An Dúchas agus an domhan

An Dúchas agus an domhan Diarmuid Ó Giolláin (Cork University Press, E39) ISBN Ina leabhar ceannródaíoch Locating Irish Culture (2000), thóg Diarmuid Ó Giolláin chun léire na tuiscintí idé-eolaíochtúla a mhair laistiar d’fhorbairt choincheap an bhéaloidis ar mhór-roinn na hEorpa ó tosaíodh ag plé go comhfhiosach leis mar choincheap agus an t-ochtú haois déag ag … Read more

Noisy Island: a short history of Irish popular music

Noisy Island: a short history of Irish popular music Gerry Smyth (Cork University Press, E19.95) ISBN 1859183875 Did you ever have the feeling that many aspects of our lives would be better kept out of academic hands—and minds? This was my initial reaction as I waded through the introduction to Gerry Smyth’s Noisy Island. Rock … Read more

Ireland and the British Empire

Ireland and the British Empire Oxford History of the British Empire Companion Series Kevin Kenny (ed.) Oxford University Press, £30 ISBN 0199251835 Victoria’s Ireland Peter Gray (ed.) Four Courts Press, £55 ISBN 185 1 827587   Irish participation in empire is most commonly considered a paradox: another unnatural by-product of the malign influence of British … Read more

Politics and the Irish working class, 1830–1945

Politics and the Irish working class, 1830–1945 Fintan Lane and Donal Ó Drisceoil (eds) (Palgrave Macmillan,  £55) ISBN 1 40393179 The editors of this volume lay out their stall at the outset by attributing the failure of labour in politics to the traditional ‘three evil geniuses of socialism: the priest, peasant and patriot’. The wide-ranging … Read more

Ireland, Germany and the Nazis: politics and diplomacy, 1919–1939

Ireland, Germany and the Nazis:  politics and diplomacy, 1919–1939 Mervyn O’Driscoll (Four Courts Press, £55) ISBN 185 1 824804 Ireland, Europe and the Marshall Plan Till Geiger and Michael Kennedy (eds.) (Four Courts Press, £55) ISBN 185 1 825193   Mervyn O’Driscoll’s Ireland, Germany and the Nazis is a positive contribution to the existing corpus … Read more