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
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
The Fenian ideal and Irish nationalism, 1882–1916 M. J. Kelly (Boydell Press, E85) ISBN 1843832046 This book is more a study of Irish nationalist mentalities than it is a political history. Implicit in the author’s approach is the theory that a people’s use of language is the primary factor not only in defining but also … Read more
Ray Gillespie’s Seventeenth century Ireland: making Ireland modern (Gill and Macmillan, 348pp, ?18.99/£14.99, ISBN 0717139468) is the penultimate of the six-part New Gill History of Ireland series (only Ian McBride’s much-awaited Eighteenth century Ireland: ascendancy and dispossession remains to be published; the other four books were featured in Bookworm’s Nov./Dec. 2005 offering). While most surveys … Read more
Soldiers and chiefs, the Irish at war National Museum of Ireland Collins Barracks, Dublin Tues.–Sat. 10am–5pm, Sun. 2pm–5pm (closed Mon.) by Tony Canavan This is an ambitious exhibition that undertakes to present the history of the Irish at war from 1550. It is suitably located in Collins Barracks, where it occupies 1,700 square metres of … Read more