A new anatomy of Ireland: the Irish Protestants, 1649–1770

Toby Barnard (Yale University Press, 344.40) ISBN 0300096690 Irish Protestant ascents and descents, 1641–1770 Toby Barnard (Four Courts Press, 355) ISBN 1851826939   The preface of A new anatomy of Ireland mentions the works of other historians with the startling statement that ‘anyone keen to know what happened in Ireland between 1659 and 1800 should … Read more

W.B. Yeats: a life. Volume II: The arch-poet 1915-1939

R.F. Foster (Oxford University Press, 344.40) ISBN 0198184654   W.B. Yeats: vain, glorious, lout: a maker of modern Ireland Anthony J. Jordan (Westport Books, 313) ISBN 0952444720   ‘The work is done,’ grown old he thought, ‘According to my boyish plan; Let the fools rage, I swerved in naught, Something to perfection brought’; But louder … Read more

Bookworm

George Orwell once remarked that the best book to read while ill in bed is a dictionary. He would surely have approved, then, of the publication by Gill and Macmillan of the second edition of A New Dictionary of Irish History from 1800 (pp520, €29.99 pb, ISBN 0717125203). First published over twenty years ago, the … Read more

Believing in action: Concern the first thirty years, 1968–1998

Believing in action: Concern the first thirty years, 1968–1998 Tony Farmar (Concern, E14.99) ISBN 1 899047 81 6 There was a remarkably rapid mutation in twentieth-century Ireland’s relations with Africa, from its being a rich source of missionaries to being a secular champion of Africa in its times of need and a source of development … Read more