Irish Interest

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The Revelation Of Ireland 1995-2020
€31.95
Ireland is a strikingly different country now to the one it was in the mid-1990s. Dramatic economic, social and cultural changes, including the Celtic Tiger boom and increasingly secular debate about abortion, the status of women and same-sex marriage underlined the scale of the transformation. The new diversity of the population and literary and musical prowess also revealed a country experiencing rapid alteration.

The road to peace – that saw an end to war in Northern Ireland and culminated in the first visit to southern Ireland of a reigning British monarch in 100 years – illuminated the new Anglo-Irish dynamic. Explosive revelations about deep betrayals from the past destroyed the credibility of the traditionally powerful Catholic Church. And in the wake of the 2008 financial crash, Ireland rebounded and rebuilt to great success, but remained plagued by health and housing failures.

Economic recovery, the end of civil war politics, ever closer European involvement and Anglo-Irish highs were followed by Brexit lows and increasing talk of Irish unity. There is much to open people’s eyes in this riveting account of contemporary Ireland. As the Republic enters its second century of independence, and the North continues to grapple with the legacy of the Troubles, Diarmaid Ferriter makes historical sense of post-1990s Ireland, and what lies in the darkest corners of its archives.

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Chasing Sam Maguire
€34.95
It is almost one hundred years since the Sam Maguire Cup was first awarded to the winner of the All-Ireland Football Championship, the pinnacle of sporting ambition for generations of Gaelic footballers. Here, we celebrate all the heartbreak and glory of the first fifty years of its history. Since it was first presented in 1928, to Kildare, who beat Cavan by a single point, the Sam Maguire has become one of the most treasured pieces of silverware in Irish sport.

Dermot Reilly and Colm Keys have created an absorbing record of the first fifty years of Sam. Thrilling accounts of the run-up to each final and the finals themselves are included, along with the names and home clubs for every player to have graced the field in those All-Ireland finals. A ‘must’ for every GAA enthusiast, Chasing Sam Maguire is an enthralling account of the agony and the ecstasy of the pursuit of Ireland’s biggest sporting prize.

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Straw, Hay + Rushes
€35.00
O’DOWD, ANNE

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Yeats 150
€40.00
Yeats 150 is a collection of essays commemorating the life and work of Irish poet and Nobel Laureate, William Butler Yeats (1865-1939).

The book, dedicated to Seamus Heaney, is divided into a number of sections: Academic Essays; Plays; the Yeats family; Scholarly Essays; Yeats Poetry Prizes and, appropriately, the topographical ‘Sligo’, by Sligo natives and visitors to the International Yeats Summer School.

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Ballintober Old Graveyard
€40.00
The work of over a hundred stone carvers is analysed here for the first time, over seventy of them identified by signature or initials.

Richly illustrated, this book is a valuable resource not just for the people of Roscommon but a template for memorial study in other counties.

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The Letters of Seamus Heaney
€45.00
Every now and again I need to get down here, to get into the Diogenes tub, as it were, or the Colmcille beehive hut, or the Mossbawn scullery. At any rate, a hedge surrounds me, the blackbird calls, the soul settles for an hour or two . . .

For all his public eminence, Seamus Heaney seems never to have lost the compelling need to write personal letters. In this ample but discriminating selection from fifty years of his correspondence, we are given access as never before to the life and poetic development of a literary titan – from his early days in Belfast, through his controversial decision to settle in the Republic, to the gradual broadening of horizons that culminated in the award of a Nobel Prize and the years of international acclaim that kept him heroically busy until his death.

Editor Christopher Reid draws from both public and private archives to reveal this story in the poet’s own words. Generous, funny, exuberant, confiding, irreverent, empathetic and deeply thoughtful, the letters encompass decades-long relationships with friends and colleagues, as well as showing an unstinted responsiveness to passing acquaintances. Moreover, Heaney’s joyous mastery of language is as evident here as it is in any of his writing for a literary readership.

Listening to Heaney’s voice, we find ourselves in the same room as a man whose presence, when he lived, enriched the world immeasurably, and whose legacy continues to deepen our sense of what truly matters.

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Irish Country Furniture and Furnishings
€49.00
This major illustrated study investigates farmhouse and cabin furniture from all over the island of Ireland. It discusses the origins and evolution of useful objects, what materials were used and why, and how furniture made for small spaces, often with renewable elements, was innate and expected. Encompassing three centuries, it illuminates a way of life that has almost vanished. It contributes as much to our knowledge of Ireland’s cultural history as to its history of furniture. …

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Rosses Point and its Surrounds
€50.00
Rosses Point and Its Surroundings is an illustrated history of one of Sligo’s most celebrated coastal areas spanning centuries, from the early Christian period to the land confiscations of the 17th century, the development of shipping and other maritime industries.

It details the evolution of Rosses Point village from a traditional clachan settlement to a fashionable ‘watering place’ in the 19th century, examines the history of education on the peninsula.

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The Tide Is Coming
€50.00
The Tide is Coming – a book of Coney Island in Sligo Bay by Maura Gilligan –
is a beautiful limited-edition publication containing prose, poetry, interviews, photographs
and artwork.
As the title of this book suggests, the rhythm of the tides has, for centuries, dictated the
rhythm of life on Coney Island. During his lifetime, Islander John McGowan called out the
warning “the tide is coming” countless times, ensuring that visitors would cross the causeway
safely before channels at either side closed the strand passage and made an island of his
shores.
This little island is said to have given its name to Coney Island in New York! Its ancient
name, Inismulclohy, can be found in maps, records and annals.

Contents
Insightful poetry and prose reflect the author’s thoughts as she moves across the Island in
space and time.
Author-transcribed interviews with Island elder John McGowan form an integral part of this
book, illuminating eight decades of life in a place inhabited by John’s ancestors since 1789.
There are echoes here of life on other offshore Irish islands, now uninhabited.
Photographer James Fraher’s haunting black and white images, together with Catherine
Fanning’s remarkable paintings, prints and line drawings, add visual depth and magic.

Special Features
The book itself is a work of art; a striking hardback cover collage is enhanced by timeless
quarter binding, head and tail bands, marker ribbon and rich-coloured endpapers. Sumptuous
Munken paper provides the perfect backdrop for superb illustrations and exceptional writing.
Folded within the pages of this book is a surprise – an A3 loose-leaf ‘Map of Coney Island in
Sligo Bay’, which can be framed. Created from an old and fragile line-drawn original, the
current version of this map illustrates locations on and around the Island, some of which still
carry their original Irish names.
The Tide is Coming is a wonderful history of an Irish island and a perfect gift.

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On the Night
€50.00
Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann – Musicians and Senior Ceili Band Winners 1951-2021

Philip Duffy is uniquely qualified to perform this invaluable task of chronicling the history of ceili bands. His own musical ability, his longstanding involvement in ceili bands, his vast experience of performance in Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann, and his deep understanding of the traditional music community at home and abroad all contribute to the depth and empathy of this book.

‘On the Night’ will be enjoyed by many different readers – the family member who wants to learn about their sibling or parent or relation who played with a band from the beginning; the local music enthusiast tracing the evolution of their favourite ceili band; the student of ethnomusicology intent on working out the origins and development of ceili music performance and competition; and the current ceili band members seeking to understand the heritage that has been handed down to them and who now play their own part in gifting this unique native art form on to the next generation.

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Sligo and the Great Famine, 1845-52 Walking Skeletons and Shadows
€50.00
Sligo offers a unique setting for a study of the Great Famine and the book investigates the period from the first appearance of the blight to the immediate aftermath. The shifting, inept and often heartless government policies reflected different attitudes to famine relief and this impacted on the people in a very direct and often catastrophic way.

Sligo experienced considerable death and emigration in the years from 1845 to 1852; the second worst affected county in the country after Mayo, losing a third of its population in just a few short years. The reaction of local landlords and landholders to the suffering was also varied and the study explored the lengths to which the Famine offered an opportunity to some landlords to impose long-term policies on their estates.

Padraig Deignan has previously published ‘The Protestant Community in Sligo, 1914-49’ in 2010, ‘Land and People in Nineteenth Century Sligo: from Union to Local Government’ in 2015 and ‘Sligo in the Eighteenth Century’ in 2021.

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Sligo History and Society
€60.00
Available Now

Featuring essays from:

Mary Gilmartin, Martin Timoney, Noel McCarthy, Carleton Jones, John Waddell, Rachel Moss and Tamyln McHugh, Kieran O’Connor, Yvonne McDermott, Nollaig Ó’Muraíle, Jack Johnston, Brendan Scott, Pádraig Lenihan, Conchubar Ó Crualaoich, David A. Fleming, David Dickson, Ciarán Mac Murchaidh, Tom Bartlett, Marie Boran and Brigid Clesham, Perry McIntyre and Richard Reid, Gerard Moran, Thomas Power, Jonathan Cherry, Fiona Gallagher, Aideen Ireland, Miriam Moffitt, Mary Timoney, R.F. Foster, Charles Travis, Gregory Daly, Patrick E. O’Brien, Michael Farry, Anne O’Dowd, Proinnsias Breathnach, and Mary Cawley.

Further information coming soon.

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