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Read Ireland Book Reviews, June 1998
The Celtic Tiger:
Ireland’s Economic Miracle Explained by Paul Sweeney
The recent success of the Irish economy
has been nothing short of remarkable. In stark contrast to almost eighty
years of relative decline, Ireland today has one of the fastest growing
economies in the world. This growth has been sustained over a long period,
is well balanced and, according to most economists, is likely to continue
for the foreseeable future. How did this remarkable turnaround come about?
What were the factors and policies that led to this success story? Why
has the economic growth not done more to lower unemployment and alleviate
poverty? Will the economic boom continue into the 21st century? These
and other issues are addressed in this popular account of how Ireland
became the ‘Celtic Tiger’ economy of Europe. Written by an economist with
Ireland’s largest trade union, the book addresses the key factors that
led to the economic turnaround and takes a critical look at what might
yet go wrong. Though highly critical of the unsolved serious problems
of long-term unemployment and continuing widespread poverty, the author
argues that on balance the Irish miracle has been phenomenal and that
there are important lessons for policy-makers and others who need to understand
how an economy can be transformed in a relative short period of time.
Ireland at Work:
Economic Growth and the Labour Market, 1987-97 by Paul Tansey
This book charts the course of Ireland’s
remarkable renaissance at the end of the 20th century. In clear, accessible
and non-technical language, it shows how an economy teetering on the edge
of bankruptcy in the early 1980s was transformed into a star performer
by the late 1990s. The author devotes particular attention to the labour
market, where gains in employment have been so great that emigration has
ceased and the population has reached its highest level since the foundation
of the state. He then focuses on issues concerning pay, prices and taxes
to discover who has gained most from the economic boom. He argues persuasively
that if the economy is to keep expanding and jobs are to keep growing,
income taxes on low to average earners will have to be reduced. This book
makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the forces that
led to the transformation of the Irish economy.
Irish Writers’
Guide 1998-99 edited by Jeremy Addis and Shirley Kelly
The authoritative guide to the Irish
Literary Marketplace, expanded and thoroughly updated by the Books Ireland
editorial team. Contents include: Publishers by Marian Keyes, Theatre
by Bernard Farrell, Film and TV by Phillip Davison, Periodicals by David
Rice, Radio by Joe O’Donnell. It also contains chapters on: Writing and
the law, libel and copyright, publishing agreements, bursaries and awards,
and do-it-yourself publishing. Directories of periodicals and papers,
radio and television companies, book publishers, theatre companies, festivals
and summer schools
The Irish Wolfhound
by Linda Gover
The origins of the Irish Wolfhound
stretch so far back that it is almost a creature of legend. Folklore is
full of tales of the faithfulness of these great hounds during their long
association with man. In this book the author gives us their history in
depth, telling us of the very early times and how the breed was revived
in the last century, having all but disappeared. She also brings us up
to date with modern show history and gives us hints about such topics
as general care, breeding, showing, obedience and lure coursing. The author
has owned Irish Wolfhounds for 20 years under her Owenmore affix and,
although breeding only occasionally, she has make up several Irish champions.
She is licensed to judge Irish Wolfhounds and various other hound breeds
at championship level. Her love of the breed and her expertise are evident
throughout the book, which is a ‘must’ for anyone with in an interest
in Irish Wolfhounds.
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The Leenane
Trilogy by Martin McDonagh
The Beauty Queen of Leenane
Set in the mountains of Connemara,
this play tells the darkly comic tale of Maureen Folan, a plain and lonely
woman in her early 40s, and Mag, her manipulative ageing mother, whose
interference in Maureen’s first and possible final chance of a loving
relationship set in motion a train of events that leads inexorably towards
the play’s terrifying denouement.
The Cripple of Inishmaan
Set on a remote island off the west
coast of Ireland in 1934, this play is a strange comic tale. As word arrives
on Inishmaan that the Hollywood director Robert Flaherty is coming to
the neighbouring island of Inishmore to film Man of Aran, the one person
who wants to be in the film more than anybody is young Cripple Billy,
if only to break away from the bitter tedium of his daily life.
A Skull in Connemara
For one week each autumn, Mick Dowd is hired to disinter the bones in
certain sections of his local cemetery, to make way for the new arrivals.
As the time approaches for him to dig up those of his own late wife, strange
rumours regarding his involvement in her sudden death seven years ago
gradually begin to surface.
The Return Journey:
Stories by Maeve Binchy
In this extraordinary collection of short stories, Ireland’s best-selling
author once again reveals her incomparable understanding of matters of
the heart. In this book, Maeve Binchy brings us sons and lovers, daughters
and strangers, husbands and wives in their infinite variety powerfully
compelling stories of love, loss, revelation and reconciliation. A secretary’s
silent passion for her boss meets the acid test on a business trip A man
and woman’s mutual disdain at first sight shows how deceptive appearances
can be An insecure wife clings to the illusion of order, only to discover
chaos at the hands of a house sitter who opens the wrong doors A pair
of star-crossed travellers take each other’’ bags, and the learn that
when you unlock a stranger’s suitcase, you enter a stranger’s life. In
their company are many more, whose poignant, ironic, often humorous stories
unforgettable slices of life make up this book, a spellbinding trip into
the human heart.
This Year It Will Be Different
and other Stories by Maeve Binchy
This stunning collection of 15 stories
are filled with Maeve Binchy’s trademark wit, charm and sheer storytelling
genius. In ‘A Typical Irish Christmas,’ a grieving widower heads for a
holiday in Ireland and finds an unexpected destination not just for himself,
but for a father and daughter in crisis In ‘Pulling Together,’ a teacher
not yet out of her twenties sees her affair with a married man at a turning
point An in the title story a woman with a complacent husband and grown
children enters a season that will forever alter her life, and theirs
These stories and a dozen more powerfully evoke many lives from step-families
grappling with ex’s to children caught in grown-up tugs of war. The situations
are timeless and the author makes the reader care about the all.
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The Irish Kennedys:
the Story of the “Rebellious O’Kennedys” by Brian Patrick Kennedy
The Irish Kennedys have a recorded
history that goes back over 1000 years to the time when the first Kennedy
led his people from the front with sword and spear. The Irish Kennedys
held their ancestral lands in Tipperary for hundreds of years while a
succession of English conquerors tried to take = it from them. Although
they eventually succeeded in taking the lands, the English did not do
so without fierce resistance from the family the dubbed ‘The Rebellious
O’Kennedys.’ This book traces the story of the Kennedy family from their
beginnings as an obscure sect on the banks of the Shannon river, through
their rise to fame as the ‘Lords of Ormond,’ to their decline as the last
of the Gaelic Chieftains and to their dispersal around the world. It describes
how the author in far off Australia was able to trace his roots and establish
his connections with ‘The Rebellious O’Kennedys.’ The book brings to light
the determination and persistence of this remarkable family and explores
their territory, their forts and castles and their way of life as these
were interwoven with the larger canvas of Irish history.
A Tourist Guide
to Ireland by Liam O’Flaherty
First published in 1929, this book
is a masterful satire by one of Ireland’s greatest writers. ‘Welcome to
Ireland a gloriously uncivilised land maintained in its virgin state by
those four mighty pillars of society: the parish priest, the politician,
the peasant and the publican. The waves of progress will never undermine
the sacred values upon which our great nation is founded. As long as these
bastions stand, Ireland’s glory is safe from the evils of modern civilisation.’
and so say all of us!
Celtic Myths and
Legends by Eoin Neeson
In this book the author delves into
the past and retells the stories of Celtic myth and legend with a directness
and simplicity which makes them refreshingly modern. The stories, with
plenty of intrigue, romance and excitement, have a literary merit and
a style and character of their own. Included in the extensive collection
are: The Children of Lir, The Wooing of Etain, Diarmuid and Grainne, The
Combat at the Ford, The Children of Tuireann, The Sickbed of Cuchulain
and Deidre and the Sons of Usna.
Not All At Sea
by George O’Brien Kennedy Frina
A Fellow of the Royal Institute of
Naval Architects, the author has enjoyed several distinguished careers
in Britain, India and his native Ireland. After apprenticeships in British
shipyards and aircraft manufacturers, Kennedy set up a boat design and
manufacturing business in England. He worked on naval craft during the
Second World War, after which he became a successful yacht and dinghy
designer in Britain. His next career was in Bombay where he was involved
with the design of tugs, harbour launches and fire fighting vessels. Kennedy
then returned to Ireland and the Shannon in 1960. He was the first to
see the potential of the Shannon for hire cruising and he ‘invented’ the
river as a popular tourist destination. He designed and built his own
fleet of hire cruisers, and also found time to design the Kerry class
of yacht, and compete in the Round Britain and Ireland race. Now in his
eighties, he is still involved in boat design at his home on the banks
of the Shannon.
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Ulysses: The Dublin
Edition
Ulysses, the summit of James Joyce’s artistic achievement and of twentieth-century
literature, represents a day - 16 June 1904 - in the life of Dublin and
its citizens. First published by Sylvia Beach of Shakespeare and Company
in Paris on Joyce’s fortieth birthday, 2 February 1922, Ulysses has been
dogged ever since by poor and misguided editions containing many hundreds
of errors - each a stain on Joyce’s canvas. On Bloomsday, 16 June 1997,
Joyce’s masterpiece, comprehensively edited by Danis Rose, was published
for the first time in the city it depicts. The Dublin Edition, published
by the Lilliput Press, is informed by a radical reappraisal of Joyce’s
writing of the book, as detailed in Rose’s fifty-page Introduction. Rose’s
approach, rooted in his unique knowledge of the manuscript record, has
been hailed by Michael Groden of “The James Joyce Archive” as ‘bold and
brilliant, confident and controversial’. Fritz Senn of the James Joyce
Foundation in Zurich, writes: ‘’I have found Danis Rose a devoted, conscientious
and scrupulous scholar - scrupulous according to his own strong principles.
These principles, whether I agree with them or not, tend to be independent,
autonomous, even radical, and often challenge assumptions that we have
commonly shared for a long time. That is one reason why I welcome a new
edition of “Ulysses” by Danis Rose. The Dublin Edition, like its great
original in Paris in 1922 and the first Bodley Head London edition of
1936, is being issued by The Lilliput Press in a limitation edition of
1000 numbered copies. Numbers 1 to 100 will be signed by the editor and
by John Banville, Ireland’s leading novelist, who is furnishing a Foreword
to the work. The deluxe edition will be bound in quarter Chieftain goatskin,
blind embossed and blocked in gold, with the top edge gilt, all in a buckram
slipcase; the limitation leaf is to be printed on Arches, a handmade rag
paper from the same mill in France which supplied Darantiere of Dijon,
printer of the first edition. Numbers 101 to 1000 will be specially clothbound
with label and papercard slipcase. The whole will be typeset in Sabon,
printed on acid-free paper, rounded and backed, with ribbon marker and
head- and tail-bands.
A Monk Swimming
by Malachy McCourt
This book of memoirs and tales builds
on the story of the early life of the McCourt family of Limerick so dazzlingly
told in Angela’s Ashes by his brother Frank. In 1952, travelling steerage,
Malachy McCourt left a childhood of poverty in Limerick, Ireland, heading
for the promise of America. This is the story of what he brought with
him, and what he thought he left behind. Armed with savage humour and
a gift for storytelling, fuelled by rage and the desire never to go hungry
again, he ran from memories of a drunken, vanished father and the humiliations
of Angela, his mother. He arrived in New York reminiscent of a Damon Runyon
saga a dark, glittering place, with saloons on every corner, and a new
story waiting every night. Larger than life, a world class drinker, McCourt
carved out a place for himself: in the saloons, as the first celebrity
bartender, mixing with socialites, writers, and movie stars; on stage,
performing the works of James Joyce and Brendan Behan; and on television,
where the tales he spun made him a Tonight Show regular. He had money
and women and, eventually, children of his own; and that’s when he found
he had not left his memories as far behind as he had thought. From the
notorious Tombs prison of New York City, to poolside arrests in Beverly
Hills; in the company of gold-smugglers in Zurich and whores in Calcutta;
from Paris, to Rome, and to Limerick once more, McCourt fled again, until
he had no choice but to stop and turn and face his past. Darkly funny,
shockingly raw, and everywhere making the English language do tricks the
British never intended, Malachy McCourt, a true original, tell his story
with passion, with, irreverence and charm.
Curious Journey:
An Oral History of Ireland’s Unfinished Revolution by Kenneth Griffith
and Timothy O’Grady
This book is the story of the revolutionary
first 25-years of this century told by the people who participated in
the 1916 uprising and subsequent civil war. The authors interviewed nine
veterans Tom Barry, Maire Comerford, Sean Harling, Sean Kavanagh, David
Neligan, John L. O’Sullivan, Joseph Sweeney, Brighid Lyons Thornton and
Martin Walton. They tell with vividness, humour and sometimes shocking
clarity the dramatic stories of their growing political consciousness.
They speak frankly about the battles and escapes and their work with Pearse,
Connolly, Michael Collins and other great figures of their time. These
interviews illustrate the exhilaration and heartbreak experienced by those
portrayed in the book and outlines their hopes for the future of the country.
This book presents history as it was lived.
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Michael Collins
and the Making of the Irish State edited by Gabriel Doherty and Dermot
Keogh
Michael Collins was one of the most
important leaders of his age in Irish history. He has generally been portrayed
in writing and film as a revolutionary guerrilla leader, a military tactician
and a figure of great personal charm, courage and ingenuity. This collection
of essays challenges that over-simplified view. It is a professional evaluation
of Michael Collins and his contribution to the making of the Irish state,
which brings to light his multifaceted and complex character. With contributions
from many of the leading historians working in the field, and written
in an accessible style, the essays make full use of archival material
and provide new findings and insights into the life and times of the man.
The contributors examine Collins as Minister for Finance, his role in
intelligence, his policy towards the north, his career as Commander-in-Chief,
the origins of the Civil War, his relationship with De Valera and how
academics view his place in Irish history. The collection also includes
two personal memoirs by Fr. Gearoaid O’Sullivan and Margot Gearty, nephew
and niece of Kitty Kiernan, on Collins and the Kiernans of Granard, County
Longford. Both shed new light on Kitty and her remarkable sisters. These
essays are an important contribution to an understanding of 20th century
Ireland.
Dublin Monuments
by Elizabeth Healy
Dublin’s monuments reflect Ireland’s
history, its choice of heroes, heroines and events to commemorate, its
changing face. From Parnell Square through O’Connell Street, to College
Green, Merrion Square, St Stephen’s Green and along the Canals, the author
conducts a tour of the memorials, statues and corporate are that adorn
the streets, squares and gardens of Ireland’s capital.
The River Gods by Elizabeth Healy
Bann, Barrow, Blackwater, Boyne, Erne,
Foyle, Lagan, Lee, Liffey, Nore, Slaney, Shannon and Suir long celebrated
in story and song, Ireland’s rivers, together with the Atlantic Ocean,
have also been immortalised in stone. Known as the River Gods, the fine
sculptures by Edward Smyth decorate the arches of James Gandon’s Custom
House in Dublin. From the mighty Shannon to Cork’s noble Lee, the author
describes each river’s unique personality, along with the fascinating
history behind the Custom House itself.
The Irish Harp
Emblem by Seamus O Brogain
From the obscurity of the 13th century
to the present day, the true history of the Irish harp emblem has often
been concealed in myth. One of the oldest and most distinctive national
emblems in the world, the harp device has been promoted by such diverse
figures as King Henry VIII and Eoghan Rua O Neill. With its distinctive
shape, the harp has been the most characteristic musical instrument of
Ireland from about the 11th century. Now the familiar badge of the Irish
state, the story of the emblem is told here for the first time.
Irish Wolfhound
by Muriel Monsell Bremner
In a land of legend and lore, of mystery
and myth, no other creature plays a greater part in these stories than
the Irish Wolfhound. Renowned for his strength, and famed for his courage,
this gentle giant is also cherished for his courage, this gentle giant
is also cherished for his sensitivity and loyalty. The author provides
a treasure trove of all the things you ever wanted to know about this
great dog’s close identity with Irish history along with lots of interesting
things you never thought to ask.
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The Committee:
Political Assassination in Northern Ireland by Sean McPhilemy
In 1991 Sean McPhilemy produced ‘The Committee,’ a sensational documentary
for British television that revealed that a group in Northern Ireland
drawn from the Unionist members of the business community, Protestant
clergy, the police force (The Royal Ulster Constabulary), and the British
security forces was systematically colluding with Loyalist terrorists
to murder Irish Republicans and other Irish Nationalists. The documentary
contained exclusive firsthand testimony of a member of the Loyalist committee
responsible for the murders. This source provided a detailed account of
how various assassinations had been planned and carried out. The broadcast
of the television programme resulted in highly publicised legal proceedings
in the High Court in London when the British Conservative government tried
unsuccessfully to force the program makers to identify their source. Since
the broadcast of his documentary, McPhilemy has struggled to protect his
reputation in the face of various legal actions against him over the programme.
Harassed by British authorities and his life threatened, he has brought
libel actions against two newspapers in London that sought to discredit
him, and thus far has won one of these actions. This book gives a full
account of the murder conspiracy, the making of the documentary, the subsequent
legal proceedings, and even more importantly, additional evidence that
substantiates the original allegations. In the meantime, the Committee
allegedly continues to operate with impunity and Loyalist terrorists carry
on the killing. One of Ireland’s most highly-regarded and widely-respected
political writers, Tim Pat Coogan has said of this book: ‘This is one
of the most important books to emerge from the Northern Ireland conflict.
It disproves the myth that the violence emanates largely from Nationalists,
and names leading figures in the Unionist community who operate loyalist
death squads. These murder gangs are part of a carefully orchestrated
counter-insurgency plot aimed at terrifying the Nationalist community
into abandoning the entire struggle for human rights. McPhilemy’s book
is a ‘must’ for anyone concerned about the Irish situation.’
Breakfast on Pluto
by Eugene McCabe
“Although I’m afraid I don’t get too many clients these days! I can just
imagine the reaction of my old acquaintances if they saw me now, sitting
here in my silly old coat and headscarf off out that door and down the
Kilburn High Road with the lot of them, no doubt! Still, no point in complaining
after all, every beauty has to lose her looks sometime and if the gold-digging
days of poor old darling poo poo puss are gone for ever, well then, so
be it. I ain’t gonna let it bother me, girls!” This novel is a horrifying,
intensely disturbing and brilliantly funny novel, a ride from the depths
of personal despiar and fear to the heights of sordid glamour. Patrick
‘Pussy’ Braden, resplendent in housecoat and headscarf, sits in Kilburn,
writing his story, ‘The Life and Times of Patrick Braden’, for Dr. Terence,
his elusive psychiatrist, reawakening the truth behind his life in Ireland
and the chaos of his days in a city filled with tragedy. Twenty years
ago he escaped Tyreelin, his hometown, fleeing his drunken foster mother,
‘Whiskers’ Braden, and her shambolic realm a house overcrowded with sticky
children and empty stout bottles to forget the horrors of his childhood
and begin a new life in London. There he plies his trade in his blouson
tops and milkmaid maxis, often risking his life amongst the flotsam and
jetsam that fill the pubs of Piccadilly Circus. But the sharply dressed
businessmen and the lonely old women are not the only dangers that threaten
Pussy’s existence. It is the 1970s and violence and fear haunt the streets
of London and Belfast as Pussy’s nights of Dusty Springfield wigs and
glittered stockings are invaded by the horror of a conflict he cannot
avoid. In this novel, the author recreates those feral times, describing,
with fearsome exactitude and breathtaking insight, the violence that lies
at the heart of the twentieth century. Patrick McCabe was born in Clones,
County Monaghan, in 1955. He has published a children’s story, The Adventures
of Shay Mouse, and four other adult novels: Music on Clinton Street (1986),
Carn (1989), The Butcher Boy (1992) which was the winner of the Irish
Times/Aer Lingus Literature Prize and was shortlisted for the UK’s Booker
Prize, and The Dead School (1995). His play, Frank Pig Says Hello, based
on The Butcher Boy, was first performed at the Dublin Festival in 1992,
and he co-write the screenplay for Neil Jordan’s highly acclaimed film
of the Butcher Boy. He currently lives in Sligo.
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