In a new book, Ireland’s first ‘soul’ singer: the forgotten story of Mary Connolly, Eric Villiers has uncovered a long-lost piece of Ireland’s social and theatrical history. It’s a century-old tale brimming with the tragedies and successes in the life of an extraordinary street singer who swept to international fame in 1917. It has lain … Read more
Patrick M. Geoghegan (Gill and McMillan, E23.99) ISBN 0-7171-3387-7 Robert Emmet and the Rebellion of 1798 Ruán O’Donnell (Irish Academic Press, E59.50) ISBN 0-7165-2788-X Robert Emmet and the Rising of 1803 Ruán O’Donnell (Irish Academic Press, E27.50) ISBN 0-7165-2786-3 That Robert Emmet has been the subject of more than forty biographies is indeed incredible … Read more
Blood of the Isles: exploring the genetic roots of our tribal history Bryan Sykes (Bantam Press, £10.79) ISBN 0593056523From a historian’s point of view, this is initially a difficult book to get into. Sykes is a geneticist, not a historian; he writes in a personalised, conversational style and, in the opening chapters, talks a lot … Read more
Ireland since 1939: the persistence of conflict Henry Patterson (Penguin Ireland, ?37) ISBN 9781844881031 In this book Henry Patterson outlines the political and social developments of both states on the island of Ireland from the start of the Second World War to 2005. Over the past couple of decades numerous works of general Irish history, … Read more
All in the blood. A memoir of the Plunkett family, the 1916 Rising and the War of Independence by Geraldine Plunkett Dillon Honor Ó Brolcháin (ed.) (A. A. Farmar, E25) First, I have to declare an interest. Geraldine Plunkett Dillon was my grandmother. I grew up a few houses away from her; I knew her … Read more