The Cruelty Men by Emer Martin (Lilliput Press, €16.00) This book is about an extended family in the decades following the establishment of the Irish Free State. The family originated in the barony of Iveragh, Co. Kerry, one of the poorest areas in the country. Under a scheme developed by the Land Commission, Irish-speaking families from…
The Image You Missed (PG) The idea was good: dovetail the idea of a fractured fraternal relationship with a fractured country. Unfortunately, this Donal Foreman feature, which tenuously examines his relationship with his father, the late American documentarian Arthur MacCaig, against the backdrop of the Troubles, is far too skimpy and staccato to justify the tantalising potential of…
Mind on Fire: A memoir of madness and recovery by Arnold Thomas Fanning (Dublin: Penguin, £14.99) Frank Litton Mental illness is a cruel affliction. There is hardly anybody who has not been touched by it; as a sufferer, or as family, friend or colleague of a sufferer. Mental illness differs from physical illness; the problems it poses…
The Irish Regional Press, 1892-2018: Revival, Revolution and Republic by Ian Kenneally & James T. O’Donnell (Four Courts Press, €50) Felix M. Larkin This volume, which originated in a conference held in Dublin City University in 2014, is a valuable addition to the growing body of work on Irish media. It comprises 14 essays with a substantial…
Powering The Nation. Images of the Shannon Scheme and Electricity in Ireland by Sorcha O’Brien (Irish Academic Press, €29.99) Joe Carroll Today the Shannon hydroelectric scheme at Ardnacrusha produces about one-eighth of our electricity requirements and is mainly used at peak demand. But when it was switched on in 1929 it was designed to electrify the…
While looking forward to the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) and the papal visit later this month, I’ve long had a fear that we could easily mess it up, or have it messed up for us. Mainstream media coverage often reduces the event to issues of child abuse and the Church’s attitude to homosexuality, with…
Pat O’Kelly Completing his five-year term at the Kilkenny Arts Festival, Eugene Downes steps down as artistic director later this month. His mantle passes to Olga Barry, currently Festival Producer, whom Downes describes as “a gifted and respected arts leader”. Since his appointment in 2013, Dublin-born Downes has revitalised the festival’s ‘classical’ music element…
The World of Books by the books editor A writer’s words often come back upon him in surprising ways. It is one of the problems of writing anything at all. I learnt this the other day in relation to my own words. The British Newspaper Archive website has recently added a further tranche of Irish…
Going to the Mountain: Life Lessons from my Grandfather, Nelson Mandela by Ndaba Mandela (Hutchinson, £14.99) Peter Hegarty With clear-eyed affection Ndaba Mandela recalls the man who brought him up. He first met his grandfather in Victor Verster prison shortly before his release in 1990. Mandela – Madiba, as he was popularly known – expected to spend his…
“Mise an Mac San”: ag cuimhneamh ar an Athair Peadar Ó Laoghaire / “I am that Son”: Remembering an tAthair Peadar Ó Laoghaire by Eilis and Pat O’Brien (Eilis O’Brien, Ballard, Castlelyons, Co. Cork, Tel: O87-1235203; €15.00 + €8 p&p) Of the few Irish priests who have achieved important literary fame, Fr Peadar O’Leary alone…
Aubrey Malone
Brendan O’Regan
Peter Costello