Tales from Portlaw Volume Two - The Priest's Calling Card


Book Description

I grew up on my mother's stories. Although an Irish woman of small stature and imaginative mind, stories didn't come any 'taller' than those tales told by my mother. They would stretch the bounds of one's credulity beyond the realms of possibility, and yet, she always made me 'want to believe them'. Having been persuaded to return to writing, I decided to recount some of the stories told to me by my mother long ago. Being a person with my own imagination, I have taken the germ of her tale and elaborated it with the aid of 70 years of wisdom and a splash of literary licence to come up with the final result. 'The Priest's Calling Card' is about a Portlaw Priest who leaves his walking stick outside any house he visits as a sign of his presence there and with the clear understanding he is never to be interrupted during his home visits by any other callers to the house where he is.




Douglas the Dragon - Omnibus Edition


Book Description

'Douglas the Dragon' symbolises 'the power of love'. A young orphaned dragon is found and adopted by a young boy and becomes a much-loved dragon in the village. When the boy is killed by a volcano, the dragon is eventually evicted from the community. The dragon spends 50 years in exile sitting upon his volcano of hate and getting angrier and angrier until his anger explodes and he seeks revenge. Old age and death are stages in a person's life that all children find difficult concepts to understand, but this is eased considerably when 'death' is associated with the concept of 'rebirth'. At a time of separation, bereavement or loss, children become more isolated, non-communicative and vulnerable. Allow Douglas to help them 'live again' through his own experiences of illness and near death.







The Cambridge History of Ireland: Volume 3, 1730–1880


Book Description

The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was an era of continuity as well as change. Though properly portrayed as the era of 'Protestant Ascendancy' it embraces two phases - the eighteenth century when that ascendancy was at its peak; and the nineteenth century when the Protestant elite sustained a determined rear-guard defence in the face of the emergence of modern Catholic nationalism. Employing a chronology that is not bound by traditional datelines, this volume moves beyond the familiar political narrative to engage with the economy, society, population, emigration, religion, language, state formation, culture, art and architecture, and the Irish abroad. It provides new and original interpretations of a critical phase in the emergence of a modern Ireland that, while focused firmly on the island and its traditions, moves beyond the nationalist narrative of the twentieth century to provide a history of late early modern Ireland for the twenty-first century.




Irish Country Houses


Book Description

A photographic chronicle of Irish country houses from their heyday to contemporary times.




Tales of Bernard


Book Description

In writing 'Tales of Bernard', I have tried to provide the reader and all dog lovers with a taste of what it is like to be homeless. Through reading about the exploits of our hero, Bernard, alongside those of Boxer and his pack of stray-pedigree hounds, the story as a whole can be productively used as a 'discussion starter' in both home and classroom for the child reader. 'Tales of Bernard' can be enjoyed by any dog lover, whether they be child or adult as the central themes covered in the story embrace the many problems to be found in any society that experiences, abandonment, desertion, bullying and homelessness. Each of the dog characters in the book will be readily identified with by some child readers as they display behaviour and traits which are common to many growing children. The overall theme of the book is that whether it is bullying, homelessness or indeed any other problem of social and environmental conditioning, we all need to pull together to help each other win through.




The Irish Famine


Book Description

The National Library of Ireland is a major source for the study of the Irish Famine. Its collections include the newspapers, the parliamentary debates, and the various official reports published at the time. The Department of Manuscripts holds the records of many of the great landed estates, which provide primary evidence on the landlords' role in the crisis. The Library's extensive collection of prints and drawings enables us to visualise conditions at the time, and to empathise with our ancestors in their travails. To give as broad an understanding as possible of this vast and complex subject, the book also includes documents and illustrations from a number of other repositories. They include the National Archives, the Department of Irish Folklore at University College Dublin, Dublin Diocesan Archives, Birmingham Library Services, the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, the McKinney Library in Albany, U.S.A., and the National Archives of Canada.




Pococke's Tour in Ireland in 1752


Book Description

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.