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Modern Ireland is beset by economic, social, and environmental problems, in stark contrast with its promoted image as a land of rolling green pastures and a timeless way of life based on a self-sustaining rural economy. While many of Ireland's problems are indigenous (the "troubles" of the North), others are part of general European and world trends. This contemporary study looks at these problems from geographic and environmental resource issues, placing them within their regional, national and international context. The volume covers a wide range of topics, such as population characteristics, crime, rural problems, to retailing tourism, regional development and environmental resource issues, including energy and water resource management. ... Read more

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Ireland is famous-or notorious-for its wet and mild climate. Because on average more water precipitates than evaporates, the island is rich in wetlands: marshes, swamps, fens, bogs, lagoons, and floodplains. Many of Ireland's place names refer to wet places. These rich ecosystems are disappearing at an alarming rate, including those in Ireland. This groundbreaking bookbrings together twenty-three specialists in wetland science to discuss in fifteen essays a wide range of topics, including the ecology, fauna, vegetation and distribution of various types of wetlands, wastewater management, the archaeology of wetlands, and protection and conservation. ... Read more

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Seeks to illustrate the validity of multiple depictions of the Irish past, showing how scrutiny of heritage practices and meanings is so essential for illuminating our understanding of the present. ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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Examines the land, people, and history of Ireland and discusses its current state of affairs and place in the world today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Ireland
Very good for country reports.Packed full of information on Ireland.The facts tend not to over burden the students with prolonged explanations.Contains very good black and white illustrations.I would recommend thisbook for students from the 5th grade up, as well as teachers and parents. ... Read more

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This book represents an innovative collaborative approach to the study of a particular region of the Ottoman empire, the southwestern Peloponnese (or Morea), Greece. It combines the study of unpublished Ottoman documents, other historical sources, and the results of diachronic archaeological fieldwork in an examination of the historical and economic geography of the Morea in the early 18th century, the period immediately following the Ottoman reconquest of this region from Venice. Central to the book is a translation of the section of an Ottoman cadastral survey (defter) listing in great detail properties in the district (kaza) of Anavarin (Navarino, modern Pylos). An introductory chapter outlines the history and methodology of the research project, while the translation is followed by chapters that provide a broader context, drawing on dozens of unpublished Ottoman documents and other sources for the analysis of the information contained in the document and the principles behind its composition. A final chapter summarizes the conclusions drawn from the research, and a series of appendixes offer additional detail, including concordances of the personal- and place-names, an index of properties described, narrative histories of the two fortresses in the region, and a new English translation of the Anavarin section of the 17th-century Turkish traveler Evliya Celebi's Seyahatname (Travel Book). A CD-ROM with a facsimile of the document itself and color versions of all illustrations is also included. ... Read more

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Ireland and the Irish are beloved today in the United States, not the least because of the large Irish-American population. The Irish have contributed a great deal to the Western literary canon and to the arts, and their way of life on the Emerald Isle is fabled. Culture and Customs of Ireland is the source for those interested in learning about the real Ireland and how its culture and customs came to be. Scanlan has her finger on the pulse of the country as it booms into the twenty-first century. This insightful survey of the contemporary scene is a one-stop resource for country study reports, general reading, and travel preparation.

Scanlan excels at portraying the vibrancy of Ireland, which has undergone a remarkable transformation since the 1980s and is now the second-wealthiest country in the European Union. At the same time, embattled Northern Ireland has taken key steps toward security and peace. This book surveys the cultural and political heritage of the Irish people, North and South. It highlights the remarkable accomplishments of Ireland's artists, writers, musicians and performers. It investigates the role of religion in Irish life, and the ways in which prosperity, feminism, and scandals within the churches have weakened that role. It looks at the impact of immigrants and refugees on contemporary society, at the increasing visibility of women on both sides of the border, and at the growing acceptance of gays. It also looks at daily life in Ireland—people going to work, shopping, finding someone to care for their children and the like. Most particularly, it shows the challenges of maintaining Irish identity in the face of globalization.

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This esteemed work contains every fact of importance tending to illustrate the localhistory of Ireland. Arranged alphabetically by place (village, parish, town, etc.), it provides afaithful description of all Irish localities as they existed at the time of publication (1837),showing, for example, exactly where a particular civil parish was located in relation to thenearest town or towns, the barony, county, and province in which it was situated, its principallandowners, the diocese in which it was situated, and--of great importance--the Roman Catholicdistrict in which the parish was located and the names of corresponding Catholic parishes. Inaddition, Lewis's gazetteer is augmented with engravings of the arms and seals of the varioustowns and boroughs in Ireland, an appendix showing the boundaries of the cities and boroughs,and a list of nearly 10,000 subscribers to the original publication, in effect a list of the Irishgentry of 1837. ... Read more

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Looks at Ireland's problems from geographic and environmental perspectives, placing them within their regional, national and international context. This book should be of interest to students and teachers of geography, environmental studies, policy-makers in Ireland. ... Read more

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Bringing together a range of different place-studies, including holy wells, spa towns, Turkish baths and sweat-houses, sea-bathing and the modern spa, this book investigates associations between water, health, place and culture in Ireland. It is informed by a humanistic approach, showing how health and place are socially and culturally constructed and how health is embodied, experienced and enacted in place. In addition, the book argues that an understanding of health and place must also consider the historical, societal and cultural orthodoxies that shape and produce those places. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

No one book can ever do Ireland Justice.

I have a large number of books about Ireland in my collection .While many are about history,and literature;I have many that are just "picture books" I have visited Ireland three times and while there are so many things that never cease to amaze me,the sights you encounter are spellbounding.
This book has to be one of the more unusual approaches to "photographing Ireland" that I have ever seen.
To start with, neither of the authors are Irish. Jan Morris who wrote the text is from Wales and Paul Wakefield ,who took the photographs is from Britian.Therefore it quite appropriate to say that this is Ireland as seen by outsiders.

On the dust jacket is this comment;

"Together,Paul Wakefield and Jan Morris have created a striking tribute to a country that is both exotic and uncertain,whimsical and mysterious." ..That they certainly did!!!
The book contains 75 photographs,that are quite unlike anything you normally come across in similar books.Many photogtaphs are quite melancholy and all but one or two were taken on sunless days.Most of these pictures are full page or larger.An interesting aspect of this book is that there is no corelation between the photographs and the text. Therefore one could just viev without reading.That would be a mistake;because the text is superb and written with insight and understanding.Some of the photographs would be more interesting if Wakefield had provided some details for them.
Many of the photographs are of such ordinary things that they prove the old adage that "Artists see where others only look". Beauty is everywhere,but it takes photographs like Wakefield's to show it to us.
This book was first published in 1990 and republished again in 1998. It is certainly worth the effort to search out and enjoy because it is definitely a different approach to photographing Ireland. ... Read more

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In the aftermath of Cromwell's campaigns, the Physician-General of the British army in Ireland, William Petty, was charged with recording all the land forfeited by the Irish. Petty produced the definitive 'Down survey' (so called because all measurements taken in the field were immediately written down on site for greater accuracy). Petty's maps remain visually correct to this day and provide the basis for this book. ... Read more

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This is a study of the clash between traditional and modern cultural values in present-day Ireland as indicated by voting behavior from 1981 to 1986 when there were three general elections and two referendums on the sensitive issues of abortion and divorce.Analysis of the results indicates that for many people locality and kinship were still important factors in electoral choice, while traditional Catholic teachings continued to provide the basic guidelines of life.The results also revealed the growth of a significant, mainly urban, minority which was more liberal in outlook and regarded Ireland as a secular society.The conclusions offer valuable information on the effects of the interaction of broad, international economic and social forces on a small, mainly rural country. ... Read more

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In Irish history the Vikings are often seen merely as attackers, but this book gives an account of the wider picture - how the Vikings significantly influenced Irish art and trade and the growth of towns and cities. It describes their first landing as a raiding party, and their settlement and gradual merging with the Irish by intermarriage and trade, and also explores the customs and traditions, and the arts and crafts which have become part of the Irish way of life. Cameos of the lives of individual Vikings - some real, some fictitious - are used in the retelling of events, and the illustrations include photographs of excavations and artefacts. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Collision
This little book is written simply, in a style suitable for interested young people but is nonetheless loaded with information new to me.To the extent that events over 1,000 years ago are known, Llywelin does a good job of summarizing events and discussing their overall importance in the development of the place we no know as Ireland.The author, also correctly, never says that the Vikings were repulsed or strategically defeated.They simply melded with the the Celtic population to become the present-day Irish.

Still some events are more legendary than real.The epic battle of Clontarf [April 23, 1014] was probably not so epic.Reportedly, Brodir of Man, while 'running away from the battle', stumbled on Boru's tent, killing him.If he did so, Brodir must have been 'retreating' into the Irish lines, a most peculiar thing to do.Far more likely is that Boru was slain in a rear area by a Viking assault that had penetrated the lines.Also, the statement that the Vikings were discomfited and drowned because the retreating tide had pulled their long ships far from the land is weird.The Vikings were altogether familiar with the effects of tides.At worse, the long ships would have been resting on the beach...and...long ships were designed to be beached.On the other hand, maybe the author means that the tide had come in and anchored long ships were now far from the high tide mark.

This is also weird.If the Vikings, rather uncharacteristically, anchored their war ships, they would have accessed the beach by smaller rowboats...rowboats that would have been guarded.Retreating Vikings would simply have rowed to their long ships.I make a point of this because a couple of long ships have been discovered in a Danish bay.If I can recall rightly, scientific analysis shows that both ships were built of timbers felled in the Dublin area in the early 1100s i.e. the Vikings must have still be thoroughly escounced in Ireland at this time.By simple extrapolation, the Battle of Clontarf probably wasn't the climatic victory many Irish thought.

Nevertheless, the Irish continued to speak Gaelic rather than Scandinavian but, then again, there were always a lot more Irish than 'Vikings.'

Ron Braithwaite author of novels...'Skull Rack' and 'Hummingbird God'...on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico

Excellent overview
This is an excellent overview of the subject.Presents comprehensive information in plain and simple language.It didn't get the fifth star only because it lacks a bibliography.There are no references for someonewho'd like to read further on the subject.Otherwise, recommended. ... Read more

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Using the concepts of "colonialism" and "early modernity," William J. Smyth offers a geographical analysis of the most revolutionary period in Ireland's history. He analyzes the conquest and settlement of Ireland by the English and Scottish and the consequences of their often violent intrusion upon the cultures and landscapes of preexisting Irish societies.

Smyth focuses on the ways in which the British state subjugated Irish territories, including a systematic use of surveillance techniques; implementation of mapping and inventories of strategic landscapes and resources; and development of bureaucracies and administrative techniques of law and the market economy so as to obliterate regional expression of Gaelic cultures and practices. What results is a fresh interpretation of Ireland's experiences in this crucial early modern period.

"This book tackles grand themes on a grand scale. . . . William Smyth's great achievement is to show that so much of the early geography of early modern Ireland can be recovered and that so many topics can be mapped in considerable detail. An outstanding feature is the inclusion of more than one hundred maps . . . sixteen pages of colour plates allow the reproduction, in astounding clarity, of some of the most relevant manuscript maps compiled for English intelligence. These maps are an eye-opener to the embedded nature of Irish regional variations, challenging us to treat history with respect for geography." -The Irish Times

"The story of Ireland c. 1530-1750 will always be retold. But few retellings will bring such a freshness of eye or depth of analysis as Map-making, Landscapes and Memory. Brilliantly conceived and meticulously researched, it captures the complexity and subtlety of Ireland's changing landscapes, identities, mentalities, and spaces with great skill and considerable style. Few authors can have done more to release the meaning embedded in maps, whether those produced by sixteenth- and seventeenth-century surveyors like Robert Lythe, Richard Bartlett, and Sir William Petty, or those produced in abundance by himself." --Robert A. Dodgshon, University of Wales, Aberystwyth ... Read more