Bodenstown Revisited: The grave of Theobald Wolfe Tone, its monuments and its pilgrimages by C.J. Woods (Four Courts Press, €50.00) Bodenstown is near Sallins in Co. Kildare. Here in the local cemetery Theobald Wolfe Tone was buried in 1798, after cutting his throat on being refused a soldier’s execution. Ever since it has been the…
Plagiarism was the last thing on my mind when, in the winter of 1986, I received a phone call from my friend Fr Michéal O’Doherty. He was then a curate in my native Listowel, while I had a similar appointment in Dublin. He said he had just read a novel entitled Noon-Day by an author named Robert…
Spoilt Rotten: Memoirs of Jack McKenna by Jack McKenna (North Kerry Literary Trust, €15.00; contact St. Johns Arts & Heritage Centre, The Square, Listowel, Co. Kerry; tel: 068-22566) This autobiography, by a novice author as old as the century, is a valuable local history written from an urban perspective. For many years the author was in charge…
Kilkenny in Times of Revolution 1900 – 1923, by Eoin Swithin Walsh foreword by Diarmaid Ferriter (Merrion Press, €19.99 pb) This is a comprehensive account of the revolutionary years in Kilkenny city and county from 1900 to 1923. As a narrative on the War of Independence and Civil War it is remarkable for its detail.…
I Will Not Serve: The priest who said NO to Hitler by David Rice (Red Stag / Mentor Books, €14.99) This is a true story of Fr Franz Reinisch who was beheaded for refusing to serve in the Wehrmacht. His refusal arose from his unwillingness to swear an unconditional oath of obedience to Adolf Hitler, its…
The Shoemaker & His Daughter by Conor O’Clery (Doubleday 2018) Conor O’Clery was the Irish Times correspondent in Russia for many years. He married Zhanna Suvorov in Moscow in 1989. His new book reads describes “one ordinary family’s remarkable journey from Stalin’s Soviet Union to Putin’s Russia”. It records the travails of Zhanna’s extended family through the Russian…
Four Offaly Saints: The Lives of Ciarán of Clonmacnoise, Ciarán of Seir, Colmán of Lynally and Fíonán of Kinnitty by Pádraig Ó Riain (Four Courts Press, €14.95) Homilists and those interested in the early history of Ireland are indebted to Ó Riain for his splendid Dictionary of Irish Saints. For much of his professional life he…
The Great Cover-Up: The Truth About the Death of Michael Collins by Gerard Murphy (The Collins Press, €19.99) The death of Michael Collins at Bealnablath, Co. Cork, on August 22, 1922 has prompted much comment and writing. No fewer than five books have been published on the subject, as well as numerous articles and countless columns…
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…
Heroism and Genius: How Catholic Priests Helped to Build – And Can Help Rebuild – Western Civilization William J. Slattery (Ignatius Press, $24.95 / £18.82). In this ambitious book the author records the significant contribution made by priests to the arts, literature, philosophy and the sciences. He ranges across the centuries. Among those he lists are…