BREANDÁN MAC SUIBHNE Oxford University Press £20 ISBN 9780198738619 Reviewed by Emily Mark-FitzGerald Emily Mark-FitzGerald is Associate Professor of Art History and Cultural Policy at University College Dublin. In Ways of seeing (1972), John Berger wrote of how ‘capitalism survives by forcing the majority, whom it exploits, to define their own interests as narrowly as … Read more
It is widely believed that Captain William Bligh of the Royal Navy designed the North Bull Wall of the Liffey channel, causing the development of the North Bull Island. But do the facts support this? By Rob Goodbody and Richard Nairn The biggest problem to face the port of Dublin over the centuries … Read more
CLAIRE WILLS Allen Lane €30 ISBN 9781846147166 Reviewed by Mary Kenny Mary Kenny’s most recent book is Am I a feminist? Are you? (New Island). Everyone is familiar with the legend that Irish migrants to Britain were greeted with landlords’ notices saying ‘No blacks, no Irish, no dogs’. I have never quite believed this particular … Read more
An innovative, tenacious pioneer, Nano Nagle transcended the narrowly prescribed boundaries of her time. By Gillian O’Brien and Jessie Castle Between the early 1750s and her death in 1784 Nano Nagle established schools in Cork to educate poor Catholic children, brought the Ursuline Sisters to Ireland and founded her own religious order, the Presentation Sisters, … Read more
CAROLE HOLOHAN Liverpool University Press £80 ISBN 9781786941237 Reviewed by Tom Inglis Tom Inglis is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at University College Dublin. In 1966 Éamon de Valera was elected president of Ireland. He was 84 years old. His dream of Ireland as a country of cosy homesteads and comely maidens was shattered. Ireland was … Read more