The perfect gift for parents this Father’s Day: a beautiful, gut-wrenching memoir of Irish identity, fatherhood, and what we owe to the past. “A heartbreaking and redemptive book, written with courage and grace.” –J.D. Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy “…a lovely little book.” –Ross Douthat, The New York Times The child of an Irish man and an Irish-American woman who split up before he was born, Michael Brendan Dougherty grew up with an acute sense of absence. He was raised in New Jersey by his hard-working single mother, who gave him a passion for Ireland, the land of her roots and the home of Michael's father. She put him to bed using little phrases in the Irish language, sang traditional songs, and filled their home with a romantic vision of a homeland over the horizon. Every few years, his father returned from Dublin for a visit, but those encounters were never long enough. Devastated by his father's departures, Michael eventually consoled himself by believing that fatherhood was best understood as a check in the mail. Wearied by the Irish kitsch of the 1990s, he began to reject his mother's Irish nationalism as a romantic myth. Years later, when Michael found out that he would soon be a father himself, he could no longer afford to be jaded; he would need to tell his daughter who she is and where she comes from. He immediately re-immersed himself in the biographies of firebrands like Patrick Pearse and studied the Irish language. And he decided to reconnect with the man who had left him behind, and the nation just over the horizon. He began writing letters to his father about what he remembered, missed, and longed for. Those letters would become this book. Along the way, Michael realized that his longings were shared by many Americans of every ethnicity and background. So many of us these days lack a clear sense of our cultural origins or even a vocabulary for expressing this lack--so we avoid talking about our roots altogether. As a result, the traditional sense of pride has started to feel foreign and dangerous; we've become great consumers of cultural kitsch, but useless conservators of our true history. In these deeply felt and fascinating letters, Dougherty goes beyond his family's story to share a fascinating meditation on the meaning of identity in America.
Religious beliefs and spiritual traditions have molded Ireland's past and present in spectacular ways. Ranging across a rich tapestry, from early Celtic culture to the Christian missionaries, from the Golden Age of monastic life to the diverse influence of the Vikings and the Normans, the Reformation, the wars of religion, to the people now engaged in the Peace Process, The Voice of the Irish offers a balanced account of the religious, social and political life of the Irish. A sweeping history of faith in Ireland, it brings to life the island's people and events, including the legacy of pagan Celtic spirituality, the real and the legendary St. Patrick, the religious roots of English involvement in Ireland, the Famine and new life in America, the origins of the Troubles in the North, and predicts a future between tradition and modernity." --Book Jacket.
Politics in the Republic of Ireland is now available in a fully revised fourth edition. Building on the success of the previous three editions, this text continues to provide an authoritative introduction to all aspects of politics in the Republic of Ireland. Written by some of the foremost experts on Irish politics, it explains, analyzes and interprets the background to Irish government and contemporary political processes. Crucially, it brings the student up-to-date with the very latest developments. New patterns of government formation, challenges to the established political parties, ever-deepening, if sometimes ambivalent, involvement in the process of European integration, a growing role in the politics of Northern Ireland and sustained discussion of gender issues are among these developments – along with evidence, revealed by several tribunals of enquiry, that Irish politics is not as free of corruption as many had assumed.
Ireland has been rated the number one place to live because it successfully combines the most desirable elements of a modern society—the world’s fourth highest GDP per person and low unemployment—with the preservation of certain cozy elements of the old, such as stable family and community life. Michael J. O‘Sullivan presents the globalization of Ireland in a context of international trends in economics, international relations, and politics. His multi-disciplinary approach uncovers many of the weaknesses that lie behind the complacent and clichéd view of the Celtic Tiger. In examining Ireland’s great leap forward from a developing to a postindustrial economy, O‘Sullivan offers valuable lessons to other countries.
This pamphlet makes use of the most recent revisionist literature to reassess the view, much propagated by nationalist sources, that Ireland was a land of impoverished peasants oppressed by English laws and absentee English landlords. The land question has always been closely linked to the development of Irish national consciousness, and greatly exercised the minds of English politicians in the latter part of the nineteenth century. The author examines the nature of English understanding of Irish problems, which was often limited or ignorant, and attributes to it much of the unsound and ineffective ligislation passed. The book is concerned less with questions of English party politics than with the situation in Ireland itself and with the nature of the English response to it.
Michael Collins' essays and speeches spell out his vision for the future of Ireland. His overall vision is still inspiring; he saw the necessity for open trade, for investment and management, and for putting the 'national economy on a sound footing' as a priority and were written while seeking to establish democracy, liberty and stability
Medieval Ireland – The Enduring Tradition, the first instalment in the New Gill History of Ireland series, offers an overview of Irish history from the coming of Christianity in the fifth century to the Reformation in the sixteenth, concentrating on Ireland's cultural and social life and highlighting Irish society's inherent stability in an very unstable period. Such a broad survey reveals features otherwise not easily detected. For all the complexity of political developments, Irish society remained basically stable and managed to withstand the onslaught of both the Vikings and the English. The inherent strength of Ireland consisted in the cultural heritage from pre-historic times, which remained influential throughout the centuries discussed in Professor Michael Richter's engaging and informative book. Irish history has traditionally been described either in isolation or in the manner in which it was influenced by outside forces, especially by England. This book strikes a different balance. First, the time span covered is longer than usual, and more attention is paid to the early medieval centuries than to the later period. Secondly, less emphasis is placed in this book on the political or military history of Ireland than on general social and cultural aspects. As a result, a more mature interpretation of medieval Ireland emerges, one in which social and cultural norms inherited from pre-historic times are seen to survive right through the Middle Ages. They gave Irish society a stability and inherent strength unparalleled in Europe. Christianity came in as an additional, enriching factor. Medieval Ireland: Table of Contents - The Celts Part I. Early Ireland (before c. AD 500) - Ireland in Prehistoric Times - Political Developments in Early Times Part II Ireland in the First Part of the Middle Ages (c. AD 500-1100) - The Beginnings of Christianity in Ireland - The Formation of the Early Irish Church - Christian Ireland in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries - Secularisation and Reform in the Eighth Centuries - The Age of the Vikings Part III. Ireland in the Second part of the Middle Ages (c.1100-1500) - Ireland under Foreign Influence: The Twelfth Century - Ireland from the Reign of John to the Statutes of Kilkenny - The End of the Middle Ages - The Enduring Tradition
An analysis of the political organisation of Irish republicanism after the Easter Rising of 1916, studying the triumphant but short-lived Sinn Féin party which vanquished its enemies, co-operated uneasily with its military allies, and 'democratised' the anti-British campaign. Its successors have dominated the politics of independent Ireland.
The biggest regret of Michael Healy-Rae's life was a time he didn't talk when somebody needed him the most. After that, he vowed to never stop talking, listening and trying to really hear what people were saying.In his first book, which is neither political nor a memoir, Michael celebrates the power of talk to forge real human connections and sustain us. In a collection of true stories that are sometimes humorous, sometimes poignant and sometimes heartbreaking, he follows in the tradition of the great Kerry storytellers with a collection that truly captures the heartbeat of rural Ireland.
Ireland conjures up images of nature's majesty: sweeping coastlines, rolling green hills, and secluded peat bogs and marshlands. A place of legendary beauty, it is also a land with a rich natural history. Michael Viney invites us to discover the geologic forces that created the island, peer into the famous bone caves that hold unique clues about animals from long ago, and experience the dramatic scenes of the cliff-lined coast and tempestuous seas. Viney begins deep in the past, when rivers of molten rock and enormous glaciers stripped the land bare. Soon after the glaciers retreated, the island was transformed into a fresh, new landscape, home to an intriguing variety of plants and animals, and an environment that has cultivated a rich human history and inspired countless myths. Infused with the lyricism of Irish prose, Ireland: A Smithsonian Natural History is indispensable for anyone seeking to understand the natural beauty of the Emerald Isle.
Since the previous edition of this book, changes have taken place with Ireland's Articles of the Constitution, including challenges to the Articles, referenda, new legislation, and judicially-considered cases. This third edition is almost completely re-written as a result of the tumultuous changes in Irish constitutional law. Author Michael Ford - an accomplished constitutional law author and practitioner - offers the reader everything needed to know on this complex subject.
What role does the state have over national development within an increasingly globalized economy? Moreover, how do we conceive 'nationality' during periods of rapid economic and social change spurred on by globalization? By examining tourism in the Republic of Ireland over the past 20 years, Michael Clancy addresses these questions of national identity formation, as well as providing a detailed understanding of the political economy of tourism and development. He explores tourism's role in the 'Celtic Tiger' phenomenon and uses tourism as a lens for observing national identity formation in a period of rapid change.
It was and remains - the largest public/private contract ever entered into in Michigan. More than $35 million in taxpayers money was awarded to UPSCO, a company developed to build innovative tug-barge vessels as part of a unique rails-to-sails transportation system that promised to revolutionize and transform the U.S./Michigan trucking and shipping industry in the early 1980s. Within seven years, however, two top company officials would be sentenced to prison; the company - and the hundreds of jobs it provided - lay in ruins; political careers were destroyed; and Michigan residents saw millions of their tax dollars disappear in an instant. But now, more than two-and-a-half decades later, federal court records, company documents, secret FBI/U.S. Postal Service Investigation reports and U.S. Attorney records reveal a reality that is hard to believe: Michigans largest financial investment flop in history never had to happen; one of the nations most farsighted and talented entrepreneurs never had to see the inside of a prison cell; and the level of FBI, prosecutorial and judicial misconduct, sparked by overreaching federal investigative agencies and greedy union and private shipbuilding company owners, rose to a level that is still hard to believe even in these cynical times. A Fight For Honor: The Charles Kerkman Story is an inside look at one of the nations most outrageous and egregious political and law-enforcement cases told through the life and experiences of Charles Kerkman, the man who lived the governmental nightmare that haunts him to this day.
In the late 1980s, the 'army crisis' was dominating headlines in Ireland. Complaints of poor pay, low morale and unsatisfactory conditions for those serving in the Defence Forces were growing louder against the background of a government accused of being indifferent and an army hierarchy accused of being incapable. From amidst the turmoil, a group of women stepped up to pursue the rights of their men. Political crisis and a general election followed, but a commission established to examine the Defence Forces ignored the call for soldiers to acquire their own representative body.This book reveals for the first time, the deep-seated philosophies, tensions and reservations between Ireland's military and its government from the foundation of the State to the present day. It explores in detail the events that led to the successful pursuit of the democratic right of association for members of the armed forces in Ireland. It articulates the concept of the citizen in uniform and the special relationship between members of the armed forces and society. This is the story of the breaking of ranks.
The moving story of an Irish immigrant's life, from a poverty-stricken childhood in Ireland to becoming a captain of industry, After the Roof Caved In is a powerful, poignant look at how hard work and education enabled one young man to change his life and circumstances completely. Today, Michael J. Dowling is president and CEO of Northwell Health, New York state's largest healthcare provider and private employer, with over 68,000 employees and over 700 facilities. But he grew up in deep poverty in the village of Knockaderry in rural Ireland, in a small home without running water or a stable roof, in a family with little hope for improvement and a place with little opportunity—and he overcame it all to become wildly successful. After the Roof Caved In is Dowling's rags-to-riches story of his life and journey from his destitute youth to his realization of the power of education and his eventual departure from his home to attend university in Cork, and onward through his life as he gradually improved himself and his circumstances. Full of memories both fond and painful, this powerful memoir examines the family dynamics of his childhood—including the lives of his deaf mother and arthritic father—as well as the social systems of the time, the politics and concerns of the day, and the way a variety of disparate events came together to help Dowling change his life completely. Most importantly, it chronicles his lifelong effort to rise above the circumstances into which he was born and to create the sort of life he dreamed possible. For anyone interested in the stories of immigrants, the experiences of the Irish in the mid-20th century, or the value of hard work and education in changing one's life, After the Roof Caved In is an essential read, and a heartfelt, deeply moving meditation on an extraordinary life.
Exploring writing of working-class Dublin after Seán O'Casey, this book breaks new ground in Irish Studies, unearthing submerged narratives of class in Irish life. Examining how working-class identity is depicted by authors like Brendan Behan and Roddy Doyle, it discusses how this hidden, urban Ireland has appeared in the country's literature.
Biofiction is literature that names its protagonist after an actual historical figure, and it has become a dominant literary form over the last 35 years. What has not yet been scholarly acknowledged or documented is that the Irish played a crucial role in the origins, evolution, rise, and now dominance of biofiction. Michael Lackey first examines the groundbreaking biofictions that Oscar Wilde and George Moore authored in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as well as the best biographical novels about Wilde (by Peter Ackroyd and Colm Tóibín). He then focuses on contemporary authors of biofiction (Sabina Murray, Graham Shelby, Anne Enright, and Mario Vargas Llosa, who Lackey has interviewed for this work) who use the lives of prominent Irish figures (Roger Casement and Eliza Lynch) to explore the challenges of seizing and securing a life-promoting form of agency within a colonial and patriarchal context. In conclusion, Lackey briefly analyzes biographical novels by Peter Carey and Mary Morrissy to illustrate why agency is of central importance for the Irish, and why that focus mandated the rise of the biographical novel, a literary form that mirrors the constructed Irish interior.
The British criminal justice system is not dedicated to the truth. It is concerned only with reasonable doubt. During the British Army campaign in Northern Ireland (1969-2007), security forces often dispensed with judge and jury, selected candidates for assassination, extracted false evidence from suspects, forced confessions from innocents and tortured citizens detained without trial.Recent inquests have disclosed a wealth of explosive, newly declassified information, which allows for a compulsive expose of abuses of power. Drawing on previously unseen material, Michael O'Connell, an experienced criminal lawyer, lays bare the chilling details of key cases in which the law was disregarded. He reveals how the truth was sacrificed to collusion, prejudice and corruption in notorious cases. Among them are the killing of Maire Drumm (Vice President of Sinn Fein), before which an army unit surrounding the hospital where she was a patient was withdrawn, and of Miriam Daly (a lecturer in Queen's University) in her home, where outgoing calls had been cut.Too often, the attitude of politicians is to leave the past behind.But without the truth and justice, there can be no reconciliation or forgiveness.In this careful examination of indisputable evidence, Michael O'Connell seeks to ensure wrongful convictions of the innocent will not be repeated
The President of Ireland since 2011, when he was elected by a final tally of almost 57% of the votes, Michael D. Higgins has used his time in office to setout a vision of what he calls 'an ethical Republic'. In a series of remarkable and urgent speeches, which are anything but the bland commentaries of a ceremonial head of state, Michael D. Higgins has urged his fellow citizens to consider what makes the good life. He has asked how human rights, an active and empowered citizenry, women's equality and the right to health and a life free of corrosive anxiety might be achieved. He has highlighted the plight of refugees. And he has criticised the ways in which work is becoming dehumanised.
This is the first systematic study of patterns of social mobility in Ireland. It covers a recent period--the 1960s--when Ireland was undergoing rapid economic growth and modernization. The author thus was able to test the widely accepted hypothesis that growth weakens class barriers. To his surprise he found that it did not. Social mobility increased somewhat, but among mobile men the better jobs still went to those from advantaged social class origins. Despite economic development and demographic change, the underlying link between social origins and career destinations remained unchanged. In chapters on education, life cycle, religion, and farming, Michael Hout shows how inequality persists in contemporary Ireland. In the last chapter he reviews evidence from other countries and concludes that governments must take action against class barriers in education and employment practices if inequality is to be reduced. Economic growth creates jobs, he argues, but economic growth alone cannot allocate those jobs fairly.
All about Skin features twenty-seven stories by women writers of color whose short fiction has earned them a range of honors, including John Simon Guggenheim Fellowships, the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award, the Flannery O'Connor Award, and inclusion in the Best American Short Stories and O. Henry anthologies.The prose in this multicultural anthology addresses such themes as racial prejudice, media portrayal of beauty, and family relationships and spans genres from the comic and the surreal to startling realism. It demonstrates the power and range of some of the most exciting women writing short fiction today. The stories are by American writers Aracelis Gonzalez Asendorf, Jacqueline Bishop, Glendaliz Camacho, Learkana Chong, Jennine Capo Crucet, Ramola D., Patricia Engel, Amina Gautier, Manjula Menon, ZZ Packer, Princess Joy L. Perry, Toni Margarita Plummer, Emily Raboteau, Ivelisse Rodriguez, Metta Sama, Joshunda Sanders, Renee Simms, Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, Hope Wabuke, and Ashley Young; Nigerian writers Unoma Azuah and Chinelo Okparanta; and Chinese writer Xu Xi. Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the American Association of School Librarians Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the Public Library Reviewers
Take a trip back in time with the author Michael Butler as he recounts his childhood adventures growing up as one of 19 children in rural Kilkenny, Ireland in the 1920s and 1930s. Follow Michael across the Irish Sea to an inhospitable Scottish town where he works on his knees eight hours a day, six and one-half days a week for two years, extracting coal from the bowels of the earth-the price he had to pay to leave jobless Ireland and gain entry to the United Kingdom. And laugh with Michael at his misadventures as a waiter and cook and as the proprietor of a feed and grain shop which he later turned into a boarding house. Even his trip to New York to visit his sisters ended in a hilarious mix up. "It's amazing! You can't go anywhere without getting into bother" said Michael's wife Francis on his return from New York. And "get into bother" he did. In Ireland, where he was born and raised; in Scotland, working deep in the coal mines; and in England, as a waiter and a cook. Whatever he had to do, he did, and he did it all laughing and smiling.
Irish society was the first outside the Roman Empire to receive Christianity, and to do so in Latin, which was soon to become customary elsewhere in the West. Since Ireland was spared the upheavals which characterized the post-Roman centuries in Western Europe, Latin learning unfolded there within a context of a vibrant native Irish culture. Why did Christians come to Ireland from abroad? Why, by contrast, did Irish Christians leave their native country to live abroad? These are some of the central questions posed in this book. It emerges that Ireland and Spain were the societies with the most dynamic Latin culture in the seventh century. Thus, Ireland emerges as the decisive mediator between late antiquity and the Western Middle Ages.
John Redmond's constitutional, parliamentary, Irish Party went from dominating Irish politics to oblivion in just four years from 1914-1918. The goal of limited Home Rule, peacefully achieved, appeared to die with it. Given the speed of the party's collapse, its death has been seen as inevitable. Though such views have been challenged, there has been no detailed study of the Irish Party in the last years of union with Britain, before the world war and the Easter Rising transformed Irish politics. Through a study of five counties in provincial Ireland - Leitrim, Longford, Roscommon, Sligo, and Westmeath - that history has now been written. Far from being 'rotten', the Irish Party was representative of nationalist opinion and still capable of self-renewal and change. However, the Irish nationalism at this time was also suffused with a fierce anglophobia and sense of grievance, defined by its enemies, which rapidly came to the fore, first in the Home Rule crisis and then in the war. Redmond's project, the peaceful attainment of Home Rule, simply could not be realised.
Myths, legends, and magic are woven together in a collection of enthralling Irish folktales from the New York Times bestselling author of the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series. A competition to become King of the Leprechauns... A trick designed to fool the Queen of the Fairies... A terrifying lake monster confronted by the unlikeliest of heroes... Nine Irish legends come to life in these timeless, action-packed folktales about mythological creatures and epic heroes. A master of Irish mythology, bestselling author Michael Scott has crafted stories guaranteed to enthrall young readers who love magic, legends, and lore. And don't miss the companion collection of Irish fairy tales, Magic & Myth!
The dominant star shaped fortress on Spike Island testifies to it's strategic importance in the once heavily fortified bastion of British military might that was Cork Harbour. Beneath and around this edifice however lies the story of an island steeped in extensive Irish heritage that stretches further back into the mists of Irelands past beyond the arrival of the Normans and on through to the darkest period of Irish history. From an island of ecclesiastical retreat and contemplation to a dark and godforsaken destination of victims of Ireland's Great Famine, Spike Island has been a part of two contrasting periods in Irish history. The era of saints and scholars during which Spike was described as a Holy Island is set against a later backdrop of famine, disease and death and the dark judicial practice that saw men and boys transported from it to the penal colonies of distant Australia.This book explores the island through these two very different environments from the founding of the monastery there by Saint Carthage to the use of the island as a place of detention, punishment and undignified death. From saints to starvation, 'Spike Island' embodies a part of the brightest a darkest legacy of Ireland's history.
Siblings who immigrated from Ireland to the United States find themselves on opposite sides of the Civil War and struggling to understand God's purpose in the midst of unspeakable tragedy.
inspired generations of artists, poets, and philosophers, the seeds of Father Flanagan's virtuous life were sown. This photographic book shows the beauty of Ireland, his birthplace. Born into a large and loving family, Father Flanagan's childhood was one of stories and songs, work and wonder. Edward was the "little shepherd boy," keeping watch as sheep and cattle grazed the gentle slopes and lush valleys near the village of Ballymoe. Remarking on his rural upbringing, Father Flanagan fondly recalled a life "full of beauty and loveliness." Now, in Father Flanagan's Ireland, Birthplace of a Dream, photographer Michael Buckley's vivid and poignant images capture those pristine landscapes and ancient edifices that were young Edward's constant companions more than a century ago and which retain their unspoiled splendor today. The weathered limestone of his birthplace; the waterlogged lands where his tender hands gathered peat; the rock altars where his ancestors found spiritual sustenance; the schools where faith and fact converged; the rivers and fields where God's handiwork blossomed; and the villages where inequality and opportunity merged. In the heart of the Irish countryside, in spaces that have inspired generations of artists, poets, and philosophers, the seeds of Father Flanagan's virtuous life were sown. This photographic journey is an illuminating and intimate look at the Ireland of the great priest's youth, the land where he lived and labored, the land where he is remembered and revered.
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