Ariadne’s thread: writing women into Irish history Margaret MacCurtain (Arlen House, €25) ISBN 9781903631423 Like the Venerable Bede, the seventh-century Jarrow monk and ‘father of English history’, Margaret MacCurtain (a.k.a. Sister Ben to thousands of University College Dublin graduates) serenely glides over the troubled waters of Irish historiography opening up new fields, which flower in … Read more
Remembering the Year of the French: Irish folk history and social memory Guy Beiner (University of Wisconsin Press, $49.95) ISBN 9780299218201 The Irish Folklore Commission, 1935–1970 Micheál Briody (Helsinki: Studia Fennica, €37.69) ISBN 9517469470 1916 in 1966: Commemorating the Easter Rising Mary E. Daly and Margaret O’Callaghan (eds) (Royal Irish Academy, €35) ISBN 9781904890270 Like … Read more
After a break occasioned by our detour to Latin America in the last issue, Bookworm is back. It seems to be an iron rule of publishing that any book relating to the Second World War must have ‘Hitler’ in the title. The latest in the genre is Terence O’Reilly’s Hitler’s Irishmen (Mercier Press, 320pp, €16.99 … Read more
Battle of the Boyne Visitor Centre Oldbridge, Co. Meath +353 (0)41 9849873, battleoftheboyne@opw.ie, www.battleoftheboyne.ie Daily 10am–5pm by Tony Canavan Given the massive amount of publicity surrounding the opening of this visitor centre, I expected that it would be easy to find, but in fact there is very little in the way of signposting. I nearly … Read more
Prisoner of the Crown Richard Stockton Irish Repertory Theatre, 132 West 22nd Street, New York, May–July 2008 by Mark Coalter The life and legacy of Roger Casement are shrouded in paradox, controversy and conspiracy. As a liberal Edwardian figure, Casement was a celebrated British diplomat who was knighted by George V for his courageous humanitarian … Read more