Michael Lenihan delves into the rich tapestry of Cork history to reveal some of its most bizarre events and strangest characters. From quack doctor Baron Spolasco, to the outlaw Art O Laoghaire, Cork has seen some eccentric, wonderful and downright nasty people. With revelations of mass graves in Bishop Lucey Park and how Jonathan Swift was insulted by being awarded the freedom of the city, and stories of the Gas Works' strike, Hidden Cork opens the door on history, dumps the boring bits and brings to life the flow of time through the streets of Cork.

Explore the secret history of Cork through a fascinating selection of stories, facts and photographs.

The magnetism of Kerry lies as much in its people as its landscape. 'Hidden Kerry' takes you on the less-travelled paths of the kingdom and is peopled with a varied cast of characters with colourful stories. Open the covers and lose yourself in the story of Lord Kenmare's forgotten mansion, which hosted royal visits until it was consumed by fire in 1913. An amazing edifice of towers, marble and art, it was reduced to a pile of ashes in hours. You will also meet vibrant characters, such as Lily of the Valley: Lily van Ooost, the Flemish artist who made her home in the Black Valley where she embarked on wildly creative textile projects, including knitting a jumper for Dublin's Halfpenny Bridge. As well as this 'Hidden Kerry' will tell you where to find the county's unknown natural beauty spots concealed just minutes off the beaten track.

As the home of the famous Blarney Stone it is perhaps not surprising that the stories of County Cork could fill many libraries. Among its vast archive of myth and legend are tales of the Goddess Cliona, The Hag of Beara and the Giant Mac Mahon and the epic story of St Finbarr who bashed Louie, a fiery serpent, from the lake at Goughan Barra, its wriggling tail forming the course of the River Lee.These tales and more, drawn from historical sources and newly recorded local reminiscences, have been brought to life here by professional storyteller and Cork native Kate Corkery. This collection is a heady mix of bloodthirsty, funny, passionate and moving stories. It will take you into a remarkable world where you can let your imagination run wild.

In a world where advanced DNA manipulation has created miniature special operational beings, Max and his peers are the elite force trained to combat international terrorism and infiltrate enemy cells. But as they approach maturity and active service at age 18, they realize their true purpose: to be disposable assets for the top-secret Project OV organization. With the help of his friend Flea, a tough and determined character, Max leads a daring escape for his group and sets off on a dangerous journey evading capture and searching for a hidden community where they can live in freedom. Follow Max’s thrilling adventure as he fights for survival and fights for his fellow fugitives in this action-packed novel.

With Fadó, long forgotten about episodes from Irish history are presented in easy to follow short chapters. Who was Crom Cruach and what are Holy Wells? Who were the priest catchers and why were corpses stolen? How did a Cork woman become a feared pirate of the Caribbean and why is William Melville not loved by all in his native county? For such a small island, Ireland has history and archaeology in abundance and much of this is often only known to people in the locality. The author has travelled the island extensively and researched long forgotten characters and events, some of whom are stranger than fiction. Irish men and women of all hues and generations are examined here as the reader is guided through a land of heroes and villains, saints and scholars, pestilence and prosperity. Fadó is a book that can be read with ease and the author’s passion for his subject is infectious. It is a must read for anyone interested in Irish history.

* The author is closely tied to the community; the content and format is produced in direct response to real world experience and feedback from Illustrator users The skill level appeals to both industry professionals and hobbyists looking to hone their skills

“State alert as pregnant asylum seekers aim for Ireland.” “Country Being Held Hostage by Con Men, Spongers, and Those Taking Advantage of the Maternity Residency Policy.” From 1997 to 2004, headlines such as these dominated Ireland’s mainstream media as pregnant immigrants were recast as “illegals” entering the country to gain legal residency through childbirth. As immigration soared, Irish media and politicians began to equate this phenomenon with illegal immigration that threatened to destroy the country’s social, cultural, and economic fabric. Pregnant on Arrival explores how pregnant immigrants were made into paradigmatic figures of illegal immigration, as well as the measures this characterization set into motion and the consequences for immigrants and citizens. While focusing on Ireland, Eithne Luibhéid’s analysis illuminates global struggles over the citizenship status of children born to immigrant parents in countries as diverse as the United States, Hong Kong, and elsewhere. Scholarship on the social construction of the illegal immigrant calls on histories of colonialism, global capitalism, racism, and exclusionary nation building but has been largely silent on the role of nationalist sexual regimes in determining legal status. Eithne Luibhéid turns to queer theory to understand how pregnancy, sexuality, and immigrants’ relationships to prevailing sexual norms affect their chances of being designated as legal or illegal. Pregnant on Arrival offers unvarnished insight into how categories of immigrant legal status emerge and change, how sexual regimes figure prominently in these processes, and how efforts to prevent illegal immigration ultimately redefine nationalist sexual norms and associated racial, gender, economic, and geopolitical hierarchies.

Hearing Voices: The History of Psychiatry in Ireland is a monumental work by one of Ireland’s leading psychiatrists, encompassing every psychiatric development from the Middle Ages to the present day, and examining the far-reaching social and political effects of Ireland’s troubled relationship with mental illness. From the “Glen of Lunatics”, said to cure the mentally ill, to the overcrowded asylums of later centuries – with more beds for the mentally ill than any other country in the world – Ireland has a complex, unsettled history in the practice of psychiatry. Kelly’s definitive work examines Ireland’s unique relationship with conceptions of mental ill health throughout the centuries, delving into each medical breakthrough and every misuse of authority – both political and domestic – for those deemed to be mentally ill. Through fascinating archival records, Kelly writes a crisp and accessible history, evaluating everything from individual case histories to the seismic effects of the First World War, and exploring the attitudes that guided treatments, spanning Brehon Law to the emerging emphasis on human rights. Hearing Voices is a marvel that affords incredible insight into Ireland’s social and medical history while providing powerful observations on our current treatment of mental ill health in Ireland.

This edited collection brings together texts that discuss current major issues in our troubled times through the lens of Norbert Elias’s sociology. It sheds light on both the contemporary world and some of Elias’s most controversial concepts. Through examination of the ‘current affairs’, political and social contemporary changes, the authors in this collection present new and challenging ways of understanding these social processes and figurations. Ultimately, the objective of the book is to embrace and utilise some of the more polemical aspects of Elias’s legacy, such as the exploration of decivilizing processes, decivilizing spurts, and dys-civilization. It investigates to what extent Elias’s sociological analyses are still applicable in our studies of the developments that mark our troubled times. It does so through both global and local lenses, theoretically and empirically, and above all, by connecting past, present, and possible futures of all human societies.