|
|
|
 |
Friday the thirteenth and other stories
Peter Mckimm * the hilarious mating of an African wine-maker * a ship's crew imprisoned in the torrid heat of the Indian Ocean * an astounding train journey to the Mexican Copper Canyon * action on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Vietnam * the puzzle of an abandoned scooter in Milan * an airless church in the South of France * 13th-century Paris where the last Master of the Knights Templar was burnt at the stake by the venomous French king. These highly absorbing stories are page-turners, laced with terror, pathos, mystery, farce, kindness and humour. . . |
|
|
|
 |
Feather Silence
Poems by Ben Murnane‘Emotionally direct, with ‘the ordinariness/all hearts/demand, these poems are fascinating documents in a remarkable journey of survival, testaments in every line to a brave, unbowed, enduring heart—anchored in the ordinary world, yet not afraid to dream.‘ Eamon Grennan Feather Silence is a deeply personal collection that charts the years after Ben Murnane was diagnosed with one of the rarest genetic diseases in the world, Fanconi anaemia: his many agonising days in hospital; those first nervous steps into the world of love; the joy and the pain of memories and the little details of life. Written alongside Ben’s memoir Two in a Million, these poems shed new light on the remarkable story of illness, friendship and love told there. These are the thoughts that occupied a young man whose life was on the brink, and they read with insight and beauty. €9.99 80 pp pb ISBN: 978-1-906353-24-7 Buy Reviews |
Praise for Two in a Million:
‘Riveting and beautifully written’ Sunday Independent
‘Fascinating and emotionally charged’ Evening Echo
‘Inspiring . . . exceptionally moving’ Ireland’s Own
About the Author
Ben Murnane was born in 1984 and graduated from Trinity College in 2008. He has written for several newspapers and RTÉ Radio. He is the author of the memoir Two in a Million and co-author with Katherine Farmar of the guidebook Dublin on a Shoestring.
|
|
|
 |
Back on the Menu
Conrad Gallagher
A TALE OF SUCCESS AND DISASTER Celebrity chef Conrad Gallagher was Celtic Tiger Ireland personified: starry-eyed and bursting with energy and talent. One of the youngest chefs ever to win a Michelin Star he cooked for rock stars and presidents in the toughest kitchens in the world and was the darling of food critics on both sides of the Atlantic. But when restless ambition pushed him into a disastrous expansion, sucking him into a bitter dispute, he found himself among drug barons and Mafia hitmen in one of New York's most dangerous prisons. Battling mistaken charges of theft and devastating cancer, then losing everything in a property crash in South Africa, he was forced to rebuild his life., Through sheer resilience and determination he clawed his way back, again. HEARTBREAKING AND INSPIRING—THIS IS CONRAD'S STORY Conrad in Quotes * 'Got one Michelin star? I want two. Open two restaurants? I wnat five. I always want to learn more, do more.' * I used to spend my day shouting. Then I tried to shout before a mistake was made, rather than after. So much can go wrong with food.' * I might not be the greatest businessman in the world, but I am not a thief. It really hurt me that people were saying that I was.' * All the time I was in prison I was afraid of being attacked . . . I asked the chef one day what type of fish it was and he replied "sewerfish".' *All of a sudden I could feel the blood rushing from my head to my toes. A cold sweat came over me. What would these headlines, this name-calling do to my kids, what would it do to my wife?' STOP PRESS: Conrad Shortlisted for Gourmand World Cookbook Awards Back on the Menu has been NOMINATED in the Gourmand World CookBook Awards for “Best in the World” 2010 in the Foo0d Literature Category. There are only four books listed by category. Here the countries are listed in alphabetical order. It is not the final ranking. The listings are abbreviated to make the shortlist very short.
The results will be announced in Paris at Le 104 on Thursday March 3, 2011. These are the finalists in the Food Literature category:
FRANCE: Mes Chemins de Table, JP Géné (Hoebecke) IRELAND: Back on the Menu, Conrad Gallagher (AA Farmar) ITALY: Cinegustologia, Marco Lombardi (Il Leone Verde) SPAIN: Con la Cocina no se Juega, David de Jorge (Debate)
SOME PRESS COMMENTS 'Great read, terrific read, a smashing read--a fascinating story told in his own words, there's no flowery literary stuff. For anyone in the catering business-running a restaurant, working in a hotel--there are lots of details to do with running restaurants, hotels. I would recomment this to anyone who wants to learn about the business Sunday with Gay Byrne Jan 2011 [Conrad's] new autobiography shows in adundance that his life from his early twneties has not been short of drama or excitement' Irish Independent 'The book gives and upfront no-frills account of [Conrad's] tumultuous career and personal life (which of curse don't need added frills). In it hje lays bare some horrific experiences. Sunday Independent 'unapologeticaly deals with the various ups and downs of his life and expresses his hope for the future' Books Ireland
'He's a genius' John McKenna Irish Times 10 January 2011- |
|
|
|
 |
Privileged Lives
A social history of middle-class Ireland 1882–1989Tony Farmar Enter the comfortable world of five generations of Ireland's middle classes: * from the 1880s, when ladies could not go out at night without a chaperone, * to 1907 when the Ascendancy still set the social tone, * to the simple snobberies of the 1930s when the cocktail party was the latest thing, * to the foreign travel and fondu-set style of the 1960s,* to the 1980s and the beginnings of the boom, with a new 'work-hard, play-hard, winner takes all' ethic in the business and professional community. A world that now seems surprisingly far away--before the internet, macchiatos and celebrity chefs. Using contemporary documents, publications and photographs, Tony Farmar builds a vivid and entertaining picture of how the middle class lived: getting and spending, giving dinner parties, reading etiquette books, choosing food, clothes and entertainments. At the same time, he explores the effects on them of the deep divisions of gender, class and religion. A recurring theme is the contest between the idealistic view of Ireland that became identified with de Valera and a more hard-headed approach to the business of life.
Fascinating and fun, with a sharper edge than the author's popular Ordinary Lives, on which it draws, Privileged Lives is also a serious reflection on a dominant way of life.
Media comment Books Ireland
''using documents, publications and phorographs with humour and acute observation, Farmar explains the lifestyles and mores of the middle class. Snapshots of Irish life from a middle-class perspective showing simply how people in a certain milieu have lived through a century of change and upheaval their shifting concerns and priorities their increasing material comforts and declining religious affiliations.' Books Ireland
'His research is extensive and varied using stats, parliamentary debates, health commissions, novels, diaries, cookbooks etc. You will mine this book for those revealing asides which confound the history you thought you knew . . .' he is also excellent on the valued social goods including housing, diet, clothing, health.' Sunday Independent
His entertaining book . . . . vivid disquisitions on all sorts of set pieces . . . this smorgasbord is accompanied by many tasty and suggestive asides from some suggestive sources' Roy Foster The Irish Times
'At a time when the middle classes are in crisis from the speculative gobblers in their midst, this book on their charm is an absolute delight' Michael D. Higgins 'Tony Farmar has a gift for wise generalization, a wonderful instinct for the telling detail or revealing statistic' Seamus Heaney
About the author Tony Farmar is a publisher and social historian. Among his books are Patients, Potions and Physicians (a social history of Irish medicine since 1650), Believing in Action (a study of the first thirty years of Concern, described by Seamus Heaney as 'a window on to the times we have lived through') and Holles Street (a hundred years of the great Dublin maternity hospital). |
|
|
|
 |
Empty Promises
Ten years ago Ireland suddenly emerged as a leader in the EU on equality issues. Yet a decade later the budget of the statutory agency promoting equality, the Equality Authority, was suddenly halved and its chief executive officer and six board members resigned in protest. What had happened to the high hopes of 1999? In this book Niall Crowley, the first chief executive of the Equality Authority, tells the story of the conflict that raged all through its life. From the beginning hostile media pundits and vested interests, including the powerful publicans' lobby, went on the attack, and there was growing antipathy too from interests within the public sector which perceived the Authority as a threat. The experiences of some of those who challenged discrimination and those who sought to promote equality within their organisations, are also recounted here. Their stories vividly illustrate the importance of the legislation, and of the existence of a statutory agency to ensure that it is implemented.
|
|
|
|
 |
On Gardening
Helen Dillon A new, completely revised and updated edition of Helen Dillon's classic On Gardening, a collection of columns first published in the Sunday Tribune. Praise for the previous edition: 'Here is a book to be read over and over, to keep beside one's bed, to consult throughout the year' Irish Independent 'There are lots of gardening books . . . but my favourite is Helen Dillon On Gardening . . . She writes with wit, profound knowledge and a real verve.' Monty Don 'One of the most knowledgeable, meticulous, and brilliant gardeners in this country' The Irish Times 'My book of the year' Robin Lane Fox, Financial Times About the author Helen Dillon is internationally renowned for her knowledge and skill as a gardener. She is well-known in Ireland from The Garden Show on RTE TV, her regular slot on Lyric FM, and her column in the Sunday Tribune where the pieces in this book first appeared. Her garden in Ranelagh, Dublin 6, which is open to the public during the summer months, attracts visitors from all over the world. Winner of medals from the Royal Horticultural Society and the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, she lectures in Britain, the US and New Zealand as well as Ireland. € 12.99 256 pp pb ISBN: 978-1-906353-23-0 Buy |
|
|
|
 |
The Irish Catullus or
One Gentleman from Verona Gaius Valerius Catullus, who died around 50 BC, remains one of the most popular poets ever to come from Rome. His 116 poems of love, hate and everything in between have survived the rise and fall of civilisations and still retain their power to move the heart and shock the sensibilities. The Irish Catullus: or, One Gentleman from Verona is a project originally conceived by the board of Poetry Ireland as a protest against the closure of the Classics department at Queen's University Belfast, and is now the concern of the Dublin branch of the European Centre for Latin (Centrum Latinitatis Europae). Ireland has a long history of translation and appreciation of the classics; perhaps the best example of this is Imeachta Aeneisa, or the Irish Aeneid -- a version of the Aeneid translated into Old Irish by Solamh O'Droma, which is the earliest known translation of the Aeneid into any language other than Latin. The Irish Catullus includes translations by many Irish authors, including Frank McGuinness, Michael Hartnett, Sarah Rees Brennan and others. €20 160pp pb ISBN: 978-1-906353-19-3 Buy |
|
|
|
 |
Waterford Memories
150 Years with the Munster Express Edited by Kieran Walsh * Articles on items of local interest from politicians to glass-blowers, from saints to showbands, from pig-markets to First Communion parties * Encounter Redmond and the Black and Tans, the hurling heroes of 1948, not to mention the famous JJ Walsh, owner and editor of the Munster Express for nearly 50 years * Tough times and happy times on the quays, and in the streets * Market scenes from the 1870s to modern Waterford scenes |
|
|
|
 |
Dublin Dissent
Steven Smyrl 'Sects and the City… A history of dissent, throwing light on the contribution of dissenting Protestants to the social, political and cultural life of Dublin but it is also an extraordinary reconstruction of the evolution of the city, building by building, street by street… The book is incredibly rich in detail about some practices now long forgotten… it is also a study of some extraordinary individuals… The Irish Times 'This is a fascinating book shedding new light on Protestantism in Ireland.' Books Ireland The religious radicalism of the Cromwellian period encouraged numerous Protestant dissenting sects to establish themselves for the first time in Dublin. Conviction, tenacity and skill (with occasional politic conformity) enabled many of these dissenting congregations to survive and flourish through the succeeding centuries. By carefully reconstructing the richly varied congregational histories of Dublin’s Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Quakers, Congregationalists, Lutherans, Moravians, Huguenots, and others, Steven Smyrl vividly illuminates this important but often under-estimated aspect of the life in Ireland’s capital. A major part of the book is the unique listings of the surviving records of each congregation, the extent of which will surprise academics and genealogists alike. About the author Steven C. Smyrl has worked as a professional genealogist for twenty years. Although he specialises in providing legal genealogy services to solicitors, his academic interest has focused on the history of Dublin’s Protestant dissenters and their congregations. He has spent many years searching out and cataloguing the surviving records for dissent in Dublin and this book represents the fruits of that research. € 40 378 pp pb ISBN: 978-1-906353-15-5 Buy |
|
|
|
 |
Living With a Hearing Loss
Kenneth Edwards When Kenneth Edwards found that he was losing his hearing he was devastated. How would he continue to run his business, answer the telephone, socialise with his friends and family? Gradually, he came to realise that though his hearing would never return there was much he could do to help himself. He got a hearing aid, adapted his house and working methods, and above all came to terms with his loss. In Living with a Hearing Loss, Kenneth Edwards shares all that he has learned over the years, with a wealth of practical hints and tips from how to choose a hearing aid to selecting the best place to sit in a restaurant, from coping at a party to finding a suitable alarm clock. Above all his positive approach to accepting this disability, and adapting accordingly, shows how to continue to lead a full and satisfying life. Topics covered include: facing up to hearing loss; getting a hearing test; choosing a hearing aid; learning to use a hearing aid; living with loss of hearing; adapting a new life; living with others; advice to those living with someone who is hard of hearing; helpful tips and useful information sources. The author is founder and first President of the Irish Hard of Hearing Association and was Director of the National Association for Deaf People (now called DeafHear). He edits the Irish Hard of Hearing Association in-house magazine Hearsay. About the author Kenneth Edwards, an architect and psychologist, has coped with hearing loss since 1967. He founded the Irish Hard of Hearing Association and is editor of its in-house magazine Hearsay. He represented the IHHA on the board of the association now called DeafHear. He had a weekly ten-minute slot on Live at Three for three years, and has published books on design. € 10 128 pp pb ISBN: 978-1-906353-14-8 Buy |
|
|
|
 |
Ranelagh in Pictures
Susan Roundtree 'A very attractive visual history of an important suburb.' Books Ireland Until the 18th century, Ranelagh was a dangerous area outside the city walls, scene of a famous massacre in 1209. From the 1760s, it developed into the lively village we know today. Ranelagh in Pictures brings this story to life with street scenes of a century ago, well-loved shops, and famous Ranelagh residents from Patrick Pearse and Maureen O'Hara to Ken Doherty and Garret FitzGerald. About the author Susan Roundtree is is a senior architect with Dublin City Council. She has a special interest in architectural history and building conservation. Her research includes an architectural history of Mountpleasant Square (published in The Georgian Squares of Dublin, Four Courts Press) and a history of the use of clay brick in Ireland. She has been a resident of Ranelagh for 25 years. € 14.99 128 pp pb ISBN: 978-1-906353-12-4 Buy |
|
|
|
 |
Terror and Discord: The Shemus Cartoons in the Freeman's Journal 1920-1924
Felix M. Larkin "'Artistic bombs' by a brilliant cartoonist … The caricatures could be vicious. Lloyd George was always shown as a poisonous dwarf, Sir James Craig as a bloated buffoon and Sir Henry Wilson as a crazed officer who commanded the Grim Reaper. But they were always worth looking at -- sometimes moving, often hilarious." The Irish Times 'Artistic bombs’—that’s how the Shemus cartoons were described in Dáil Éireann in 1923. Published in the Freeman’s Journal between 1920 and 1924, they were remarkably hard-hitting comments on the events of that period. During the War of Independence, they targeted the increasingly brutal nature of British rule in Ireland. They later attacked the new government of Northern Ireland and the republicans who opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. The cartoonist was an Englishman, Ernest Forbes (1879–1962), who was later a successful artist in London and in his native Yorkshire. His work for the Freeman’s Journal gives an unusual angle on the history of this bitterly contested period. This selection of the best of the Shemus cartoons comes with a general introduction and explanatory notes on the individual cartoons. About the author Felix M. Larkin studied history at University College Dublin. Vice-chairman of the National Library of Ireland Society, he was a founder member of the Newspaper and Periodical History Forum of Ireland (www.newspapersperiodicals.org). He has recently retired from the Irish public service. € 14.99 80 pp pb ISBN: 978-1-906353-17-9 Buy |