Bookworm

While they say that the definition of a Corkman with an inferiority complex is one who believes that he is only as good as everyone else, the same, it would seem, applies to publications, especially in the wake of Cork’s year as European Capital of Culture. The Atlas of Cork City (Cork University Press, 465pp, … Read more

Museum Eye: Armagh County Museum

Armagh County Museum The Mall East, Armagh City acm.um@nics.gov.uk www.magni.org.uk Mon.–Fri. 10am–5pm, Sat. 10am–1pm, 2–5pm by Tony Canavan The Armagh County Museum is the oldest in the country. It can trace its roots back to the Armagh Philosophical Society, which opened its doors in 1856. It became an official county museum in the 1930s and … Read more

Theatre Eye: Friel renaissance

Friel renaissance Translations National Theatre, London Aristocrats Nuffield Theatre, Southampton by Mark Coalter The works of Brian Friel have had a renaissance on the London stage of late. In 2005 Friel’s masterpiece Translations and the less-celebrated Aristocrats appeared in the National Theatre to sell-out audiences, whilst Home Place won the coveted Evening Standard Theatre Award … Read more

The Norman Invasion of Ireland, Richard Roche, (Anvil Books, £9.95).

At the start of every academic year the university lecturer is faced with the task of recommending certain books to the new, eager crop of students taking his or her subject. Of equal importance, and frequently undertaken with even more enthusiasm, is the task of warning students off certain other books regarded as flawed, tainted, … Read more

A Century of Northern Life: The Irish News and 100 Years of Ulster History 1890s-1990s, Eamon Phoenix (ed.), (Ulster Historical Foundation, £10 .95). A History of The Belfast Telegraph, Malcolm Brodie, (Blackstaff Press, £14.99).

Both these books were commissioned and, like the newspapers they serve to commemorate, they are different in orientation. The one dedicated to The Irish News is a collection of twenty-six articles by academics, journalists and writers to honour its centenary in 1991, to pay tribute to the skill, courage and objectivity of its journalists during … Read more