Coercive confinement in Ireland: patients, prisoners and penitents

Coercive confinement in Ireland: patients, prisoners and penitents Eoin O’Sullivan and Ian O’Donnell (Manchester University Press, £65) ISBN 9780719086489   Coercive confinement in Ireland puts the spotlight on the wide range of institutions used by independent Ireland to confine ordinary criminals and those who flouted the moral codes of the period, along with children and … Read more

Dublin Fire Brigade and the Irish Revolution

Dublin Fire Brigade and the Irish Revolution Las Fallon (South Dublin Libraries, €7.50) ISBN 9780956580481   Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) has a pivotal if unsung role in the history of the Troubles, 1916–23, and as the individual responsible for destroying one of the last artefacts from that time, I feel that I am particularly well … Read more

Bookworm

Bookworm came across a very interesting book recently: Roger Stalley (ed.), Irish Gothic architecture: construction, decay and reinvention (Wordwell, 230pp, £29.99pb, ISBN 9781905569700). The Gothic style arrived in Ireland in the thirteenth century, being primarily associated with ecclesiastical buildings. Naturally, this multi-authored book begins with the construction of cathedrals, before focusing on the medieval construction … Read more