A labour history of Ireland 1824–2000 Emmet O’Connor (UCD Press, €34.50) ISBN 9781906359560 When I saw that UCD Press had brought out a refreshed and updated version of this book—so long out of print—I must admit that I felt something akin to relief. With the study of working-class history in Ireland enjoying a significant resurgence … Read more
Coercive confinement in Ireland: patients, prisoners and penitents Eoin O’Sullivan and Ian O’Donnell (Manchester University Press, £65) ISBN 9780719086489 Coercive confinement in Ireland puts the spotlight on the wide range of institutions used by independent Ireland to confine ordinary criminals and those who flouted the moral codes of the period, along with children and … Read more
The Book of Kells Bernard Meehan (Thames and Hudson, €60) ISBN 9780500238943 The codex of the four Gospels, translated into Latin, in Trinity College, Dublin, known since at least 1621 as ‘the Book of Kells’ (a detail we learn on p. 24 of this book), is no ordinary manuscript! It is viewed, indeed treasured, … Read more
Bookworm came across a very interesting book recently: Roger Stalley (ed.), Irish Gothic architecture: construction, decay and reinvention (Wordwell, 230pp, £29.99pb, ISBN 9781905569700). The Gothic style arrived in Ireland in the thirteenth century, being primarily associated with ecclesiastical buildings. Naturally, this multi-authored book begins with the construction of cathedrals, before focusing on the medieval construction … Read more
The French historian François Simiand once admonished historians not to ‘forecast the weather from your back garden’, warning against the tendency to seek for explanations in the local and immediate environment and the analysis of internal processes. This may be particularly true when it comes to small countries buffeted by events over which they have … Read more