An Entertainment on the Life and Works of Oscar Wilde
21.6 x 13.8 cm.     71pp.    1995
Facsimile of the 1978 2nd Dolmen edition

ISBN: 978-0-85105-510-7

Originally created by the author as a one man show that was first produced at the Gate Theatre in Dublin in 1960 to rapturous reviews, and over the next fifteen years performed by him all over the world,  the most recent production was performed by Simon Callow at the Savoy Theatre in 1998. Originally published by the Dolmen Press in 1963, critics acclaimed the text as 'an outstandingly skilful and memorable tribute from one Irish artist to another' (Micheal O hAodha, The Irish Press), and 'every bit as Wildeanly witty as Oscar at his best' (Quidnunc in The Irish Times). The present printing uses the designs mac Liammóir produced for the record sleeves for his recording of the work.

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21.6 x 13.8 cm.        xx,  257 pp.  index      1990

Born in Melbourne, Australia, in October 1884, W.J.Turner left his home city in March 1907, determined to create a career for himself as a writer in London. By 1946, when he died, he had contributed to the literary and musical life of England in ways that establish him as a unique and fascinating figure. A man of independent mind and provocative originality, he was perhaps the most outspoken critic of his time and, in Arnold Bennett's judgement, the only one of his generation whom it was a `pleasure to read for the sake of reading', as well as being a poet whose `majestic song' left Yeats, in his own words, `lost in admiration and astonishment'.

Wayne McKenna's work provides an overview of Turner's life and work, discussing his plays, novels, short stories, poetry drama criticism and literary editing, and well as commenting on the more important literary friend ships in his life, such as those with Yeats, Siegfried Sassoon, and Lady Ottoline Morrell.

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21.6 x 13.8 cm.       63 pp.  1991

ISBN: 978-0-85105-433-9
First published by Dolmen Press in 1973, 2nd enlarged Dolmen edition 1982.

Seamus MacCall wanted to show that, as a nation, the Irish have much to be proud of and this resolve fired him with a contagious enthusiasm which the reader of A Little History of Ireland cannot help but share. It is a bird's-eye view of the Irish past which is at once lucid and expert and presents a vivid and lively view of its subject. This new edition of A Little History of Ireland has a final section by Catherine MacCall and Börje Thilman which brings the story up to our time.

'It is not very often that one gets the chance to see the whole course of Irish history outlined in sixty pages . . . Because there is no room for unnecessary detail, the facts are simply given to the reader’ Ireland of-the Welcomes

‘MacCall has managed to be at once concise and comprehensive in his coverage and the little book should be a valuable reference work’ The Irish Times

The cover shows the. meeting of Dermot MacMurrough and the Earl of Gloucester from the French metrical history of Richard II (British Museum) after the colour lithograph in Gilbert's Facsimiles of National Manuscripts by kind permission of the Royal Irish Academy.

 

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Translated and annotated by Padraic de Bhaldraithe

ISBN: 978-1-873821-14-5
192pp, 22.0 x 16.0 cm, 16 colour plates, 12 newly commissioned etchings by Sabine Springer  2000

First published in Irish in 1938 as Cladaí Chonamara and not previously available in English, The Shores of Connemara is both a naturalist's guide to the seashore and coastal waters of Connemara, Co. Galway and an account of the life of the people who lived there in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Séamas Mac an Iomaire was born in 1891 near Carna in Connemara and wrote about the way of life he knew and the environment in which he grew up. He describes the flora and fauna of the seashore, the living people made from them and the crafts involved, such as kelp making, boat building and fishing. With this English edition a new audience can discover this classic of Irish social and natural history.

'Ribe ribe róibéis, tabhair dom greim ar bharr do shlata bige agus tabharfaidh mé duit arís amárach é.’ (Give me a grip of the top of your little rod, shrimp, and I’ll give it back to you tomorrow.) This was the chant that children recited on the shores of Connemara as they attempted to persuade the rock pool shrimps to desert their crevices and allow themselves to be captured. This is but one of the many customs and practices that linked the people of Connemara to the abundance of sea creatures that surrounded them. The Shores of Connemara presents a wonderful description of marine life, not according to the norms of scientific natural history, but as the people themselves saw it.  Séamus Mac an Iomaire combines his own acute observations of nature with the rich maritime traditions and customs of the people of Maínis to produce an informative, uplifting and original account of the sea life of the Irish Atlantic coast. The clarity and charm of his writing, so faithfully translated in this book, will appeal to a wide variety of readers, including naturalists, environmentalists, and social historians, but most of all to anyone fortunate enough to spend time walking and boating along the Connemara coast. The book is greatly enriched by the striking original illustrations of Sabine Springer.

Contents: Foreword – Introduction – Maínis – Fishing – Searching for Bait – Shore Creatures – Sea Fish – Boat Races in Connemara – Material for the Púcán – Kelp Making – Seaweed – List of Names of Invertebrates – List of Names of  Fishes – List of Names of Seaweeds – List of Place Names – Index of English Names of Fishes, Invertebrates and Seaweeds – Bibliography.

'Mac an Iomaire's is an original and clear story, a commentary on the social life of a people co-existing with nature and the cycles of the sea.'  Wild Ireland

'This is one of the most interesting and captivating books about nature ever written in Ireland. Here is a joyful supplement to the solemnities of regular field guides. A major cultural text and also one of the most enjoyable and revelatory books in the whole of Irish writing about nature. The rich illustration includes original etchings of fish by Sabine Springer that rank with the best in marine illustration. The whole book is a labour of love.'  Michael Viney, Irish Times

About the author

Séamas Mac an Iomaire was born in 1891 on Maínis, an island off the coast of Connemara. As a boy he learned all the traditional skills of the way of life on the seashore - sailing, fishing, cutting seaweed and similar activities. He also absorbed the heritage of songs, storytelling and folklore of this Irish speaking region. As a youth he was involved with the Irish Republican movement and he was arrested and briefly imprisoned, as were his father and one of his brothers. He began writing while in his teens and his essays and stories were published regularly in the Irish language press. He started to teach Irish through the Gaelic League and worked as a teacher until he emigrated to the USA in 1926. He at first taught Irish for the New York Gaelic Society then worked for a railway company. He worked mostly underground, spending months on end without seeing the light of day and it was then that he contracted TB and was hospitalised.

His friend Seosamh Daibhéid encouraged him to continue writing while in hospital and he began to record what later became Cladaí Chonamara. Seamas wrote (in Irish) "I was in bed when I wrote most of the pieces as I was not allowed to get up. The doctor told me there was no harm in writing three or four pages a day, that is, after having already spent six months on the flat of my back not being allowed stir. I often wrote eight pages a day, although the doctor doesn't know that yet. I got so immersed in such desirable memories that I would forget altogether that I was in a foreign country lying on the flat of my back with TB."

After his recovery Séamas continued to work for the railroad company until his retirement in 1960. He visited his native home from time to time and died in 1967.

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ISBN: 978-0-86140-200-7
21.6 x 13.8 cm.      [in association with the Mantis Press]

The Mad Pomegranate & the Praying Mantis tells the story of a playwright who went to Spain to make a film about the poet Federico Garcia Lorca. He made the film and stayed on in Andalusia with his wife and five children for another ten years. When the playwright, Peter Luke (1919-95), had a West End success with one of his stage plays, Hadrian VII, he bought an almond, lemon and olive farm..

His Andalusian way of life suggested parallels with that of Publius Vergilis Maronis, the Virgil of the Bucolics and the Georgics, and Peter Luke, through his carefully selected and beautifully presented description, admits us to share his own arcadian experience.

The Mad Pomegranate & the Praying Mantis is an apologia for bucolic man in an increasingly urbanised world, and the author conveys his pleasure in this world in a manner that will delight the reader, however urbanised.

[Contrary to what a certain book reviewer believed about the title and images on the jacket, the title was that originally chosen by the author. The mantis was caught by my parents' cat and rescued from it, while the pomegranate was picked in their garden in Malta. I flew both back to England, placed one on the other, photographed them and, because I had to return immediately, took the mantis back to Malta 24 hours later, releasing it back in the garden whence it came. It had travelled over 2,600 miles. C.P.S.]

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21.6 x 13.8 pp.      170 pp.        1992 pbk repr. of 1980 edition

Holy wells have been a feature of the religion of the Irish people for longer than records have existed, and while pilgrimages to them are not as common as in the last centuries, many wells are still visited, particularly on the Saints’ or ‘Pattern’ Days, and even now new wells occasionally appear.

In this survey Dr Patrick Logan, author of The Old Gods, Irish Country Cures and Fair Day: The Story of Irish Fairs and Markets, describes many of those wells that are still visited, detailing the features of the pilgrimage and the benefits obtained, together with the legends attached to the wells, the saints they are dedicated to and their Pattern Days, the sites, trees and stones associated with them, and fish that some of them have; he also gives information about the holy islands that have wells.

This collection does not attempt to describe every holy well in Ireland – an impossible task with so many – but Dr Logan has gathered together a collection of the most representative and interesting ones that visitors, pilgrims, and historians, as well as the local people will find it fascinating to read about.

‘What the author has done is to collect . . . a huge amount of important material about the wells, their history, the saints to whom they are dedicated, and their accessories, so to speak, such as the sites, the fish that some still nurture, and even such fascinating things as "swearing stones" and "cursing stones" . . . . A volume that is much needed and that will be a source of fascination to scholars and local historians alike for many years to come.’ Cork Examiner

'Dr Logan has succeeded in packing a great volume of interesting and useful information into this book.' Irish Independent

 

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Chosen and Introduced by S.F.Gallagher

The ninth volume of the Irish Drama Selections series (ISSN 0260-7962), General Editors: Joseph Ronsley and Ann Saddlemyer.

Hardcover ISBN: 0-86140-140-9 / 978-0-86140-140-6 £35.00
Papercover ISBN: 00-86140-141-7 / 978-0-86140-141-3 £10.95

21.6 x 13.8 cm.

Contains: The Au Pair Man, The Patrick Pearse Motel, Da, Summer, A Life, Kill, Bibliographical Checklist.

`Hugh Leonard' is the pen-name of John Keyes Byrne. He is, as Christopher Fitz-Simon has written, `the most prolific and most technically assured of modern Irish playwrights', and his cosmopolitanism is shown by the range of his work, twenty-five plays (eighteen of which have been published), and seven adaptations of others' work for stage, something like thirty individual plays for television, work for over forty TV series totalling well in excess of 120 original episodes, and over 100 episodes for serials based on others' works (Emily Bronte, Dickens, Dostoevsky, Flaubert, Somerville & Ross, for example), as well as over a dozen film scripts. The output is truly phenomenal.

Although a constant contributor to television, it is for the theatre that he has produced his finest work. This selection amply illustrates Leonard's cosmopolitan talent and his constant ability to entertain his audience.

 

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Edited by Jan Jędrzejewski

21.6 x 13.8 cm.      xxviii, 489 pp.     Ulster Editions & Monographs series (ISSN 0954-3392) volume 9

First published in 1845, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's The Cock and Anchor is one of the most interesting historical novels written in Ireland in the nineteenth century. It is many things: a record of the mores and manners of early eighteenth-century Ireland, a story of love struggling against the prejudices of class and religion, a penetrating moral study of crime and punishment, an engaging thriller. But first of all it is a full-bodied, energetic, lively picture of Dublin - its palaces and its inns, its streets, its people, its way of life. Written in the early years of Le Fanu's career as a novelist, it provides an exciting introduction to the work of one the most intriguing novelists of Victorian Ireland.

The Editor has provided notes, notes on the text and appendices which give the major and minor textual variants of the tale, and nearly thirty pages of contemporary reviews published in Ireland, England and Scotland.

Educated at the University of Łódź, Poland, and Worcester College, Oxford, Professor Jan Jędrzejewski is Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ulster. He wrote Thomas Hardy and the Church (1996), edited a selection of Thomas Hardy's short fiction Outside the Gates of the World (1996), and published numerous papers on Victorian fiction, modern Irish literature, and Anglo-Polish literary relations.

Front cover illustration (continuing onto the front flap): 'A Prospect of the City of Dublin from the Magazine Hill, in his Majesty's Phoenix Park' by Joseph Tudor, issued in 1753.

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22.8 x 15.0 cm.

Bernard Shaw, who made his international reputation as a playwright in London, and Augusta Gregory, founder-director of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, are generally considered as belonging to different theatrical traditions. But in 1909, when the Abbey produced The Shewing-up of Blanco Posnet, which had been banned in England, there began a close involvement of Shaw with Irish theatre and a warm personal friendship with Lady Gregory.

The complete surviving correspondence between the two, published for the first time, reveals their developing relationship: the battle with Dublin Castle over Blanco, Shaw’s support for Lady Gregory in the rows over Synge’s Playboy in America; the controversy with military authorities over O’Flaherty V.C., written for the Abbey in 1915; the lively exchange of views on Ireland, politics, the Hugh Lane pictures, the schooling of the Gregory grand­children; which ended only with Lady Gregory’s death in 1932.

Drawing upon letters to and from other corre­spondents, diaries and engagement books, private memoranda, newspaper reports, and press releases, the editors have enlarged the correspondence into a comprehensive record of Shaw’s important and previously unrecognised contribution to the Irish theatre. Shaw and Lady Gregory’s crisp, witty and informal letters, in the context of their joint commitment to the Abbey, make the book rewarding reading for all those with an interest in the theatre.

 

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Edited and Introduced by Peter Kuch

32.6 x 13.8 cm.     xxii, 474 pp.  + 2pp. with three colour illus.  2011   Part 4 of the Collected Works of G. W. Russell - 'A.E.'

George William Russell, or AE as he was more familiarly known, was mentor and friend to three generations of Irish writers. To visit or to be sought out by AE was to be assured of a place in Irish literary history. The young James Joyce knocked on his door at midnight; Lady Gregory looked forward to his visits to Coole; Patrick Kavanagh walked from Inniskeen to Dublin to meet him; Yeats regarded him as his ‘oldest friend’; Liam O’Flaherty sought his patronage; Frank O’Connor asked his advice.

As if to guarantee Russell would not be forgotten, George Moore concluded his engaging, gossipy account of the literary movement, Hail and Farewell (1911-14), with a benediction for ‘AE and the rest’. Whether aspiring, accomplished, real or imaginary, Irish writers inevitably found themselves indebted to his practical help and inspired by his spiritual and critical insights. Even Stephen Dedalus admits to himself AEIOU.

This scrupulously researched volume brings together for the first time all of Russell’s writings on poetry, prose, drama and painting—writings central to understanding the role of literature, theatre and art in Ireland’s quest for self-realisation. Included are reviews, prefaces, introductions and articles; letters to the press on censorship and the Irish Academy of Letters; and The Honourable Enid Majoribanks, a hitherto unpublished play. Extensive notes drawing from published and unpublished sources situate each item in terms of text, intertext and context.

Peter Kuch is the inaugural Eamon Cleary Professor of Irish Studies at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. The Director of the Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies at Otago, he is also an Honorary Professor at the John Hume Institute for Global Irish Studies at the University of New South Wales. He holds an Honours degree from the University of Wales and an M.Litt and D.Phil from Oxford. He has held posts at the Universities of Newcastle and New South Wales, Australia; L’Université de Caen, France; and been a Visiting Fellow at the Humanities Research Centre at the Australian National University, and the Anthony Mason European Fellow at Trinity College, Dublin. The author of Yeats and AE: ‘the antagonism that unites dear friends’ (Colin Smythe, 1988), he is currently researching a cultural history of the performance of Irish theatre in colonial Australasia.

 

CONTENTS<br

Preface <pr

Acknowledgements<br

Introduction<br

1. “The Poetry of William B. Yeats”; 2. “A New Irish Poetess”: review of Eva Gore-Booth, Poems; 3. “Literary Ideals in Ireland”; 4. “Nationality and Cosmopolitanism in Literature”; 5. Review of Eleanor Hull, The Cuchullin Saga in Irish Literature; 6. Review of Edward Martyn, The Heather Field and Maeve 7. “Politics and Character”; 8. “Fiona Macleod’s New Book”: review of The Dominion of Dreams; 9. Review of Fiona Macleod, The Divine Adventure; 10. “A Note on William Larminie” in Stopford Brooke and T.W. Rolleston, eds., A Treasury of Irish Poetry; 11. “The Dramatic Treatment of Heroic Literature”; 12.  “The Character of Heroic Literature”: review of Lady Gregory, Cuchulain of Muirthemne; 13. “The Poetry of William Butler Yeats”; 14. “A Book about the Earth Life”: review of Ethel Longworth Dames, Myths; 15. “A Note on Standish O’Grady” in Justin McCarthy, ed., Irish Literature; 16. “Preface” to New Songs; 17. “A Note on Seamus O’Sullivan”; 18. Review of T.W. Rolleston, The High Deeds of Finn; 19. “The Poetry of James Stephens”; 20. “The Boyhood of a Poet”; 21. “A Tribute to Standish O’Grady”; 22. “On Quality of Sound”; 23. Foreword to Shan F. Bullock, Mors et Vita; 24.  Foreword to Liam O’Flaherty, The Black Soul; 25. Foreword to F.R. Higgins, Island Blood; 26. Foreword to Hugh Alexander Law, Anglo-Irish Literature; 27. “Address to the Thirtieth Annual Dinner of the American-Irish Historical Society”; 28. “The Censorship in Ireland”; 29. Introduction to Oliver St. John Gogarty, Wild Apples; 30. Foreword to Katharine Tynan, Collected Poems; 31. Review of Humbert Wolfe, Snow; 32. Introductory Essay to Hugh MacDiarmuidFirst Hymn to Lenin and Other Poems; 33. “On the Character in Irish Literature” in Frank O’ConnorThe Wild Bird’s Nest: Poems Translated from the Irish; 34. "The New Irish Academy – AE replies to Father Gannon”; 35. “The Irish Academy of Letters: Letter from AE”; 36. “The New Irish Academy: Letter from AE”; 37. “The New Irish Academy: Letter from AE”; 38. “Oliver St. John Gogarty: An Appreciation”; 39. Foreword to Oliver St. John Gogarty, em>Selected Poems; 40. Introduction to Seamus O’Sullivan, Twenty-five Lyrics; 41. Introduction to Irene Haugh, The Valley of Bells and Other Poems; 42. “Memories of A.R. Orage”; 43. “An Appreciation” of Ruth Pitter, A Mad Lady’s Garland; 44. Foreword to Joseph O’Neill, Land Under England; 45. “The Sunset of Fantasy”; 46. Deirdre: A Legend in Three Acts; 47. The Honourable Enid Majoribanks: a Comedy; 48. “Art in Ireland”; 49. “An Irish Sculptor: John Hughes”; 50. “The Spiritual Influence of Art”; 51. “Two Irish Artists”; 52. “An Artist of Gaelic Ireland”; 53. “Art and Literature”; 54. “Art and Barbarism”; 55. “The Lane Bequest”; 56. “An Appreciation” of J.B. Yeats, Essays: Irish and American; 57. “Hugh Lane’s Pictures”; 58. “Some Irish Artists”

Appendices:<br

Preface to Some Irish Essays; Prefaces to Imaginations and Reveries; “Nationality or Cosmopolitanism – 1925 text”; The Countess of the Wheel; Britannia Rule-the-Wave: A Comedy; “AE’s Oration: George Moore”; “An Artist of Gaelic Ireland – 1908 text”<br

Abbreviations used in Glossary of Mythological References and Notes and Commentary; Glossary of Mythological References; Guide to Notes and Commentary; Notes and Commentary – Literary Writings; Notes and Commentary – Writings on Art; Notes and Commentary – Appendices; Bibliography; Index

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21.6 x 13.8 cm.   xviii, 489 pp.    2003  Irish Literary Studies series (ISSN 0140-895X) volume 52

Since Mary McAleese embraced the expatriate and emigrant Irish in her inaugural Presidential address, much has been made of the global Irish family. This exciting collection of essays by a group of eminent scholars explores the teaching and research of Irish  literature in a region of the world that has scouted the attractions of western culture since the sixteenth century. Three or four centuries later those attractions, as far as the Irish are concerned, have become specific.

It is reasonably well-known that in his own life-time W.B. Yeats was invited to take up a Professorship in Japan; that Ulysses has been translated at least three times into Chinese; that the plays of George Bernard Shaw apparently strike a chord with students in Hong Kong; that the fairy-tales of Wilde are reverenced in China; and that the Irish influence on Australian literature has been pervasive if not profound.

But what is not well-known are the contexts for these and other interrelations. Irelands in the Asia-Pacific explores these in a sequence of articles grouped under the headings of: Writing an Irish Self; Joyce at large; Post-Colonial readings of Irish Literature; Antipodean Connections; Teaching Irish Literature in the Asia-Pacific; and Irish Literature Down-Under.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Section 1: Writing an Irish Self

Shakespeare and the Irish Self. Terence Brown

‘Not a disease but a social necessity!’ Shaw and the Function of the Artist. T.F. Evans

The Silver Mirror & the Woven Veil: Oscar Wilde & the Art of Criticism. Julie-Ann Robson

Reading Food: Feast and Famine in Irish Women’s Writing. Joan Coldwell

Eavan Boland: the Complex State of the Woman Poet. Maurice Harmon

Section 2: Joyce at Large

Bloom’s appeal to the peoples of the world. Jin Di

National Apostate vs National Apostle: Joyce and St. Patrick. Bruce Stewart

Mothers/Mirrors: Sources of Self-Image in Irish Modernism. Diane Stubbings

James Joyce and the Dreamwork of Language: The Book from the Twenty-first Century. Donald E. Morse

Section 3: Post-Colonial Readings of Irish Writing

Post-Colonial Interpretation: The case of The Playboy. Nicholas Grene

Irish Post-Colonial Drama: A Hungarian View. Csilla Bertha

Ireland, Post-Colonial Transformation and Global Culture. Bill Ashcroft

Section 4: Antipodean Connections

John, Willy, Lily, George, Gilbert ... and Arthur: My Australian Connections. Ann Saddlemyer

Ascendancy Down-Under: George Bernard Shaw’s Irish & Australian Relations. A.M.Gibbs

The Port Phillip Gentlemen: Still Neglected. Jarlath Ronayne

The Emigrant’s Friends: Three Women. Maureen Murphy

The Scotch-Irish in 18th century America and their Counterparts in 19th century Australia: A Comparative Study of Relations between Colonists and Natives on Two Frontiers. James E. Doan

Section 5: Teaching Irish Literature in the Asia-Pacific

The Reception of W.B. Yeats in Modern China. Linda Pui-ling Wong

Modern Irish Literature in an Asian Context: Relevance and Advantages. Andrew Parkin

The ‘Sense of Happiness’ must not Disappear: Teaching Irish Literature in Japan. Taketoshi Furomoto

Re-reading Irishness: The problem of Lafcadio Hearn and Japan. George Hughes

Japan as Celtic Otherworld: Lafcadio Hearn and the Long Way Home. Ciaran Murray

Section 6: Irish Literature Down-Under

‘The weight of social opinion on [his] side’?: Ulysses, Censorship, Modernism and Canonisation, Australian-style. Frances Devlin-Glass

Through The Irish Looking Glass: School Experience of Irish Literature, History and Culture in Australia. Donna Gibbs

The Burden of Tyre and ‘the Loyal Gael’: The Expatriate Muse in the work of Christopher Brennan. Justin Lucas

‘Too Cold and Wide for the Tender Plant of the Irish Language to Thrive in?’ The Teaching of the Irish Language in Australia: 1880-1960. Jonathan M. Wooding

Notes and References – Notes on Contributors – Index

This collection of papers was given at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, at a conference convened under the aegis of the International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures (IASIL).

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21.6 x 13.8 cm.    xiv, 291 pp. + 16 pp. with 33 illus.  

During his life, W.B.Yeats formed only a few literary friendships from which he received as much as he gave. One of the foremost was his association with George William Russell. ‘A.E. was my oldest friend’ he confided to an admirer on Russell’s death in 1935. ‘We began our work together.’

This engaging, carefully researched book charts the history and evaluates the significance of the first twenty-three years of that work. It begins with the early months of 1884 when Yeats and Russell first met at the Arts Schools in Kildare Street, Dublin, and ends with their divisive quarrels in 1907 about the policies of the Abbey Theatre.

Taking as its focal point Yeats’s summary of the association – ‘between us as always there existed that antagonism that unites dear friends’ – the book sensitively gauges the pressures that each man exerted on the other. It also examines the way these pressures both affected their respective imaginative developments and shaped the course of the literary movement.

'What Kuch sets out to do, he does scrupulously and with such attention to detail, minutiae even, that his scholarly apparatus takes up nearly a quarter of the book. It is indeed "carefully researched".' Derek Mahon in The Irish Times

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ISBN: 978-0-86140-008-9
21.6 x 13.8 cm.    x, 257 pp. 1981   Irish Literary Studies series (ISSN 0140-895X) volume  7

This volume was created to mark the centenary of the birth of Sean O’Casey. It covers every aspect of his life and work, with essays from leading scholars in the field of O’Casey studies: Ronald Ayling, Bernard Benstock, Mary FitzGerald, David Krause, Robert G. Lowery, William J. Maroldo, Alan Simp­son and Stanley Weintraub, to­gether with a Chronology and a list of productions of O’Casey’s plays, both by Robert G. Lowery. The subjects covered include O’Casey’s relations with the Abbey Theatre, Lady Gregory, W. B. Yeats, and Bernard Shaw together with assessments of the influence that James Joyce, politics, religion and Ireland had on the play­wright and his plays.

CONTENTS<br

SEAN O'CASEY: A CHRONOLOGY.  Robert G.Lowery<br

SEAN O'CASEY AND THE ABBEY THEATRE, DUBLIN.  Ronald Ayling<br

SEAN O'CASEY AND/OR JAMES JOYCE.  Bernard Benstock<br

SEAN O'CASEY AND LADY GREGORY: THE RECORD OF A FRIENDSHIP.  Mary FitzGerald<br

THE DRUIDIC AFFINITIES OF O'CASEY AND YEATS.  David Krause<br

SEAN O'CASEY: ART AND POLITICS.  Robert G.Lowery<br

EARLIEST YOUTH: PRISTINE CATHOLICISM AND GREEN PATRIOTISM IN O'CASEY'S IRISH BOOKS.  William J.Maroldo<br

THE UNHOLY TRINITY: A SIMPLE GUIDE TO HOLY IRELAND c. 1880-1980.  Alan Simpson<br

SHAW'S OTHER KEEGAN: O'CASEY AND G.B.S.  Stanley Weintraub<br

SEAN O'CASEY AND THE ABBEY THEATRE.  Robert G.Lowery<br

Index

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21.6 x 13.8 cm.     Irish Literary Studies series (ISSN 0140-895X) volume 19

O’Casey, the Dramatist is the first study to analyse each of Sean O’Casey’s plays in the context of the whole body of his work. His first plays were performed by the Abbey Theatre in Dublin until it refused The Silver Tassie, a rejection that brought about a most acrimonious debate, broke up friendships, and caused O’Casey to sever his links with the Abbey. Its directors were unable to understand the first of his experimental plays, and could not appreciate its true quality. Thence­forth O'Casey’s writing developed along new lines, mostly away from his Irish roots.

In popular estimation his best plays are those of the Dublin years – The Shadow of a Gunman, Juno and the Paycock and The Plough and the Stars – but many of his later works are greatly undervalued; indeed The Silver Tassie, Within the Gates, Purple Dust, Red Roses for Me, Hall of Healing, Cock-a-doodle Dandy and The Bishop's Bonfire are all masterpieces of modern drama, as this study shows.

Professor Kosok considers all the twenty-three extant plays, tracing O'Casey's development as a playwright through a chronological study and show­ing that his work can be divided into five periods, which are considered in this volume under the headings ‘Dublin as a Mirror of the World’, 'Experiments’, ‘Ideology and Drama', ‘Ireland as a Microcosm', and ‘Bitterness and Recon­ciliation’. He ends this study with a section headed ‘Continuity and Originality' in which he briefly summarises the findings of previous scholarship, suggests some additional answers to general problems, and indicates some avenues for future research.

 

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7pp, 2 maps 62.0 x 44.3 cm folding to  22.3 x 15.8 cm    42 b&w illustrations  1989

A walking tour of Galway City, including all the features of historical and architectural interest.

"Medieval Galway is one of the most absorbing and attractive documents on Old Galway published for a long time. The first sheet has a present day street map (1:2500 scale) of present day Galway with a comprehensive index pointing out the medieval remains that are left and can be seen from the street. Most of the features are illustrated in fine line drawings. The second sheet shows reproductions of maps of Galway drawn in 1583, 1610 and 1651, each with an explanatory text. This map is a delight, a most enjoyable way to learn about Galway City's history and heritage. It can be used by everyone, schoolchildren, tourists and Old Galway experts." Galway Advertiser.

2 A2 maps

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ISBN: 978-1-873821-10-7

The area around the popular town on Galway Bay, including the remains of Doorus House, home of Count de Basterot where Lady Gregory and W. B. Yeats sketched out a plan for the Irish Literary Revival.

A2 map

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ISBN: 978-873821-11-1

1987, 7pp, 34 b&w illustrations.     A2 map, folded

Kiltartan Country: The little explored area of South Galway including Coole Park, the home of Lady Gregory, Thoor Ballylee, the home of W. B. Yeats, and the ancient monastic site of Kilmacduagh.

 

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ISBN: 978-1-873821-09-1

Three Maps

Ballyvaughan
Ballyvaughan The heart of the Burren and the coast of Galway Bay. 1986, 7pp, 33 b&w illustrations. A2 map

The heart of the area on this map is the village of Ballyvaughan on the South coast of Galway Bay. It has a hotel, guest-house and many B & Bs and is the ideal starting point for exploring the Burren. It is the start of the Burren Way, a waymarked walk on footpaths and small roads, leading over the uplands from Ballyvaughan to the Western edge of the Burren, with spectacular views over the Atlantic, then leading to Doolin village and on to the well known Cliffs of Moher.

There are many old disused roads in this area, called green roads. One of the most rewarding walks on such a road leads around Black Head, the most Northern headland of the Burren. Here the visitor can climb to one of the most impressive structures of Ireland's Celtic past, the stone ring fort of Cathair Dhuin Irghuis, the stronghold of Fergus, a contemporary of Queen Meabh of Connacht. Made out of large blocks of limestone, standing on a high and bare plateau overlooking the open sea and visible from the Aran Islands, it may well have been used for signalling long distances by beacon fires, as well as the seat of a Celtic king. The area covered by this map contains hundreds of ringforts and enclosures which were the homesteads of farmers who lived in them from about 2,000 years ago up to mediaeval times. On the higher ground can be found the stone graves of Ireland's Neolithic people. The portal dolmen at Poulnabrone is a fine example. Another highlight is to visit some of the early medieval churches, of which there are many. A walk in the valley of Oughtmama near Bellharbour leads to three small churches within the remains of a monastic enclosure wall. The terraced gardens and earthen embankments constructed to carry water from a well to a now vanished mill can still be seen. Finally, there is Sancta Maria de Petra Fertilis (Saint Mary of the Fertile Rock) or, as it is more commonly known, Corcomroe Abbey. Built by Cistercian monks in the 12th century it is one of the most impressive sites in the Burren. These are just a few of the destinations awaiting the enthusiastic walker.

 

Kilfenora

The Burren - Kilfenora - The City of the Crosses The South Burren including the ancient religious site of Kilfenora with its seven carved medieval crosses. 1988, 7pp, 27 b&w illustrations.  A2 map

The town of Kilfenora lies at the south-west edge of the Burren. It has a long history as an important early monastic settlement and later as a religious centre from the 12-13th centuries. This is shown by the presence of five stone crosses which stand within or near the now ruined cathedral. It is a place to wander around slowly, looking at the beautiful stone carvings, such as the group of monks on the capitals of the 12th century East window in the cathedral, or wondering over the images on the 'Doorty' High Cross, which records the change in status of Kilfenora from a monastery to the centre of a diocese in 1152. 2001 saw the opening of a refurbished and enlarged visitor centre which has excellent displays on the forming of the Burren, its natural history, the lives of the people of the Burren from the first settlers, over 5,000 years ago, to medieval times and the history and folklore of the 19th century. Splendid examples of every type of antiquity can be found within a few miles of the town. Cathair Chonail is a very large and nearly perfect ringfort, close to the road from Kilfenora to Ballyvaughan. Closer to the town lies the small hamlet of Noughaval, 'new habitation or dwelling' in Irish, with its 12th century church. An outdoor altar made up of a simple cross slotted into a horizontal stone slab can be seen in the churchyard and a variety of ringforts and enclosures, wedge tombs and cairns can be explored to the South of the church. Finally, Lemeneagh Castle, about three miles east of Kilfenora, is a wonderfully evocative site with a highly romantic history. It is a five story 15th century tower house, later enlarged to a four story mansion in the 17th century. These are just a few of the places to see around Kilfenora; there are many others to be found by the adventurous traveller.

 

O'Brien Country The South West Burren including Doolin, Lisdoonvarna and the Cliffs of Moher. 1989, 7pp, 33 b&w illustrations.  A2 map

One of the most scenic walks in the Burren is to head South on the green road above Fanore, part of the Burren Way, with superb views out to the open sea, the Aran Islands to the West and the mountains of Connemara to the North.

The area depicted on this map faces the great sweep of the Atlantic and the landscape is the outcome of a long and complex battle between the forces of nature. The constantly eroding waves beat against the unprotected coastline and the results are dramatically evident, from the massive 200 metre high Cliffs of Moher to the extensive sand dunes at Fanore.

From earliest times the sea was a great roadway and the waters off the West Clare coast were the scene of constant boat traffic. It is thought that the first people arrived here by sea. Primitive tools such as stone choppers, hand axes and hammer stones have been found near the village of Doolin, left by the Mesolithic people who lived here between 7000-3500 BC.

Not far to the North is a stone structure, called a court cairn which was a tomb and also the site of prehistoric ritual. Many of the churches along the coast were founded by or dedicated to the saints associated with the Aran Islands. The ruined church at Crumlin is dedicated to St Columba, who arrived there, according to tradition, in a canvas boat called a curragh, similar to those still in use on the islands.
The ferry to the Aran Islands runs from Doolin and the village is world famous for the traditional music played locally. Of the twelve castle shown on this map eight were held, one time or another, by the O'Brien clan, descendants of King Brian Boru and for centuries the most powerful family in the area.

The most impressive is Ballinalackan Castle. Set on a high rocky plateau it is surrounded by a partly intact bawn wall, which has a round-arched gateway. Finally, in the nearby 19th century Ballinalackan House, now a hotel, the weary walker can sit by a fine marble fireplace, carved out of a single slab, and relax over tea or stronger drink.

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21.6 x 13.8 cm.     viii, 350 pp.   1990   Irish Literary Studies series (ISSN 0140-895X) volume 36   IASAIL-Japan Series (ISSN 0267-6079) volume 3

This collection of essays looks at a variety of responses by writers to the problems of their motherland. Includes essays on Swift, Burke, Ferguson, Yeats, Lady Gregory, Joyce, Shaw, O'Casey, Parker and Egan, as well as Northern Irish poets and playwrights. Essayists include Vivian Mercier, A. Norman Jeffares, Lorna Reynolds, Maurice Harmon, John S. Kelly, Declan Kiberd, Christopher Murray, Brian Arkins, and Augustine Martin.

CONTENTS<br

INTRODUCTION. Masaru Sekine<br

ENGLISH READERS: THREE HISTORICAL 'MOMENTS'. Vivian Mercier<br

SWIFT: ANATOMY OF AN ANTI-COLONIALIST. A. Norman Jeffares<br

EDMUND BURKE: A VOICE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS. Lorna Reynolds<br

THE ENIGMA OF SAMUEL FERGUSON. Maurice Harmon<br

W. B. YEATS: POLITICS AND HISTORY. Donna Gerstenberger<br

ASCENDANCY NATIONALISM, FEMINIST NATIONALISM AND STAGECRAFT IN LADY GREGORY'S REVISION OF KINCORA. Maureen S.G. Hawkins<br

THE FIFTH BELL: RACE AND CLASS IN YEATS'S POLITICAL THOUGHT. John S. Kelly<br

KINESIS STASIS, REVOLUTION IN YEATSEAN DRAMA. Augustine Martin<br

JAMES JOYCE AND POLITICS. Heather Cook Callow<br

SAINT JOAN: FABIAN FEMINIST AND PROTESTANT MYSTIC. Declan Kiberd<br

THE 'MIGHT OF DESIGN' IN THE PLOUGH AND THE STARS. Christopher Murray<br

THE WILL TO FREEDOM: POLITICS AND PLAY IN THE THEATRE OF STEWART PARKER. Elmer Andrews<br

TOO LITTLE PEACE: THE POLITICAL POETRY OF DESMOND EGAN. Brian Arkins<br

WHO WE ARE: PROTESTANTS AND POETRY IN THE NORTH OF IRELAND. David Burleigh<br

THEATRE WITH ITS SLEEVES ROLLED UP. Emelie Fitzgibbon<br

Notes<br

Notes on Contributors<br

Index

 

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21.6 x 13.8 cm.   200 pp.   1984   Irish Literary Studies series (ISSN 0140-895X) volume 20

The Double Perspective of Yeats’s Aes­thetic offers penetrating insights into the poet’s aesthetic principles. These are characterised, Professor Komesu demon­strates, by a polarity of perspective. He argues that Yeats envisaged life as both unity and conflict, and regarded art as an embodiment of both experience and knowledge. The peculiar nature of this Yeatsian polarity is that the conflicting perspectives are not irreconcilably at war, but exist in a complementary relationship, in which one lives the other’s death, and dies the other’s life. This polarity sometimes led the poet into a logical impasse out of which he tried to struggle in vain. But from it, nonetheless, he gained the dramatic force and tension which enabled him to create a world of poetic vision and experience, one with a magnitude which is all its own. Professor Komesu finds this polarised perspective inherent in the literary theory of the West, constituting a discernible tradition that shapes such divergent artistic movements as Classicism and Romanticism. He contends that Yeats’s place must be found within this tradition.

CONTENTS<br

Preface

PART I<br

1. Introduction<br

2. Knowledge or Experience<br

3. The Saint or the Artist

PART II <br

4. Brahman or Daimon<br

5. The Flower or the Gyre<br

6. The Flower That Never Bloomed<br

7. Conclusion<br

Notes <br

Index

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