A second updated edition of the original 1991 publication, this most comprehensive study of Clare's unique Burren region has been lauded for its scope, content and colour.
The Book of the Burren. Edited by Richard Broad and Anne Korff. TirEolas, Kinvara. €18.50
This new edition includes even greater detail in its updating of the natural history and archaeology of the Burren and some new chapters on the poets and artists of the region. This allows the editors to display more than 20 monochrome and colour paintings by artists inspired by the place - these in addition to the many illustrations of the original edition.
The 12 chief contributors cover every aspect of their subject, with new sections dealing with recent controversies (e.g. Mullaghmore) and their outcomes. The message appears to be that the Burren requires an overall vision for its future in the shape of a coherent, government-backed management and development plan. This splendid publication must surely be used as a prime source in the drawing-up of such a plan.
Epitaph of 1798. Edited by Bill Murray and John Cullen. Carrigbyrne Film Productions Ltd. and Carrigbyrne Pike Group. €33
This must surely, be the ultimate publication about the rising of 1798, the bicentenary of which was so widely and feelingly commemorated four years ago. Essentially it is a photographic record of 1798 memorials in all 32 counties of Ireland and in Australia, England, France, Newfoundland and the US. Accompanying the full-colour photographs are the wordings of the inscriptions and short notes on the people commemorated. It is a pictorial record unequalled to date and this limited edition will certainly become a collector's item before long.
Bill Murray and Carrigbyrne Pike Group, with the dedicated aid of researcher John Cullen and photographer Ken Hemmingway, have given us a worthy memorial to 1798 in the book itself. With the approach of the bicentenary of Emmet's rising and death next year, this magnificent publication (which also records many memorials to Emmet) ensures that the memory of the dead of 1798 and 1803 will be kept for ever bright. This book is as inclusive a record of 1798 memorials (and not just of those commemorating insurgents) as one is likely to find now or in the future.
Mud Island: A History of Ballybough. Edited by Noelle Dowling and Aran O'Reilly. Allen Library, n.p.g
It is well-nigh impossible today to envisage what the area now known as Ballybough looked like in the distant past, but the epithet Mud Island gives a fair idea of its appearance. This low-lying coastal region, reclaimed from the sea later, had an actual island (of mud) at its centre. This island had its own "kings" (the McDonnells) and was notorious for smuggling. In the 12th Century the area became attached as a grange of St Mary's Abbey and monks farmed its fertile soil. Even after its reclamation, the sea which lapped it flooded back over its original tidal zone - and has done so even in recent times. This detailed and truly remarkable book is the result of some six years' work by the Allen Library FÁS Project and was funded by the Heritage Council. There are 13 well-written chapters, extensively researched by the course participants, offering an example to other areas of Dublin, not all, perhaps, with as colourful a history as Ballybough. Here we had the Bathes of Drumcondra Castle, the Coghills of Drumcondra House, the first Jewish graveyard in Dublin, the development of Croke Park, the North Strand bombings of 1941, the floods of 1954 - Ballybough seems to have been at the heart of so many stirring events it is no surprise to find such a fascinating collection of historical data about so small an area.
Ó Cléirigh Pedigrees and Personalities. By Noel Ó Cléirigh. Editions des Écrivains, Paris. €11.89
The fact that this 80-page booklet was published in Paris may explain the glaring error in the title on the cover and title-page. The surname, said by the author to be "one of oldest surnames, not only in Ireland but also in Western Europe", is rendered O'Cléiugh. The typeface used seemingly caused the editor to confuse "ri" and "u". In a serious of short chapters, the author traces the origins of the surname and follows the fortunes (or otherwise) of various branches and personalities of the name. The latter includes Francis Clary of Marseille, whose two daughters became Queens of Spain and Sweden. The author himself is a distinguished historian and antiquarian and is obviously proud of the family name. His little book, which he admits is "a very incomplete set of family records", will nevertheless be of interest to all Ó Cléirighs, Clearys, Clarys, Clerys and others of the name throughout the world.
Richard Roche is an author and local historian