The perfect gift for parents this Father’s Day: a beautiful, gut-wrenching memoir of Irish identity, fatherhood, and what we owe to the past. “A heartbreaking and redemptive book, written with courage and grace.” –J.D. Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy “…a lovely little book.” –Ross Douthat, The New York Times The child of an Irish man and an Irish-American woman who split up before he was born, Michael Brendan Dougherty grew up with an acute sense of absence. He was raised in New Jersey by his hard-working single mother, who gave him a passion for Ireland, the land of her roots and the home of Michael's father. She put him to bed using little phrases in the Irish language, sang traditional songs, and filled their home with a romantic vision of a homeland over the horizon. Every few years, his father returned from Dublin for a visit, but those encounters were never long enough. Devastated by his father's departures, Michael eventually consoled himself by believing that fatherhood was best understood as a check in the mail. Wearied by the Irish kitsch of the 1990s, he began to reject his mother's Irish nationalism as a romantic myth. Years later, when Michael found out that he would soon be a father himself, he could no longer afford to be jaded; he would need to tell his daughter who she is and where she comes from. He immediately re-immersed himself in the biographies of firebrands like Patrick Pearse and studied the Irish language. And he decided to reconnect with the man who had left him behind, and the nation just over the horizon. He began writing letters to his father about what he remembered, missed, and longed for. Those letters would become this book. Along the way, Michael realized that his longings were shared by many Americans of every ethnicity and background. So many of us these days lack a clear sense of our cultural origins or even a vocabulary for expressing this lack--so we avoid talking about our roots altogether. As a result, the traditional sense of pride has started to feel foreign and dangerous; we've become great consumers of cultural kitsch, but useless conservators of our true history. In these deeply felt and fascinating letters, Dougherty goes beyond his family's story to share a fascinating meditation on the meaning of identity in America.

In 1948, an ambitious 20 year-old Irish journalist with law and law-reporting experience, arrived in Shrewsbury at 9.15 a.m to join a national press agency, tired and hungry after the night boat from Dublin, two trains, and a six hour wait at Crewe Junction. His new boss shook hands in the office at Shoplatch and sent him back up the town to a divorce court. He bought himself a Mars bar for breakfast. After an hour of taking down the most lubricious evidence he had ever heard, about women's underwear draped over a chair, a man in her bed and his shoes under it, the court rose, the clerk sent the bailiff out for a policeman who took him downstairs to a cell. the constable shut the door. the clerk arrived and offered the prisoner a cigarette, declined. He took off his wig and sat down beside him to ask who he was, who he worked for, where did he come from, and when? the reporter replied - Paddy McGarvey, Bryce Thomas Press Agency in Shoplatch, from Dublin, this morning, and the clerk roared with laughter "You are not allowed to write down evidence in divorce; it is illegal. You should have been told that by your editor. You must wait to hear the judge's summary and decision, to report that if you wish." Resuming his wig, he told the police there would be no charge, and to release him. the clerk told the resumed court he comes only this very this morning from a country which forbids divorce, and the court roared with laughter. His meekly polite employer, Leslie Bryce Thomas, arrived and took him back to the office, on this, his first morning, job, court, day, police cell, in England.

This vintage volume contains Lord Dunsany's 1937 novel, "My Ireland". Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett (1878 - 1957) was an Irish writer and dramatist, most famous for the novels, mostly in the fantasy genre, that he published under the pen name 'Lord Dunsany'. A prolific writer, he published more than eighty books and many hundreds of short stories, as well as numerous plays, novels, and essays. The chapters of this book include: 'A. E., Tara', 'St. Patrick', 'Old Mickey', 'Francis Ledwidge', 'How the Students came to Trim', 'A Lapse of Memory', 'Jack-Snipe', 'Woodcock', 'Gray Lags', 'Business', 'John Watson', 'The State of the Moon', 'Swans', etcetera. Many antiquarian books like this are increasingly scarce and expensive, and it is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, high-quality, modern edition. It comes complete with a specially commissioned biography of the author.

Through ancient Celtic designs and myths, a woman looks back from Canada at the simplicity and complexity of a little girl's life in a charming Irish village.

For almost forty years, Fr Sean McManus has been at the heart of the Irish American campaign to pressurise the British government regarding injustice in Northern Ireland. This is a deeply personal account of how his lone voice mainstreamed Northern Ireland on Capitol Hill, after the Catholic Church removed him from Britain. He became 'Britain's nemesis in America', founding the Irish National Caucus in 1974. Also chronicles the events and social context that influenced him, growing up in a parish divided by the Border.

Puzzles, games, colouring and tons of interesting facts about the Cliffs of Moher and The Burren: two of Ireland's most spectacular destinations. Polly Puffin guides the reader through crosswords, matching games, mazes, wordsearches and stories, encouraging young readers to explore what the west of Ireland has to offer.

From rustic towns and emerald valleys to lively cities and moss-draped ruins, experience Ireland with the most up-to-date 2021 guide from Rick Steves! Inside Rick Steves Ireland you'll find: Comprehensive coverage for planning a multi-week trip through Ireland Rick's strategic advice on how to get the most of your time and money, with rankings of his must-see favorites Top sights and hidden gems, from the Rock of Cashel and the Ring of Kerry to distilleries making whiskey with hundred-year-old recipes How to connect with local culture: Hoist a pint at the corner pub, enjoy traditional fiddle music, and jump into conversations buzzing with brogue Beat the crowds, skip the lines, and avoid tourist traps with Rick's candid, humorous insight The best places to eat, sleep, and relax with a Guinness Self-guided walking tours of atmospheric neighborhoods and awe-inspiring sights Trip-planning tools, like how to link destinations, build your itinerary, and get from place to place Detailed maps, including a fold-out map for exploring on the go Useful resources including a packing list, Irish phrase book, historical overview, and recommended reading Updated to reflect changes that occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic up to the date of publication Over 1,000 bible-thin pages include everything worth seeing without weighing you down Coverage of Dublin, Kilkenny, Waterford, County Wexford, Kinsale, Cobh, Kenmare, The Ring of Kerry, Dingle Peninsula, County Clare, the Burren, Galway, the Aran Islands, Connemara, County Mayo, Belfast, Portrush, the Antrim Coast, Derry, County Donegal, and much more Make the most of every day and every dollar with Rick Steves Ireland. Planning a one- to two-week trip? Check out Rick Steves Best of Ireland.

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.

Two memoirs written in the late 1950s by Robert Brennan, a republican activist in the early years of the twentieth century, journalist and close associate of Eamon de Valera. "Ireland Standing Firm" is a frank and pungent account of Robert Brennan's time as Irish Minister (in effect Irish Ambassador) in Washington immediately before and during the World War II. Brennan provides an account of his efforts in defending Irish neutrality and his meetings with leading American officials and politicians, including Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the second memoir, Brennan describes his close association with Eamon de Valera from their first meeting in prison in 1917 until de Valera's retirement as Taoiseach in 1959.

“This gonzo-journalistic exploration of the Silicon Valley techno-utopians’ pursuit of escaping mortality is a breezy romp full of colorful characters.” —New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice) Transhumanism is a movement pushing the limits of our bodies—our capabilities, intelligence, and lifespans—in the hopes that, through technology, we can become something better than ourselves. It has found support among Silicon Valley billionaires and some of the world’s biggest businesses. In To Be a Machine, journalist Mark O'Connell explores the staggering possibilities and moral quandaries that present themselves when you of think of your body as a device. He visits the world's foremost cryonics facility to witness how some have chosen to forestall death. He discovers an underground collective of biohackers, implanting electronics under their skin to enhance their senses. He meets a team of scientists urgently investigating how to protect mankind from artificial superintelligence. Where is our obsession with technology leading us? What does the rise of AI mean not just for our offices and homes, but for our humanity? Could the technologies we create to help us eventually bring us to harm? Addressing these questions, O'Connell presents a profound, provocative, often laugh-out-loud-funny look at an influential movement. In investigating what it means to be a machine, he offers a surprising meditation on what it means to be human.