that sum up his warm, family-oriented and eclectic outlook on life. Evocative recipe shots and outstanding recipes for today’s kitchen capture the quality of the produce of James Whelan Butchers.
Itsa Cookbook
Domini Kemp
978071747427
€ 19.99 | PB | 224pp
Gill & Macmillan
Food & Drink | September 2010
About The Book
Irish Times food writer, chef and restaurateur Domini Kemp has compiled a mouth-watering collection of her favourite recipes aimed at the everyday cook. Her recipes include everything from kitchen basics, such as tomato sauce and roast chicken, to imaginative mid-week suppers for the whole family, easy side dishes, fun and healthy brunches, foolproof dishes for entertaining and sweet things for all occasions. Domini’s recipes appeal to anyone with an interest in getting busy in the kitchen.
Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin A history
Kenneth Milne
9781846822704
€24.95 | PB | 480pp
Four Courts Press
Guidebook | September 2010
About The Book
In its architecture, administration, worship, and the people who made those things possible, Christ Church Cathedral has reflected the changing face of Ireland. It has experienced the trauma of the Reformation, and, centuries later, of disestablishment and of political independence. Whether pre-Reformation as an Augustinian priory, or post-Reformation as the monarch’s Chapel Royal in Ireland, or indeed from the late nineteenth century as metropolitan cathedral for the Church of Ireland dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough, Christ Church has played a prominent part in national and civic life in Ireland. This volume, which utilises the rich archival and architectural remains of the cathedral to throw light on many aspects of everyday life in Dublin, is the first full-scale history of the cathedral to be written.
Flagging Stress How To Beat Toxic Stress – Before It Beats You
Dr Harry Barry
9781905483310
€ 12.99 | PB | 224pp
Liberties Press
Health | September 2010
About The Book
Third instalment of Dr Harry Barry’s hugely successful Flagging books; topical given economic climate creating higher suicide rates and increased mental health issues.
Tackling Depression: A Practical Guide to The Everyday Management of Depression
Ian Birthistle
9781842181966
€ 15.00 | PB | 200pp
Blackhall Publishing
Health | September 2010
About The Book
Written from a professional point of view, and grounded by the author’s personal experience, Tackling Depression is an insightful and useful book for those suffering from depression and their loved ones.
Golden Years: The Irish Guide To Planning Your Finances For Retirement
Declan Lyons
9781905483761
€ 11.99 | PB | 128pp
Liberties Press
How To | September 2010
About The Book
A vital book for those wanting to be prepared for retirement or those facing retirement who need to get their finaces in order.
Overhead in Dublin Rides Again
Gerard Kelly/Sinead Kelly
9780717145416
€ 6.99 | PB | 144pp
Gill & Macmillan
Humour | September 2010
About The Book
More Overheard in Dublin: another 500 quotes from the ever popular website…
Taxi driver complaining about Tániste Mary Coughlan:
‘I didn’t like her when she sung either!’
A Coward if I Return, A Hero if I Fall
Stories of Irishmen in World War I
Neil Richardson
9781847171313
€ 19.99 | PB | 368pp
O’Brien Press
Irish History | September 2010
About The Book
IRELAND’S FORGOTTEN LEGACY In 1914-1918, two hundred thousand Irishmen from all religions and backgrounds went to war. At least thirty-five thousand never came home. Those that did were scarred for the rest of their lives. Many of these survivors found themselves abandoned and ostracised by their countrymen, their voices seldom heard.
The book includes:
The Irish soldier firing the first shot
The first Victoria Cross
Leading the way at Gallipoli and the Somme
North and South fighting side by side at Messines Ridge
Ireland’s flying aces
Brothers-in-arms – heart-rending stories of family sacrifice
The lucky escapes of some; the tragic end of others
The homecoming – why there was no hero’s welcome
A Hundred Years A-Growing
Gillian Finan
9781907593062
€ 25.00 | HB | 224pp
Liberties Press
Irish History | September 2010
About The Book
Co-inciding with their centenary, this lavishly illustrated book, with images from the past 100 years, documents one of the best-known and most respected organisations in the country. With well-known personalities such as Sonia O’Sullivan, Kathryn Thomas, Una Healy, Myrtle Allen, Sr Stanislaus Kennedy, and former justice Catherine McGuinness, among the many former Guides, A Hundred Years A-Growing is a celebration of this youth-driven girl-only organisation.
Behind the Green Curtain: Ireland’s Phoney Neutrality during World War II
T Ryle Dwyer
9780717146505
€ 14.99 | PB | 352pp
Gill & macmillan
Irish History | September 2010
About The Book
Irish diplomats spied for the United States during the course of the war. Irish diplomats in Europe carried messages and supplied information to the OSS – the predecessor of the CIA – with the full knowledge and consent of de Valera. Behind the Green Curtain is a comprehensive account of Irish neutrality, focusing strongly on the American – and to a lesser extent the Canadian – connection. It confirms beyond any doubt that Ireland made a positive and partisan contribution to the allied war effort. Neutrality has become a shibboleth of modern Irish politics. Behind the Green Curtain explodes the myth behind that shibboleth in the most decisive way.
Cork’s St Patrick’s Street A History
Antoin O’Callaghan
9781848890572
€ 29.99 | HB | 240pp
The Collins Press
Irish History | September 2010
About The Book
This unique and wide-ranging history traces the evolution of St Patrick’s Street, from the motivation behind its naming after the national rather than local saint, through times of war and of peace, of famine, fire, depression and boom. Affectionately known as ‘Pana’ to generations of Corkonians, this street has provided a place for assembly in communal sorrow, celebration, or anger, in religious processions, parades and protests. St Patrick’s Street lies at the heart of Cork life, and the history of its people and buildings is in many ways the history of the city, and, in a broader sense, of the nation. Here, that history is engagingly related, and copiously illustrated with photographs, maps, and plans.
If Maps Could Speaks
Richard Kirwan
9781907535093
€ 14.99 | PB | pp
Londubh Books
Irish History | September 2010
About The Book
If Maps Could Speak is an engaging combination of memoir, history and stories about people and places. Richard Kirwan, a former Director of Ordnance Survey Ireland, takes the reader behind the scenes into the minds and work of the early map-makers with accounts of their inventions, adventures, endurance and heroism in pre-Famine Ireland. Their struggles and achievements are counterpointed by the successful efforts of the author and the OS staff to bring the mapping of Ireland up to date with the help of photographic and computer technology in the final decades of the twentieth century.
News From A New Republic: Ireland In The 1950ss
Tom Garvin
9780717146598
€ 24.99 | HB | 256pp
Gill & Macmillan
Irish History | September 2010
About The Book
Tom Garvin’s survey of the 1950s is an interpretative narrative, based largely on a close reading of contemporary newspaper reports and analyses. He identifies the primary causes of the calamity as a revolutionary gerontocracy that overstayed its welcome; the blocking power of powerful special interest groups who alone benefited from economic protection; and an ideology of rural frugality, buttressed by an under-developed educational system and supported by the moral monopoly of the Catholic Church.
Shadow of the Brotherhood The Temple Bar Shootings
Barry Kennerk
9781856356947
€ 14.99 | HB | 352pp
Mercier Press
Irish History | September 2010
About The Book
When gunmen disappear into the Dublin fog, they leave two seriously wounded police constables in their wake. An immediate investigation is launched by Dublin Castle, which soon uncovers the existence of a Fenian assassination squad that has policemen, informers and judges in its sights. With pressure on the Irish administration from an anxious British government, Superintendent Daniel Ryan and his G squad of detectives must run the gang to ground.
Through innovative use of eyewitness testimonies, police reports, medical notes and other material, the authorcasts a magnifying glass on Victorian Dublin – a city in which the footsteps of the assassin are never far away.
2016 A New Proclamation for a New Generation
Gerard O’Neill
9781856356848
€ 14.99 | PB | 160pp
Mercier Press
Irish History | September 2010
About The Book
One of the most powerful legacies of the Easter Rising of 1916 is the Proclamation of Independence. Its words – ‘The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and all of its parts, cherishing all of the children of the nation equally …’ have resonated down through the years. But how relevant is a document drafted at the start of the twentieth century to Ireland in the twenty-first century? Ireland in 2016 will be a very different country to Ireland in 1916, but not everything will have changed. The 2016 Proclamation explores the relevance of the original proclamation to Ireland today and invites the reader to determine what they would want to proclaim for Ireland and the Irish in the years ahead. It asks the question: if we had to write it, what would the 2016 Proclamation say?
Hidden Belfast: Benevolence, Blackguards and Balloon Heads
Raymond O’Regan
9781856356893
€19.99 | HB | 256pp
Mercier Press
Irish History | September 2010
About The Book
Hidden Belfast highlights some of the unique and quirky elements of the city’s past, and tells the stories of some fascinating rogues and scoundrels that history has overlooked. Discover the intriguing stories behind characters like Bruce Ismay, (Managing Director of the White Star Line, who ordered Harland and Wolff to reduce the number of lifeboats on the Titanic from 48 to 16 because additional lifeboats would obscure the view of the first-class passengers), the infamous Sir Edward May and his equally infamous son-in-law (the second Marquis of Donegall, who had a reputation of not paying his bills and became known as ‘Lord Done ‘em all’) and Waddell Cunningham who in 1786 attempted to set up a Belfast Slaveship Company). Other tales include well-known figures who are associated with Belfast like The Duke of Wellington, Dean Jonathan Swift, Anthony Trollope, James Sheridan Knowles, Sir John Soane (Architect of the Bank of England), James Murray (discoverer of Milk of Magnesia), Dunlop (inventor of the pneumatic tyre), Litvinov (Stalin’s Foreign Minister) and Chaim Herzog (the longest serving President of Israel). Their stories show Belfast to have been a place of learning and radical views, especially in the Nineteenth Century when it embraced the industrial revolution and became a world leader in shipbuilding, linen and cigarettes.
Medieval Dublin X
Seán Duffy
9781846822216
€24.95 | PB | 328pp
9781846822209
€50.00 | HB | 328pp
Four Courts Press
Irish History | September 2010
About The Book
This 10th volume of proceedings of the annual Friends of Medieval Dublin Symposium contains reports on recent archaeological excavations: Sinéad Phelan found evidence for Hiberno-Norse activity on Hammond Lane; Giles Dawkes discusses his excavations at Church Street and May Lane; Alan Hayden relays his findings from a dig on the site of a late-medieval mill in St Augustine’s Street; and Edmund O’Donovan’s excavation at St Nahi’s church in Dundrum revealed a series of fortified enclosures around the early monastic foundation. Other papers include Stephen Harrison’s fresh look at a furnished Viking grave discovered in Bride Street in the 19th century. Historical perspectives on the medieval city and county are provided by Áine Foley’s essay on crime in the royal manors of medieval Dublin (Crumlin, Esker, Saggart and Newcastle Lyons) in the early 14th century. Sparky Booker identifies a perhaps surprising level of Gaelicization in 15th-century Dublin. Clare Downham focuses on historical records relating to Viking bases in 9th-century Ireland. The volume concludes with a hitherto unpublished essay by the late Professor A.J. Otway-Ruthven on the town in medieval Ireland.
Murder At Shandy Hall
Michael Sheridan
9781842234396
€ 15.99 | TPB | pp
Poolbeg
Irish History | September 2010
About The Book
Against a tranquil rural backdrop – the sleepy County Cork village of Dripsey near Coachford – a sensational Victorian murder is played out with a potent mix of love, lust, betrayal, and ultimately naked hatred. The entry of a young and beautiful governess into Shandy Hall, the home of a retired British Army surgeon Dr Philip Cross, acts as a catalyst for an act of horror that prompts suspicion, an exhumation, an inquest, and a charged courtroom drama that grabs newspaper headlines all over the world.
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The eighteenth-century Dublin town house
Christine Casey
9781846821875
€45.00 | HB | 312pp
Four Courts Press
Irish History | September 2010
About The Book
In the 18th century Dublin grew spectacularly; in the last quarter of a century, understanding of that growth has increased enormously. This book brings together a range of perspectives on the subject of the 18th-century Dublin town house, illuminating the political, economic and cultural activities of Dubliners, the resulting physical growth of the city and changing architectural manifestations. Some of the studies focus on questions of style and technique; others seek to relate the places in which people lodge to the lives they passed in them. The essays draw on an impressive variety of sources including archaeological investigations of sites and documentary evidence such as maps, leases, and family correspondence.
The Dublin region in the Middle Ages Settlement, land-use and economy
Margaret/Michael Murphy/Potterton
9781846822667
€50.00 | HB | 608pp
Four Courts Press
Irish History | September 2010
About The Book
This is the first major publication of the Discovery Programme’s Medieval Rural Settlement Project. The book is a study of the medieval region that contained and was defined by the presence of Ireland’s largest nucleated settlement. Combining documentary and archaeological data this volume explores the primary settlement features of the hinterland area (all of Co. Dublin and large parts of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow), including defensive monuments, manors, the church and the Pale. It examines the way s in which resources of the region were managed and exploited to produce food, fuel and raw materials for both town and country, and investigates the processing of the raw materials for human consumption. Then as now, the city profoundly affected its surrounding area through its demands for resources and through the ownership of land by Dubliners (ecclesiastics and lay) and the control of trade by city merchants. In addition to presenting a timely examination of urban-rural interaction, the volume contributes to wider debates on topics such as settlement landscapes, the role of lordship and the productivity of agriculture.
The Greatest Bleeding Hearts Racket in the World: Irish Hospitals Sweepstake
Damien Corless
9780717146697
16.99 | PB | 256pp
Gill & Macmillan
Irish History | September 2010
About The Book
This is a tale of greed, adventure, fraud and intrigue spanning decades. It’s one of the twentieth century’s boldest success stories and one of its most brazen scandals. And now it’s almost forgotten. Only the term ‘Irish Sweeps’ lingers, part of North American folk memory, unthinkingly used today as a by-word for ‘hitting the jackpot’. The Sweeps provided a plotline for Hollywood movies, Broadway musicals and classic TV shows. Now, The Greatest Bleeding Hearts Racket in the World tells the whole story. It is a terrific read.
A Pint And A Haircut
Garret Pearse
9781907535161
€ 12.99 | PB | pp
Londubh Books
Memoir | September 2010
About The Book
All Irish people have at least one good story to tell – A Pint and a Haircut is the proof of that. The collection takes its title from a story provided by James Smith from Cavan, whose father’s pub provided not just pints to local farmers on their way home from the creamery but haircuts – courtesy of an enterprising customer. Garret Pearse’s own story dates from an internship with Guinness. But not all the stories concern – or even mention – the demon drink. There are sad stories and happy stories, funny stories and hopeful ones and quirky ones.
Heaps of Trouble
Emelyn Heaps
9781848890411
€ 12.99 | PB | 256pp
The Collins Press
Memoir | September 2010
About The Book
Set against the lively backdrop of Everybody’s toyshop in Inchicore in Dublin, one word sums it up: trouble. But this vivid depiction of boyhood in the 1950s and 1960s, his parents mostly at loggerheads, especially his alcoholic father, as they bounced from sobriety to drunkenness, is never bitter. Emelyn does not ‘look back in anger’. Early schooldays at infamous Golden Bridge Convent, injured at age ten in an explosion, which kills his beloved only sister, and going to court in search of ‘Compo’, are in turn distressing, sad and hilarious. Grief has its consolation when compo is in the offing. Description of this tragedy turning the family upside down is unflinching while mischief as a streetwise gurrier during his years at CUS School is wonderfully madcap. From the start to the heart-stopping finish after a summer working in St James Hospital, we are drawn into his triumphs and disasters with laughter and sadness never far away. And then there is a love story.
Medical Maverick
Risteárd Mulcahy
9781907593024
€ 19.99 | PB | 320pp
9781907593079
€ 25.00 | HB | 320pp
Liberties Press
Memoir | September 2010
About The Book
Autobiography of one of the most renowned and groundbreaking physicians Ireland has ever produced, Risteárd Mulcahy – internationally-renowned cardiologist and health campaigner, researcher, historian, exercise enthusiast and environmentalist. Medical Maverick offers a unique and often surprising insight into the rich, varied and extraordinary life of one of the most prominent, respected and outspoken medical men in Ireland.
The Lamp And The Lullaby
Bill Long
9781848400726
€ 15.99 | PB | 224pp
New Island
Memoir | September 2010
About The Book
Ireland’s longest-surviving recipient of a heart transplant, Bill Long has been, at various times: in the British Navy, a journalist, a cyclist, a public relations officer, a ‘serious’ writer, a broadcaster and documentary-maker. He has made over 200 contributions to RTÉ’s Sunday Miscellany programme.
The Long Road Home
Mary Lynch
9781907535086
€ 15.99 | PB | 224pp
Londubh Books
Memoir | September 2010
About The Book
The Long Road Home is the story of Mary Lynch’s journey back to acknowledging the pain and terror of her youthful experiences in what was effectively a war zone. Only then could she heal and move on. At another level, this book is about healing the pain of a nation by acknowledging its sense of abandonment and loss. Anyone who has ever suffered trauma will recognise and take solace from Mary’s inspiring story.
Bust: How the Courts Have Exposed the Rotten Heart of the Irish Economy
Dearbhail McDonald
9781844882359
€ 17.99 | TPB | 274pp
Penguin Ireland
Politics | September 2010
About The Book
When, after fifteen years of runaway growth based largely on property speculation, the Irish economy finally crashed, the main villains – Ireland’s bankers and developers – tried to keep themselves out of sight. But they couldn’t keep themselves out of court – and it is in the courtrooms that the full, sickening drama of the Irish meltdown is being played out.
Scandal Nation: Key Events That Shook And Shaped Ireland
Michael Clifford/Shane Coleman
9781444712605
£ 13.99 | TPB | pp
Hachette Ireland
Politics | September 2010
About The Book
We are where we are has become one of the great truisms of the current crisis facing the country. But how did we get here and can an inspection of the roots of our modern failings – of government, state agencies and church – help us to pave a way forward?
Scandal Nation argues the case as it analyses twelve key events since the foundation of the Irish state that shaped us as a nation. It examines the culture within which these events occurred, how they unfolded and their impact on what followed
Penguin Book of Irish Poetry
Edited by Patrick Crotty
9780141439457
€ 50.00 | HB | 1120pp
Penguin Classics
Non-fiction | September 2010
About The Book
The definitive anthology of Ireland’s astonishing 1500-year poetic legacy. The Penguin Book of Irish Verse features the work of three Nobel laureates – W. B. Yeats, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney – as well as Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, Thomas Moore, Patrick Kavanagh, Louis MacNeice, Eavan Boland and James Joyce. It also includes epigrams, traditional verses and Old Irish songs, with 250 new English translations by the greatest poets currently working, including Seamus Heaney and Ciarán Carson.
The Kingdom
Joe O’Mahony
9780717146673
€ 16.99 | PB | 320pp
Gill & Macmillan
Sport | September 2010
About The Book
Celebrate Kerry football in all its glory with this fantastic book.
Kerry is the football county. Winner of more All-Ireland titles than any other. It has never failed to win the Championship in any decade since the start of the twentieth century. Joe O’Mahony’s book traces the history of the game in the Kingdom from its earliest origins, and explains why it has an almost religious hold over Kerry people.
The Holy Spirit in the Fathers of the Church
Vincent Twomey/Janet Rutherford
9781846822551
€50.00 | HB | 240pp
Four Courts Press
Theology | September 2010
About The Book
This volume contains the proceedings of the Seventh International Maynooth Patristic Conference held in 2008. Contents include: The Holy Spirit in the theology of Irenaeus; Cyril of Jerusalem on the Holy Spirit; Didymus the Blind’s de Spiritu Sancto and the development of Nicene pneumatology; St Augustine on the place of the Holy Spirit in the formation of the Gospels; The Holy Spirit in St Fulgentius of Ruspe’s Ad Moninum; The Holy Spirit in Isaac of Ninevah and East Syrian Mysticism; The Holy Spirit in the ecclesiology of Photios of Constantinople; Three modern ‘fathers’ on the filioque: good, bad, or indifferent?; The Holy Spirit and the Marian typology of St Ambrose at Vatican II.
West Cork: A Place Apart
Jo Kerrigan/Richard Mills
9781847171665
€24.99 | HB | 160pp
O’Brien Press
Travel | September 2010
About The Book
A thoughtful, deeply felt invitation to sample the splendours of West Cork for local and visitor alike.
A world of stunning landscapes, craggy cliffs, colourful villages, wild bogland, glorious harbours, fabulous beaches, rocky mountains, West Cork stands apart as one of the most desirable places to live, work, visit.
Prim Improper
Deirdre Sullivan
9781848409484
€7.99 | PB | 250pp
Little Island
Young Adult | September 2010
About The Book
Beyond the fence everything is dark, but in here is our own lit-up world. Just me and Flight. Our breath snakes into the night like the aftermath of a firework.’
The only riding fifteen-year-old Declan has ever done is joyriding. When he’s forced to stay with his snobby cousin ‘Princess’ Vicky, he’s shocked to find himself falling in love with horses. Vicky would do anything to keep Declan out of her already perfect life and away from her precious showjumper, Flight, no matter who gets hurt…
Taking Flight
Sheena Wilkinson
9781848409491
€9.99 | PB | 320pp
Little Island
Young Adult | September 2010
About The Book
Beyond the fence everything is dark, but in here is our own lit-up world. Just me and Flight. Our breath snakes into the night like the aftermath of a firework.’
The only riding fifteen-year-old Declan has ever done is joyriding. When he’s forced to stay with his snobby cousin ‘Princess’ Vicky, he’s shocked to find himself falling in love with horses. Vicky would do anything to keep Declan out of her already perfect life and away from her precious showjumper, Flight, no matter who gets hurt…
The Rebel price
Celine Kiernan
9781847171122
€ 10.99 | TPB | 320pp
O’Brien Press
Young Adult | September 2010
About The Book
After a joyful reunion, it seems that the years of war have left their scars on brothers Alberon and Razi, and it’s not long before their differences come between them.
Alberon is determined to protect the Kingdom by strength rather than diplomacy. He proudly reveals his great hope – Lorcan Moorehawke’s ‘Bloody Machine’. But Razi fears the Machine will rot the Kingdom’s soul and undo all the good that their father has achieved in his short reign.
Hachette stay at number one with their John Giles autobiography. Tubridy’s JFK in Ireland had a rebound this week but the surprise package for me is One Day by David Nicholls which seems to have come from nowhere to number five, that can only be on the back of his winning the Popular Fiction Book of the Year award at the Galaxy National Book Awards, but the awards did not get a huge amount of media attention in Ireland, so in store promotion and word of mouth must be having an impact here.
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