Irish History

There have been tramways in Britain for 150 years, but it is a story of rise, decline and slow renaissance. Trams have come and gone, been loved and hated, popular and derided, considered both old fashioned and futuristic. Horse t…

Surrounded on all sides by water, Ireland and its people have long been shaped by the sea. Ireland has a rich history of famous – and infamous – mariners: from our earliest navigators, who may have reached North America – by curra…

This book features thirty-eight sites which contain collections of the finest and most interesting - and in several instances, little known - twentieth-century stained glass in Dublin city and county; the majority of the windows w…

Throughout history, the stories of women’s lives and work have been overshadowed by those of men. Wives, especially, disappear, unacknowledged as patrons and champions of their husband’s work, as collaborators, muses, carers and m…

Whether it’s tightly rolled up between two nervous, wringing hands, proudly sticking out from a quick-stepping back pocket or carefully brought home to be kept for posterity, the matchday programme is part of the very fabric of th…

THE NUMBER 1 IRISH TIMES BESTSELLERSHORTLISTED FOR THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 An Irish Times Book of the Year 2024 Ireland is a strikingly different country now to the one it was in the mid-1990s. Dramati…

From the bestselling author Linden MacIntyre comes an engrossing exploration of one of the most significant, but nearly unknown figures of the Irish War of Independence, Sir Hugh Tudor. Appointed by Winston Churchill to lead the R…

Executed by a British firing squad on May 12, 1916, for his role in organizing the Easter Rising, James Connolly was one of the most prominent radical organizers and agitators of his day. As a labor organizer, Connolly stressed th…

This book documents life in two gentry houses in County Cork from the 1860s to the early 1900s. It is told through the memoirs, written later in life, of three of the four Fleming sisters of New Court House, Skibbereen. These rec…

Until now, in-depth analysis of key female figures in Irish republicanism in the early twentieth century has been limited. Mary MacSwiney was one of themost single-minded anti-Treaty women, leading Eamon de Valera to describe her …

KILLING THATCHER is the gripping account of how the IRA came astonishingly close to killing Margaret Thatcher and to wiping out the British Cabinet – an extraordinary assassination attempt linked to the Northern Ireland Troubles a…

‘After the massacre, the GAA became even more important to us as a real sense of identity. It’s difficult to explain but we could cling to it in a sense, and say this is ours, this is us.’ – Clare Rogan, wife of Adrian Rogan, kill…

Ballybunion to the River Kwai is the remarkable story of Don Kennedy’s harrowing experience as an Irish prisoner of war under the Japanese from 1942–45. Vividly narrated by Don’s son Fergus, this is the first account of an Irish c…

On 26th May 1986, the body of an undercover British agent was found by the side of a muddy lane, with a rope tied around its wrists and tape over each eye. Years later, it was reported that this murder might have been carried out …

Irish history is often fast and furious and nowhere more contentiously than when discussing religion. This book is designed to be read with equal profit by those who know a little and those who know a lot about the role of religio…

For over four decades the story of the extraordinary evil that occurred at the Kincora Boys’ Home in East Belfast in the 1970s and the shocking attempts by MI5 to cover it up have haunted our political and social terrain for decad…

Described by Ulster Unionist leader James Craig as the ‘root of all evil’, the Boundary Commission that convened in 1924 was a symbol of hope for nationalist Ireland and fear for unionist Northern Ireland. Offered to Sinn Féin ple…

In eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe everyone lived ‘off the land’ in one way or another. In Ireland, however, almost everyone lived ‘on the land’ as well. Agriculture was the only economic resource for the vast majority o…

The true story of one of the biggest bank heists in Irish and British history – and the questions that remain. On a Sunday evening in December 2004, two young men were at home with their families. Both worked for the Northern Bank…

In the Prohibition era, the speakeasies of New York City provide some much-needed respite, particularly for the likes of Michael Malloy, an isolated Irish immigrant. But times are tough and for an unlikely group of associates – a …

Liam O'Callaghan's revelatory Blood and Thunder shows that the rise of Irish rugby is inextricable from the tensions, debates and divisions – of politics, religion and class – that have defined modern Irish history. Despite the po…

On 12 June 1922 King George V received at Windsor Castle representatives of the six disbanded Irish regiments. While five had long and distinguished service records, the South Irish Horse (SIH) had only been raised in 1902, as a r…

As the War of Independence began to rage in Ireland in 1920, the British, embarked on a major shake-up. They established publicity offices in Dublin to promote their version of events. In this fascinating book Michael B. Barry tel…

Discover the long and rich history of the island of Ireland, from the very earliest Mesolithic inhabitants to Vikings and Celts and the modern 21st-century nation of today. Encompassing stories of some of Ireland’s best-known cha…

Discover the timeless flavours of Ireland in Essential Irish Farmhouse Recipes, a collection of classic recipes that celebrate the rich culinary heritage of Ireland’s countryside. This beautifully crafted cookbook brings together…

In November 2023, the Dublin riots shocked Ireland and the wider world. They were sparked by a knife attack by an immigrant on three children. Inflammatory online rumours spread in minutes.Part of the north inner city were wrecked…

In this unrepentant and revealing memoir, Dan Mulvihill, a leading figure in Irish republicanism recounts his fight for an Irish Republic over several decades and his central involvement in key events throughout the twentieth cent…

Northern Ireland, 1975. Violence has erupted on the streets of Belfast. After years as a sleepy guerilla army, the IRA is clashing with Loyalist gangs and heavily armed British soldiers.But the Troubles have spilled beyond the sma…

This addictive, fascinating and humorous book is an indispensable collection of Irish trivia, history and uncommon knowledge. Presented in short, digestible entries and engagingly written throughout, this revised edition contains …

In the 1800s, as Britain became the world's most powerful industrial empire, Ireland starved. The Great Famine fractured long-held assumptions about political economy and 'civilisation', threatening disorder in Britain. Ireland wa…