The memoirs of John M. Regan, a Catholic officer in the RIC and RUC, 1909–48 Joost Augusteijn (ed.) (Four Courts Press, e55) ISBN 9781846820694 Editor Joost Augusteijn has made accessible a ‘warts-and-all’ memoir that provides a unique insight into the 1914–22 period in Irish history and into what it was like to be a Catholic … Read more
Forgotten soldiers: the Irishmen shot at dawn Stephen Walker (Gill and Macmillan, e24.99) ISBN 9780717141821 Shortly after the outbreak of the Great War in August 1914, James Crozier, a young shipyard apprentice from the Shankill district of Belfast, presented himself at his local recruiting office to volunteer for overseas service with the Irish Rifles. Crozier … Read more
Outrageous fortune: capital and culture in modern Ireland Joe Cleary (Field Day Publications, e42) ISBN 9780946755356 Books that are assembled by drawing together a set of essays previously published or delivered as seminar or lecture papers by the author often suffer from a lack of focus or any sense of overall theme. Such books … Read more
The launch of Turas na dTaoiseach nUltach as Éirinn: from Ráth Maoláin to Rome, edited by Nollaig Ó Muraíle (Pontifical Irish College, Rome, 690pp, €75 hb, ISBN 9788890169212), in Dublin Castle on 21 November 2007 by another taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, had uncanny parallels with the original episode, but in reverse. Copies of the book (printed … Read more
Number Twenty-Nine: Dublin’s Georgian House Museum 29 Fitzwilliam Street Lower, Dublin 2 +353 (0)1 702 6165, numbertwentynine@esb.ie, www.esb.ie/no29 Tues.–Sat. 10am–5pm, Sun. 1pm–5pm, €5/€2.50, u16 free. Closed Mondays and two weeks at Christmas by Tony Canavan Number Twenty-Nine is situated in a historic area of Dublin that not only reflects the Georgian glory of the past … Read more