Library Music Books Film Irish culture and customs

Bringing it all Back Home
by Nuala O'Connor

Blending social history, interviews with major Irish musicians, and analysis of musical techniques, this book tells how Irish music emigrated to America and England and eventually wound its way back to Ireland, enriched and reinvigorated. The author won an Emmy for writing a one-hour version of Bringing It All Back Home for the Disney Channel. Excerpted from an Amazon editorial review.
Click here for Bringing it All Back Home.

The Red-Haired Girl from the Bog
by Patricia Monaghan

The author travels the byways of old Ireland, tracing the pagan calendar of the Celtic year, and exploring the Irish fierce love of poetry. She makes a poet's circuit as well as a journey into the spiritual and ancestral past- and present- and from Connacht and Ulster to Leinster and Munster, she proves to be the perfect guide, introducing long-departed ancestors and a land in which the human, the natural, and the divine come together. The result is an utterly enchanting walking meditation. Adapted from a review by June Sawyers, American Library Association.
Click here for Red-Haired Girl.

Star of the Sea
by Joseph O'Connor

Joe graciously consented to an interview. Click here for our Talk with Joe O'Connor.
Click here for our Review of Star of the Sea, which Roddy Doyle says is his best yet.
Click here to buy Star of the Sea.

Last of the Donkey Pilgrims
by Kevin O'Hara

"It was at Rattigan's Pub in Kilrooskey, County Roscommon, that I first proposed traveling the coast of Ireland with a donkey and cart..."So goes the opening sentence of this heartwarming tale about a man on a mission of discovery - and what better way to carry it out than to travel the length and breadth of the land in the old style, a man and donkey, drinking in the sights and sounds of the country.
Clck here for Last of the Donkey Pilgrims.

The Best of Myles
by Flann O'Brien

Aka Brian O'Nolan, aka Myles na Gopaleen, the great Irish humorist and writer Flann O'Brien also wrote a newspaper column called "Cruiskeen Lawn" for the Irish Times. This book collects the best and funniest, covering such subjects as plumbers, the justice system, and improbable inventions. According to one reviewer: "I envy anyone who has not yet read this book - the outrageous details of the Ventriloquists' War, the intricacies of the Catechism of Cliché, and the wisdom of the Brother all await your delighted discovery."
Click here for Best of Myles.

'Tis Herself
by Maureen O'Hara & John Nicoletti

Does this delightful anecdotal autobiography reveal what Kate whispered in Sean's ear at the end of "The Quiet Man?" We'll never tell. In language that is blunt, straightforward, and totally lacking in artifice, one of the greatest and most enduring stars of Hollywood's "Golden Era," tells the story of how she succeeded in the world's most competitive business. It's a story as only she can tell it - the tale of an Irish lass who believed in herself with the strength and determination to make her own dreams come true.
Click here for 'Tis Herself

Tue, Jan 2, 2007

St. Colman's Cathedral

Overlooking the harbour in Cobh, Co. Cork, it was one of the last images of Ireland that could be seen by emigrants sailing to America. Designed by the architects Pugin and Ashlin, construction began in 1868 and it was completed in 1915. One year later, a carillon of 47 bells was installed. The biggest bell is 200 feet above the ground and weighs 3.5 tons. The carillon itself is the largest one in Ireland. To hear a simple tune, please click: Carillion Chimes.
Image from All Travel Ireland.

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