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One of Ireland''s most incisive and provocati ve commentators, Fintan O''Toole explores the new images that are taking the place of the old nationalist folklore. ' ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Ex Isle of Erin
If you want to know about the recent history of Eire during the 1990's then this is the book for you. Fintan O'Toole is one of Ireland's leading intellectuals and his insights here are incisive and unambiguous. He brings a clarity to matters that I really appreciate, particularly stating in the introduction that the Irish now, as a whole, are more akin to their protestant neighbours than they care to admit.

An Island Unmoored
Fintan O'Toole can find a pulse. He also knows what's hiding in the closet, or under the bed, or up a hole. For sheer diagnostic brilliance, the self-professed "lugubrious and cynical" essayist has no equal in observing Ireland's wild cavorting with the planet.Stock images of the Irish, he contends, have been utterly blown tosmithereens as contemporary Ireland has undergone a radical transformation, the result of an economic boom and scandals within the Catholic church which have permanently eroded its grip upon the Irish people.O'Toole suggests that exposure to a wider world has given the once isolated island much needed flavor but has in turn reduced its cultural distinctiveness. The certainties of Eamonn de Valera's rural idyll, the failed attempt to counter an urban, markedly Protestant ethos, have succumbed to a new heterogeneous reality. That in itself is no astounding insight. What's remarkable is O'Toole's deft handling of modern Irish history and his own personal reminiscences to demonstrate this profound change. Every essay in this fine collection ends with a sentence like a pebble sending ripples out throgh the pool of Ireland's past and present. ... Read more

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An introduction to the geography, history, economy, culture, and people of Ireland. ... Read more

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This book studies the careers and political thinking of English martial men, left deeply frustrated as Elizabeth I's quietist foreign policy destroyed the ambitions that the wars of the mid-sixteenth century had excited in them. Until the mid 1580s, unemployment, official disparagement and downward mobility became grim facts of life for many military captains. Rory Rapple examines the experiences and attitudes of this generation of officers and points to a previously overlooked literature of complaint that offered a stinging critique of the monarch and the administration of Sir William Cecil. He also argues that the captains' actions in Ireland, their treatment of its inhabitants and their conceptualisation of both relied on assumptions, attitudes and political thinking which resulted more from their frustration with the status quo in England than any tendency to 'other' the Irish. This book will be required reading for scholars of early modern British and Irish history. ... Read more

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This book deals with religious cultures in all parts of the British Isles in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It is an exercise in comparative history, and also shows that religion was linked with other frameworks within which people found meaning and identity, including politics, national aspiration and cultural expression. Hempton's main purpose is to show that religion, in its various denominational forms, helped to unite Britain and operated as a convenient vehicle for the expression of national and regional distinctiveness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Less Than Comical History Lesson
This is as close to a multi-media experience as you will find in a book. The authors use text, comics, photos and reproductions of art to tell the hard and heroic history of the Irish people. The comic or picture format, which usually provides a good medium for communication and teaching, here seems a detriment rather than an asset. The layout of the pictures and text on the page really chop the material up so at times you are not sure what to read next. The history itself jumps forward very quickly both in time and with characters and everything is touched on with such a brief overview that I found it very hard, not only to keep up, but also to retain what I had just read. Being a die hard comic fan, I thought this would be a great way to digest the highlights of Irish history. Instead I got frusterated and bogged down quickly with the format. Maybe this is the way some folks assimilate historical information, but with names, dates and events flying around in such a random pattern on the page, I don't think I got very much out of this sensory assault. Clever idea, bad execution.

An excellant introduction to Irish history.
"Ireland for Beginners" is a wonderful introduction to the history of Ireland.
I have used it almost exclusively to intriduce my friends and acquaintances to the roots of the present day Irish troubles.
.Written in a comic book format, it is a quick read yet covers all of the salient points required to develop an understanding.

I reccomend it for anyone interested in clarifying the present situation in Northen Ireland for themselves, or for their non - Irish friends.

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If language and culture are intimately connected, then cultures involving people who speak more than one language must have special characteristics, as well as particular social issues to negotiate. What are the challenges faced by a people with two or more languages as their heritage? How does that multiple heritage affect cultural forms, including literature and the arts? How does linguistic difference influence the conceptualization and writing of history? And if the meeting of languages within a people has involved contestation and power, how are those conflicts negotiated?

This volume uses the tools of critical theory to explore such questions with respect to the complex, multilingual history of Ireland. Avoiding the simplistic polarized oppositions popular with cultural nationalists, the contributors examine the nexus of language, tradition, and authority in Ireland that has created such a rich, multivalent culture.

Although the linguistic interface of Irish and English has dominated cultural negotiations in Ireland over the last five hundred years, the island has an even longer history of linguistic and cultural exchange. Arguing that tradition is never static, the essays in this volume challenge the concept of a monolithic cultural origin, while insisting on the importance of inherited discourses in the continuity of culture through time and across linguistic difference. The chapters cover a broad range of topics from early Irish narratives and Latin hagiography to literary works by such writers as Yeats, Joyce, Friel, Montague, and McGahern, as well as other cultural forms, including traditional Irish music. Several chapters address issues of politics and power, from the role of interpreters in the relations between linguistic communities in Ireland to the politicization of language in Northern Ireland since the 1980s. Taken together, the essays illuminate scholarly domains as varied as postcolonial theory, the relationship between language and nation, the nature of tradition, and Irish literature of all periods.

In addition to the editors, contributors include Michael Cronin, Joanne Findon, Helen Fulton, Declan Kiberd, Jeremy Lowe, Gordon McCoy and Camille O’Reilly, Catherine McKenna, Cóilín Owens, Thomas Dillon Redshaw, and Sally K. Sommers Smith. ... Read more

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While women in modern Western society have spent the last century fighting for equal rights, women in ancient Ireland were accorded legal equality with men. Under the Brehon Laws women had the right to own property, rule territories, seek an education, and sue for divorce. Celtic women were also warriors, frequently taking up arms and marching into battle with their brothers and husbands.

Perhaps the unrestrained heritage of Irish women accounts for their passionate, fiery spirit. Inheriting more than fair skin and auburn tresses from their Celtic ancestors, indeed, Irish women descend from a long line of gaelic heroines whose love, fury, greed, and patriotism moved governments and changed history. Filled with true stories told in a fictional format, Ah, Those Irish Colleens! presents the incredible lives of more than a dozen Irish women of prominence or fame, including:

• Deirdre of the Sorrows, whom a druid predicted would grow into a beautiful woman but would be the cause of much strife among men.

• Grace O’Malley, the famous pirate, seafarer, and trader in the 1500s who even at an early age aspired to be a sailor.

• Maire Rua O’Brien, Red Mary, known for both her red hair and her flaming temper, who, to save her beloved Lemanagh Castle, offered to marry one of Cromwell’s officers after Cromwell’s army had killed her husband.

• Mary O’Connor, the servant girl who stole the heart of poet William Pembroke Mulchinock and was immortalized in his poem "The Rose of Tralee."

• Kitty O’Shea, whose adulterous affair with Irish MP Charles Stewart Parnell, known as the "Uncrowned King," shocked proper society but is acknowledged as one of the greatest love stories of all time.

These stories and more demonstrate the complex character of Irish women from the time of the Brehons to the present. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Ah, Those Irish Colleens!!
Here is the books description from the publisher:

"Helen Walsh Folsom presents "Ah, Those Irish Colleens" as a collection of incredible stories describing the lives of more than a dozen Irish women of prominence or fame, including Deirdre of the Sorrows, Grace O'Malley, Marie Rue O'Brien, Mary O'Connor. Kitty O'Shea and more.

Irish women were behind the scenes of most of the great events in Irish history. Reading Folsom's book gives you the story behind their influences, with thirteen women who, for better or worse, helped mold the country's history."

These stories span the time from 122BC to 1953. Here are a few examples of the women featured in the book. Most had tragic lives but all had very productive and exciting lives..

The first irish colleen in this book was about Queen Mauve (122 BC ~AD 02) who was the Queen of Connaught (inherited from her father) in the western part of Ireland. One of the legends regarding her was called "Tain bo Cuailgne", The Cattle Raid of Cooley" where she gathered her warriors and went to her rival"s (her ex-husband who divorced her) land to steal cattle to help feed the poor on her lands.

Then there is Grace O'Malley (1530~1603), also called Gráinne Ní Mháille one of my favorites along with Boudicea who is not in this book, unfortunately . Grace O'Malley was a famous lady pirate, she also inherited from her father the business of pirating. Grace and her crew would sail the seas and plunder the Spanish ships they came across. Grace gave birth on board her ship and 6 days later met with Queen Elizabeth I. They were rivals, both being Queens, but they had a grudging respect for each other.

" Both Grace O'Malley and Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603. Two queens both rulers in parallel years over their domains. Grace was buried in the abbey she built on Clare Island and lives on still awestruck legends among the people of Connaught." quote from the book

Also in the book is the story of Maude Gonne (December 1866 - 27 April 1953) , good friend and lover of W.B. Yeats. They never married as she said that she would run his writing carreer, even though he proposed at least 4 times. She was an English born Irish revolutionary, famous actress, and feminist. She was involved in the the plight of evicted people in the Land Wars. She was also active in Home Rule activities.

There are ten more heroic women of Ireland, Kitty O'Shea and Bridget The Saint, to name a few depicted in this non-fiction book. The stories are written like they were fiction and very easy to read. I think after reading these stories I will want to read more about some of these wonderful strong women. I enjoyed the book a lot and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about Ireland and its legends and true stories of the turbulent times that all people of Ireland faced in some of the 'darker' times in Irish history.

Readable history
If you are interested in Irish history, this book is an easy way to get started. Each chapter, arranged chronologically, covers one woman's story of valor and ingenuity. Ranging from 122 BC to 1953 the stories give a great flow of history. Some women are more famous than others, all are Gaelic heroines in there own way. The reader needs to be prepared forviolence as the early years were quite intense. Each story becomes gripping as an adventure of its own.

Tis herself
A wonderful collection tales of the ladies of the Emerald Island fromfolklore and history. This is a great book to pick up and read a little bit at the time since each woman is written in a short story form.
Those who want to enrich their learning of the women, whether real or imagined,who contributed to the building of the Irish culture will find this a fascinating read.

Spunky Irish Lassies
I loved the book. Most all the women in the book show the Irish spunk. I also learned a bit of the history of Ireland. The history is a bit bloody but Im greatful that the author did not go into great detail with it. It also gave me a little understanding about their war. I would recommend this book to anyone, even the young. I am of Irish decent myself and love learning about where my ancestors came from.

fantastic
Contained within the pages of this book are the stories of thirteen legends of Irish history, all of them women.Each story comes to life, making the characters seem like real people, which of course they were.
Folsom's book takes us from early Irish history through events in the twentieth century, providing us with a look at many of the major events that took place on the island during those years- wars, revolutions, invasions, betrayals.
Not all the women are admirable in the deeds they performed, often being the cause of wars and great suffering. The sheer magnitude of lives lost during all these battles is astounding, whether they were full fledged wars or warfare between rival kings and chieftains.In those days women apparently were resigned to having their husbands and sons slaughtered.
What comes out of this book is the resiliency some of these women possessed, along with bravery in the face of insurmountable odds. Others were willing to defy societal norms to accomplish what they felt strongly about.
I absolutely loved this book. One of the best things about it is that you can read it a chapter at a time, and not feel like you have to read it straight through and lose track of what was going on. I would recommend having tissues nearby, for some of the stories are very sad.
It certainly cleared up misconceptions I had about Irish history, just hearing bits and pieces over the years. It isn't just a history lesson, however. It is a study of character, both good and evil.
I, for one, would certainly like to see a sequel. ... Read more

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This full-color gift edition presents an inspiring and fascinating work of Celtic spirituality.

Beginning with the ancient sun-oriented monuments of the megalithic age, Jakob Streit traces an unbroken spiritual culture in Ireland from the time of its stone circles and dolmens through the Celtic era and into the period of the early Christian stone crosses. He describes the amazing missionary zeal of monks such as Columba, who established Celtic Christianity throughout Europe during the Dark Ages, until it was suppressed by the Church of Rome during the eighth century.

Fully illustrated in color, this is a book to give and cherish. ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more