Bookworm

Judging by our letters pages, Seán South of Garryowen continues to excite interest amongst our readers. Des Fogarty’s Seán South of Garryowen (A.K. Ilen Company, 141pp, e24 pb, ISBN 9780954791520), while adding little to our knowledge of the Brookeborough raid itself, is particularly strong on South’s early career and childhood. South’s conservatism was very much … Read more

Catholic Reformation in Ireland: The Mission of Rinuccini 1645–1649

Tadhg Ó hAnnracháin (Oxford University Press, £48) ISBN 0 19820891X The last 30 years have been exciting ones in the religioushistoriography of Ireland. After a century or more of a highlypolemical approach to religious history, Irish scholars have beenquestioning the interpretation of the past and offering a revisionistapproach to many aspects of this topic. There … Read more

Robert Emmet: the making of a legend

Marianne Elliott (Profile, £20) ISBN 1861976437 Remember Emmet: images of the life and legacy of Robert Emmet Ruán O’Donnell (Wordwell Books, E15) ISBN 1869857593 The publication of Marianne Elliott’s Partners in Revolution, in 1982, not only established her reputation as a fine historian but also changed the way in which all subsequent histories would examine … Read more

The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing Volumes IV and V: Irish Women’s Writing and Traditions

Angela Bourke, Siobhán Kilfeather, Maria Luddy, Margaret Mac Curtain, Gerardine Meaney, Mairín Ní Dhonnchadha, Mary O’Dowd and Clair Wills (eds) (Cork University Press, E299) ISBN 185918281X It must be rare for a reviewer to admit at the beginning of a review that she has not read all of the material to be assessed. Weighing in … Read more

Sir Roger Casement’s Heart of Darkness: the 1911 documents

Angus Mitchell (Irish Manuscripts Commission, E24.50) ISBN 1874280983 Casement Angus Mitchell (Haus, £8.99) ISBN 1904341411 Roger Casement: the Black Diaries with a study of his background, sexuality and Irish political life Jeffrey Dudgeon (Belfast Press, £25) ISBN 0953928721 Most of the documents—official and unofficial letters, extended accounts for the Foreign Office supplemented by notes, annotations … Read more