Ireland Books

I agree with the other reviewer UNIQUE indeed. Loved for my research on County Cork!

This is almost a unique book in that few records are available for Ireland before 1851. I recommend it for everyone researching in Cork.

Masterfully photographed, and printed on high quality paper, this book is a must have for any armchair traveller.
The book provides a map of the region on the inside cover, and then follows a brief and informative historical overview, which introduces the region to the reader. From that point onwards the book consists of one splendid photograph after the other, very often on a full page, or even spread over double pages, all with short descriptions to accompany them. The book depicts rural country scenes as well as historical landmarks, grand vistas to great architectural photos and even prominent statues. In short, everything the region has to offer.
I am also the proud owner of New England (Photographic Tour) by the same author and photographer and as such, I can highly recommend any one of the books in this series.

I purchased this book as a gift and was so impressed I had to buy one for myself! Photography which captures the distinct and rare beauty of Ireland and well-written text that describes and explains the many points of interest found in Ireland. If you've never been to Ireland this book will make you plan a holiday. If Ireland is already a favourite place to visit reading this book will make you want to return. High quality binding.

I purchased this book while on a trip to Ireland. I was looking for a book that captured the beauty of the landscape that I had seen. This book does that ~ and much, much more. The photographs in the book are so beautiful that it's hard to believe that they are real. The colors and images are deep in color and rich with detail.

This coffee-table book covering Ireland scenes from the air will make an excellent conversation piece or addition to the home of any with a prior affection for the country. Aerial views provide spectacular geographic insight on the land's various changes and will appeal to any with a fascination for Ireland.

Maria Tymoczko, long respected Joyce scholar and investigator of ancient, even pre-literate Irish history and legends, in the polyglot original, brings together these two fields of her expertise in a brilliant volume which introduces the reader gently and fully to both.

Anyone intrigued by that greatest novel of the twentieth century: Ulysses (or is it actually the record of the dreaming soul: Finnegans Wake) and hungry for fuller understanding does well to study carefully this large book, bearing both great tomes in hand like Breen outside Barney Kiernan's. Anyone desiring to feel fully the great Irish literary tradition does well as well to study carefully this book, finding the millenium long tradition's fullest culmination within the labyrinthine works of Joyce.

I always feel the greatest commentary on James JOyce is the one I currently consider. This Irish Ulysses is the greatest commentary of Joyce, case closed, and the greatest plea for a recognition of Irish literary tradition and political history, both of which were long denied under the bootheel of the British oppressor.

Kindly see the current price for a NEW copy of the paperback edition. It is less than the cost of shipping, and far less than the cost of less worthy commentary. Please, I encourage you to acquire this multi-levelled text, which opens the door not only to Joyce but thusly to all of Irish literary and historical tradition (have I already said that? sorry, forgive my redundancy!)

Maria Tymoczko's The Irish Ulysses is an amazing read and a must for anyone interested in Ulysses or James Joyce. It is difficult for me to express, properly, my admiration for this book as it delivers James Joyce to his proper status as hero of the Irish Literary Revival.

I read Maria Tymoczko's The Irish Ulysses shortly after finishing Edna O'Brien's biography of James Joyce. The timing was perfect. In reading Ms. O'Brien's biography, I almost had the sense of reading a scandal sheet and wondered why it is that we so easily confuse a writer's fiction with his or her reality. Why we feel so triumphant in connecting moments in real life with moments in fiction and allowing our imaginations to fill the blanks between those connections.

Ms. Tymoczko resists the temptation to tread the same ground of Joyce's real life and moves, instead, to the Irishness of Ulysses. After reading The Irish Ulysses, I cannot imagine harboring doubt as to its conclusions, nor can I imagine a reader who might fail to see the specifically Irish nature of Ulysses. The argument based on a comparison between various moments in early Irish literature and Ulysses was sound enough, but Ms. Tymoczko does not leave it at that. She thoroughly examines what literature would have been available to Joyce, as well as that which he actually had as part of his library. From newspaper sources to the holdings of the library in Trieste, Ms. Tymoczko leaves little room for doubt that Ulysses is Joyce's creation of an Irish epic to rival that of any nation's literary tradition. I cannot do justice to this book or it's import to the world of Ulysses scholarship.

This volume is truly comprehensive, bringing us the stories behind all of the Irish passengers on the Titanic, both travellers and crew, as well as a few non-Irish who so happened to have embarked upon the ill-fated vessel on its final stop before heading into the Atlantic, the Irish city of Queenstown. Although there are some people with not a lot of biographical information available, most of the people covered do have a lot of great fascinating information. All of the entries for the passengers start with how much they paid for their tickets, the address they were intending to go to upon arrival, which class they travelled in, where they hailed from, where they boarded, and if they had been originally booked on the ship Cymric but changed to the Titanic. These people came from all walks of life; there are stories about people who were travelling back to America after visiting family in Ireland, coming over to marry a sweetheart, planned to become teachers, were hoping to make their fortunes in America, were running away with a forbidden love (such as 19 year old Michael McEvoy and his 34 year old girlfriend Norah Murphy; Michael was lost and Norah was saved), and those who were immigrating to America to join relatives who had already made the trip and had sent for them. We get information on their lives before, during, and (for those who survived) after this unforgettable traumatic event; these people's lives are not being exclusively defined by having been on the Titanic. This book also clears up some decades-old misinformation about some of these people and their stories, such as how some of these people's names have been incorrectly reported since 1912 (e.g., Annie Jerymin's real name was Annie Jermyn; Julian Smyth's real name was Julia Smyth).

The majority of the people profiled here were travelling in third class, and most of them were lost. There were only a small number in second class, and of the handful of passengers in first class, only one was saved. As is pointed out in the introduction, the famous "Women and children first" line was really more like "First-class British women and children first," since most of the sterrage passengers were not only not saved but also in many cases weren't even able to get up to the lifeboats, being locked below deck or kept behind barred gates. Even those relatively few Irish who were saved were mostly in the last lifeboats and collapsibles of the night to be lowered, as though the survival of the lower-classes were an afterthought. Who got a spot in a lifeboat was very much a racist and classist thing. For example, the final boat to make it off the vessel, Collapsible B, had to be cut free and pushed into the water at 2:20 at night, when the boat barely had any time left to live, with the three Irish survivors and the others who got on it having to climb onto it in its upturned state and stay balanced there until their rescue. Besides race and class, there were other factors at work in who lived and who died. There are stories of people who had to jump into boats already in the water, who gave up spots in lifeboats because they wouldn't abandon a spouse or other loved one, who almost missed the chance to be saved because they had to go back to get a prized possession, men who dressed as women to get into lifeboats, and those who had to be forced to just go empty-handed and forget saving their things (one woman, Nora Keane in second class, was actually trying to get dressed instead of going as she was, and her cabin mate had to grab her before she could start putting on her corset, unable to believe she "could put her life at risk over a foolish item of clothing at the height of a shipwreck").

All in all, this is a great book for those who are interested in history, the Irish people, the history of immigration to America, or the Titanic itself. Although it is kind of depressing to see how many names at the beginning of each entry have "Lost" instead of "Saved" next to them, their life stories are all full of life, letting us know a lot more about these people than just that they were on the Titanic. It's a shame such a wonderful book is currently out of print.

With over 500 Titanic books in the English language available, one might ask why one more? If you have an interest in the passengers, one look through this book will answer your question. It is quite simply the most exhaustive and complete work on the Irish passengers available anywhere, from the few in the upper classes, to the huddled masses who traveled in third class looking for a new life in another country.

Some of the entries, are rather skimpy, but only because so little information is available on a lot of these obscure figures. Other entries are very complete due in no small part to years worth of research and detective work on Mr. Maloney's part, with details on lives befor, during and after the sinking.

If you want to know about the Irish aboard the Titanic, who they were, who didn't survive, who did, and how their lives were changed, this is the book to have!

A book every Irish American should own. The book gives information on the political parties, the government, statistics on counties, sports information, biographical information and oodles of facts relating to Ireland. Highly recommended!

A book every Irish American should own. The book gives information on the political parties, the government, statistics on counties, sports information, biographical information and oodles of facts relating to Ireland. Highly recommended!

This photographic trip through Ireland is thoroughly enjoyable. The pictures truly capture the beauty of the landscape and the spirit of the people. This book is a wonderful gift for friends and family.

This photographic trip through Ireland is thoroughly enjoyable. The pictures truly capture the beauty of the landscape and the spirit of the people. This book is a wonderful gift for friends and family.

Unlike many of its predecessors, The Irish Century does not portray Ireland as an embattled war zone wrought in a conflict that has devoured its culture. Instead, through wonderful photographs, Michael MacCarthy Morrogh and Neil Jordan have brought to the surface a true vision of Ireland and the Irish. Through photos, the everyday life of the Irish has been beautifully preserved. This life, although at times characterized by poverty, tyranny, and war, nonetheless was filled with joy and hope. The sharp juxtaposition of an beautiful Irish wedding and the Eater Rebellion of 1916 speaks to this varried life of this, The Irish Century.

This book does a great job explaining the complicated modern history of Ireland. No one side is made the hero, nor is one side made the villian. This is a rare un-biased history of Ireland and features not only great photo's but outstanding writing.

I may be a young and aspiering anthropologist, but for one of my classes we were requested to read this ethnography. I pick up this book and could not put it down, this has been the best ethnography i have read to date! It is presented in the old mind set of anthropology but it still worth reading, there is so much to be learned from his work!

This 1936 book covering all aspects of rural Irish life is great read for any interested person. Has few prejudices and goes into great detail without inducing yawns. I found it incredibly helpful when working on Irish plays written or set around that era, especially "Dancing at Lughnasa". Excellent resource for Synge and Gregory as well as Friel.

As my title suggests, this is a textbook and not a book for casual reading. However, it is one of the best and most focused overviews of a country's history that I've ever read. The Irish Experience gives a very detailed account of Ireland's entire history, and it's linear description allows the reader to see how certain events lead up to others (sorry for the vague language). This textbook is however, a summary, and while it is detailed and thorough it does have to compensate some bulk with paraphrasing. I read this book alongside an advanced Irish history university course, and I found this text very helpful in preparation for lectures where the professor would fill in the details that were summarized in the reading.

In Ireland, more than most places, history is not a distant story but a living presence in the lives of the people.
That history, from Celtic origins to the mid-1990's, is engagingly explored by the authors, who have not only provided the expected political history but also have included the mythic and literary elements which are central to the understanding of the people. Special attention is given to the American connection, which has loomed large in Irish affairs - (there are now more Irish-Americans than indigenous Irish).
Well written, with illustrations, reading list, and index, this is an excellent introduction to the complexities of the Irish experience.
(The numerical rating above is a default setting within Amazon's format. This reviewer does not employ numerical ratings.)