This book explores the political and ideological developments that resulted in the establishment of two separate states on the island of Ireland: the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland. It examines how this radical transformation took place, including how British Liberals and Unionists were as influential in the “two-state solution” as any Irish party. The book analyzes transformative events including the third home rule crisis, partition and the creation of Northern Ireland, and the Irish Free State’s establishment through the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The policies and priorities of major figures such as H.H. Asquith, David Lloyd George, John Redmond, Eamon de Valera, Edward Carson, and James Craig receive prominent attention, as do lesser-known events and organizations like the Irish Convention and Irish Dominion League. The work outlines many possible solutions to Britain’s “Irish question,” and discusses why some settlement ideas were adopted and others discarded. Analyzing public discourse and archival sources, this monograph offers new perspectives on the Irish Revolution, highlighting in particular the tension between public rhetoric and private opinion.

'Ireland's heritage is being steadily whittled away by human exploitation, pollution and other aspects of modern development. This could represent a serious loss to the nation.' Irish Government Report, June 1969 Nature in Ireland is disappearing at an alarming rate. Overfishing, industrial-scale farming and pollution have decimated wildlife habitats and populations. In a single lifetime, vast shoals of herring, rivers bursting with salmon, and bogs alive with flocks of curlew and geese have all become folk memories. Coastal and rural communities are struggling to survive; the foundations of our tourism and agricultural sectors are being undermined. The lack of political engagement frequently sees the state in the European Court of Justice for environmental issues. Pádraic Fogarty authoritatively charts how this grim failure to manage our natural resources has impoverished our country. But all is not lost: he also reveals possibilities for the future, describing how we can fill our seas with fish, farm in tune with nature, and create forests that benefit both people and wildlife. He makes a persuasive case for the return of long-lost species like wild boar, cranes and wolves, showing how the interests of the country and its nature can be reconciled. A provocative call to arms, Whittled Away presents an alternative path that could lead us all to a brighter future.

Originally published in 1960 and edited by Conor Cruise O’Brien, The Shaping of Modern Ireland was a seminal work surveying the lives of prominent early twentieth-century figures who influenced Irish affairs in the years between the death of Charles Stewart Parnell in 1891 and the Easter Rising of 1916. The chapters were written by leading historians and commentators from the Ireland of the 1950s, some of whom personally knew the subjects of their essays. This volume draws its inspiration from that seminal work. Written by some of today’s leading figures from the world of Irish history, politics, journalism and the arts, it revisits a crucial phase in the country’s history, one that culminated in the Easter Rising and the Revolution, when everything ‘changed utterly’. With chapters on men and women of the stature of Carson, Connolly and Markievicz, but also industrialists such as Guinness who contributed to ‘shaping modern Ireland’ in the social and economic sphere, this book offers an important contribution to the renewal of the debate on the country’s history.

The harp became the emblem on Irish coinage in the 16th century. Since then it has been symbolic of Irish culture, music, and politics - finally evolving into a significant marker of national identity in the 18th and 19th centuries. The most important period in this evolution was between 1770 and 1880, when the harp became central to many utopian visions of an autonomous Irish nation, and its metaphoric significance eclipsed its musical one. Mary Louise O'Donnell uses these fascinating years of major social, political, and cultural change as the focus of her study on the Irish harp.

In recent decades, Ireland’s three major political parties have maintained over 80 percent of the vote in the face of rapidly shifting social divisions, political values, and controversial issues, though not by giving voice to particular interest groups or reacting to issues of the day. Rather, Sean D. McGraw reveals how party leaders select, or purposely sideline, pressing political and social issues in order to preserve their competitive advantage. By relegating divisive issues to extraparliamentary institutions, such as referenda or national wage bargaining systems, major parties mitigate the effects of changing environments and undermine the appeal of minor parties. This richly textured case study of the major parties in the Republic of Ireland engages the broader comparative argument that political parties actively shape which choices are available to the electorate and—just as importantly—which are not. Additionally, McGraw sets a new standard for mixed-method research by employing public opinion surveys, party manifestos, content analysis of media coverage, the author’s own survey of nearly two-thirds of Irish parliamentarians in both 2010 and 2012, and personal interviews conducted over the course of six years.

Irish Presbyterians and the Shaping of Western Pennsylvania, 1770–1830 is a historical study examining the religious culture of Irish immigrants in the early years of America. Despite fractious relations among competing sects, many immigrants shared a vision of a renewed Ireland in which their versions of Presbyterianism could flourish free from the domination of landlords and established church. In the process, they created the institutional foundations for western Pennsylvanian Presbyterian churches. Rural Presbyterian Irish church elders emphasized community and ethnoreligious group solidarity in supervising congregants’ morality. Improved transportation and the greater reach of the market eliminated near-subsistence local economies and hastened the demise of religious traditions brought from Ireland. Gilmore contends that ritual and daily religious practice, as understood and carried out by migrant generations, were abandoned or altered by American-born generations in the context of major economic change.

Demonstrates that there was ... a significant Welsh involvement in Ireland between 1558 and 1641. It explores how the Welsh established themselves as soldiers, government officials and planters in Ireland. It also discusses how the Welsh, although participating in the 'English' colonisation of Ireland, nevertheless remained a distinct community, settling together and maintaining strong kinship and social and economic networks to fellow countrymen, including in Wales.

"A wonderful story, full of emotional depth and heart." Rachael Johns FOUR DIFFERENT WOMEN. THE SAME BIG PROBLEM. ONE MAGICAL SOLUTION? Mezz is overweight and overworked: she's convinced it's only a matter of time until her husband starts to stray. Jewels is fat and fabulous, but if she wants the baby she craves, the Tim Tams have to go. Ellie's life looks perfect to her London friends on Facebook: she keeps her waistline out of the photos and her loneliness to herself. Kat will do anything to keep her daughter Ami happy and safe. If she can just lose that baby weight, she's sure Ami's dad will stick around. In this heartwarming, heartbreaking story, four women who meet online in a weight loss forum learn that losing weight might not be the key to happiness, but believing in the ones you live - and yourself - just might be. MORE PRAISE FOR THE SHAPE OF US 'Lisa Ireland gets right to the heart of female friendship, exploring topics every woman can relate to.' Rachael Johns, author of The Art of Keeping Secrets 'Every so often a book comes along which captures your thoughts so well it could have been written with you in mind. The Shape of Us is a thought-provoking and perceptive glance into the lives of women (and men) grappling with confidence and self-image problems and the impact it has on their lives.' Queensland Times 'The Shape of Us is a heart-warming, heart-breaking tale of women's friendship.' Daily Examiner 'Will make you both laugh and cry...Lisa Ireland believes people are worth so much more than numbers on a scale or what clothing they can fit into - and her book shows how important that is.' The Weekly Times 'A highly relatable story on many levels...ultimately, a book about friendship and support.' Beauty & Lace