SaltWater

SaltWater is a book of short fiction inspired by the sea, by award-winning fiction writer Lane Ashfeldt. The diverse stories gathered here include tales that unfold now or in the past, along rural or urban coasts, and are set in a range of countries from Ireland to as far away as New Zealand. Some of them are fast-paced while others beat to gentler rhythms – but what they share in common, besides their link with the sea, is that they are original new narratives vibrantly brought to life. Like the sea itself, SaltWater is by turns dark and foreboding, at other times life affirming and hopeful. A powerful, arresting collection from a voice we can expect to hear more from in the future.

Undercurrents

A much-anticipated collection of haibun and haiku by Amanda Bell, launched in June 2016.

The Lion Tamer Dreams Of Office Work

An Anthology of Poetry by the Hibernian Writers, edited by Amanda Bell, from Alba Publishing, October 2015

Maurice Craig: Photographs, ed. Amanda Bell

Published by the Lilliput Press. From the 1940s on, Maurice Craig took photographs all around Ireland. He donated 2,000 of them to the Irish Architectural Archive. This book introduces seventy of Maurice Craig’s favourite photographs from his archive, with commentary. Edited by Amanda Bell.

A Deadly Greed

As the curtain falls on her debut as Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Helena notices her husband hasn’t arrived for her performance. He is dead. Helena becomes the prime suspect. Afraid she will be arrested or murdered before she uncovers the truth, Helena puts her career on hold and sets out to identify the killer. Can be purchased from www.booklocker.com as an eBook or as a paperback

ISBN 9781614347583

American Road

Seán’s highly entertaining and often hilarious account of his travels in America has been published by Global Village Press. The book was serialised each week in the Liffey Champion newspaper. Initially available exclusively in Kindle format, the paperback was launched 1st December 2012.

Sticking Out In Minnesota

A seriously enjoyable account of a young Irishman’s encounter with, not only Minnesota, but all things American. Shot through with humour and some excellent observations the book was a joy to read. Whether Sean Carabini is musing on the extent of the obesity he encounters or struggling with plagues of insects his sharp observations make his journey a most enjoyable one for the reader.

The Dark Side Of The Moon

One of the best collections of short stories in recent times, some profoundly dark, some side-splittingly funny, and each reflecting the daily struggles faced by all.

After Terra: Year 200

If but one person holds onto hope and love, we might survive. For thousands of years, human civilization flourished. We thought we had all of the answers. We were wrong. Now, two hundred years after the total destruction of Terra, a hollow shell of humanity remains. It is in this time that one man, Matthew Garrison, on a simple quest to retrieve a gem for his girlfriend, is unwittingly swept up with a crew of rogues and misfits trying to eke out an existence on the fringe. They are put on a collision course with an alliance of corporations, in a confrontation that will force them to question everything it means to be human.

After Terra: In The Baron’s Shadow

From growth and discovery comes pain & consequence…
Following the Year 200 Event, life is anything but normal again for Matthew Garrison and the crew of Unyielding Virtue. Amidst his crew’s ongoing search for surviving relics from the destroyed world, Terra, Matt must also confront the demons lurking not only around him, but within. This journey to reclaim the past and repair his present leads him headlong to Mars, the planet no outworlder comes back from alive.

After Terra: Lunacy

Entry three in the saga… A tale of loss and resurgence in a Solar System without an Earth.
It has been two hundred one years now since Terra died. In the wake of confronting the Solar Consortium on Mars, Matthew Garrison and the crew of Unyielding Virtue pursue artifacts and truths from our long-lost homeworld on its former satellite, Luna. It is here that a blemish from our history returns to cast its shadow on our future, bringing about questions of what humanity is capable of and whether we are worthy of continued survival. In this journey of discovery and defiance, the crew’s own conflicts serve as a catalyst, sending humanity on a course to resolve the struggle for control between the elite few and the downtrodden many.

Everybody Knew
A Boy. Two Brothers. A Stolen Childhood.

Michael’s autobiography, recalling his abuse by Christian Brothers in an industrial school, originally titled Holy Terrors and published by O’Brien Press Dublin in 2009 is now published by UK publishers Ebury Press who have put a new cover and new title on the book.

Floozies

Floozies is about a bunch of auld slappers who are notorious for stealing other women’s husbands and boyfriends. They’re sick of being shunned by society in general, so they set up a political party to fight for the rights of scandalous women.

Shampoo And Sympathy

A dark comedy about two hairdressers who open a salon in a snobby suburb and find themselves in a professional dilemma when one of their clients tells them that he has murdered his wife. Everyone tells their secrets to hairdressers, so why not confess a murder?

Chasing Casanova

Esmerelda Fox is like a lot of girls who go to Italy, ostensibly to teach English – but really to find romance.She also finds New Age backpackers fleeing British middle-class suburbia, unemployed actors taking a commercial break from the casting circuit, a London gangster on the run (who teaches the unwitting future ambassador to Great Britain to talk like a thug), an Oxford(shire) “Don Giovanni” with a few secrets and Ingrid, “a stereotypical Swedish sex-bomb who left a trail of frustrated middle-aged men speaking English like the Swedish chef from The Muppet Show!

Wacky Eire

With features on man-hunting with Sinead O’Connor at the world-famous Lisdoonvarna matchmaking festival; the porn star Gaelic footballer and the bull who made the national news on Arthur’s Day 2011 when he ran through a Cavan pub for a pint of Guinness, this is a hilarious look at modern Irish life.

Let’s Twist Again

Young Lally Connaughton has had a shock. His father has married Mam, a woman Lally can’t make head nor tale of, and what’s more has moved himself and his five children to live with Mam and her four children. Lally’s next ten years, by turns funny and bitterly sad, are what this novel is about.

Clocking 90 On The Road To Cloughjordan

A collection of hilarious short stories from Leo Cullen, author of the novel “Let’s Twist Again”.

A Life Of Her Own

Cathy Carmody is a beautiful and successful young woman but her confident facade masks the pain that she has never revealed, even to her closest friends. When a series of events triggers memories of her troubled past, Cathy turns to a new friend, Stephen Brown, for advice and support. Stephen is attractive, charming and sympathetic – and a Catholic priest. Is the help and friendship he offers her purely platonic? It is only when Cathy falls for Stephen’s younger brother, Jack, that Stephen acknowledges his true feelings for her. Jack always gets what he wants, no matter who he has to trample on in the process. Things take a complicated twist when Cathy has to decide between the two very different brothers. A Life Of Her Own is more than a love story. It’s about striving to make the right personal choices under challenging circumstances. This novel has its finger on the pulse of contemporary urban life. Cunningham turns personal issues into immensely readable fiction.

A Very Private Affair

Mick Cleary is a bright Dubliner in his early twenties; he is married with a child and works as a house painter. When Mick finds his birth mother, the result is not what he expects; Margaret is rich, beautiful and not yet forty. And as the relationship between her and her firstborn develops, they begin to experience distinctly unfamilial emotions.

Do you like Oranges?

Kevin Doyle has released a collection of three stories on the Smashwords eBook platform. The stories have previously been published in journals such as The Stinging Fly and The Cuirt Journal. The title story was an Ian St James Award winner.  www.smashwords.com/books/view/105841

ISBN 978-1-4660-1060-4

Informers In 20th Century Ireland

Informers have been a characteristic of all the periods of unrest in Ireland, but, apart from Tudor times, have never really been an organised phenomenon until the 20th century. This account provides a history of the gradual development of informing via a series of case studies, illustrating differing events across the span of both the century and the country. Each tells of an individual life, its secrets, and its outcome, insofar as it has been possible to trace this, and each is set against the prevailing historical background. There are two constants which unite all these people: the accusation of informing, whether true or false, and betrayal – though not necessarily their betrayal of others. This is, I think, the first book on this aspect of informing. The decision to inform or refuse to inform is fraught with a great deal of danger, thus the motivation of all those concerned is fascinating, as also is their ability to deceive themselves, so often a deciding factor in their actions. Much of the material used in the early chapters comes from the Witness Statements, first hand accounts of the Easter Rising and subsequent events, and a great deal of reliance has been placed on local newspapers of the relevant times.

A Sudden Sun

Where does courage come from? From your genes, your city, the times you live in, the books you read, your sisters? Courage comes from the stories you learn and the stories you live. Donna Bradley is a courageous woman. She buried her stillborn baby, Teresa, then buried Teresa’s organs when she discovered the medical authorities had retained them. Donna creates her own recovery: by campaigning against the toxic waste incinerator; by becoming a scientist; by writing the story of her life as the challenges of the past catch up with the present. She must always be careful not to slide back into the raging fires of grief and the chilling chasms of depression, even when her thirst for knowledge drives her husband away. She combines her personal recovery and her professional role to offer new thinking to her city. And when she buries a memento of Teresa in the old ground, the caldragh, at her mother’s birthplace beside the beach, where the ancient dead lie, facing the rolling tide, she writes herself into a future unfettered by the past.

Related Lives

Based on a set of family anecdotes, it combines family and personal history with imagination, openly brought to the assistance of memory. The concept behind this literary work is that while memory tentatively secures the past, imagination delicately opens the future. Combining both may bring them into the present for the reader, in a form of imagined memoir.

Still – Faire

Publishished by Lapwing Press. An acclaimed debut collection of poems in both English and Irish. In tune with her themes Helen Soraghan Dwyer’s language is simple, sensitive and unpretentious. I am reminded of a woman’s role as a recorder of myths, mores and histories, and feel that Helen rises to this challenge in the telling of her poetic tales.Helen Soraghan Dwyer’s poems are powerful though delicate . . . amazing and enchanting.

Beyond

Publishished by Lapwing Press. The much anticipated second collection of poems, in English. In the poetry of Helen Soraghan Dwyer I see life as a roller-coaster ride through the full range of human experiences, from the horrors of war to the redemptive peace of compassion.Helen Soraghan Dwyer is at the beck and call of poetic zeal. She gives her readers the impression that she is on a crusade to translate into poetry every ‘flicker’ of human experience, great and small. It is her dedication to this mission that gives her poetry universal appeal.

The Framing Of Harry Gleeson

In November 1940 the body of Moll McCarthy, an unmarried mother, was found in a field in Tipperary. She had been shot. The man who reported the discovery was neighbour Harry Gleeson. Although Harry had an alibi, he was swiftly convicted and hanged. The real culprits were local ex-IRA men. This travesty suited the parish priest, the Gardaí, and respectable families whose sons, brothers and husbands had fathered Moll’s seven children. The investigation was hijacked and the defence compromised. Neighbours and friends felt intimidated. Since then, New Inn has kept its guilty secret. Moll’s daughter Mary, approaching death over fifty years later in a Dublin hospital, became upset and said to a nurse ‘I saw my own mother shot on the kitchen floor, and an innocent man died.’ Somewhere in the grounds of Mountjoy Jail lies the body of Harry Gleeson. This is the story of how and why he was framed and who the guilty parties were. Efforts to clear Gleeson’s name, culminated in a pardon in January 2015.

Daniel’s Inheritance

Set in the Slieve Bloom Mountains just after the Famine, it tells the story of Daniel as he struggles against family feuds, injustice, revenge and dark family secrets.

The Book Of The Brown Calf Moo-Calf

A fable about a moo-calf and the adventures that befall her as she searches for her dream to come true. Full of delightful talking animals, magic and misadventures. Available on: trafford.com/04-2650.

ISBN 1-4120-4842-7

Fugitives!

A story of tension, danger and conquest. When young Con disappears, the others must find him – and quickly. His father Hugh O’Neill, the great Ulster chieftain, is about to depart, forever. The Irish have lost at the Battle of Kinsale, and now there is nothing left for them in their own land. Hugh’s son is in great danger – and he doesn’t even know it! What would the English do to him if they caught him? Especially now as his father may be gathering another foreign army to threaten their own conquest of Ireland? Can his cousin and friends, Fion, Sinead and James, find him? Will their hunt across wild landscapes, through dense woodlands and over high mountains, chased by English soldiers and adventurers, and occasionally guided by the mysterious ‘Haystacks’, take them to the boy? Will they manage to get him to Lough Swilly in time for the escape boat to France? The Great Hugh O’Neill is waiting anxiously …Based on true facts from the 1600s.

Katie’s War

When Katie’s father returns from the Great War, he is shell-shocked, his personality destroyed. Now, four years later he has more or less recovered, but another war is breaking out, this time at home in Ireland. The Treaty with the British has been signed by Michael Collins, but many disagree with it and want to continue the war for full independence. The country is on the brink of civil war. There are divided loyalties in Kate’s family, and she has to choose whom she will support. Finally, she and the Welsh boy Dafydd make a bold plan to destroy an arms cache…

 Wings Over Delft

Wings Over Delft, the first book in the Louise trilogy, won the Bisto Book of the Year overall award in 2004. The gentle love story takes the reader through dark intrigue, religious unrest and the palpable, cultural atmosphere of life in a Dutch city, to an unexpected conclusion. A well-tailored and absorbing read for adults as well as for age 12-plus.

The Rainbow Bridge

Over a century has elapsed since Louise sat for her portrait. The painting has passed from person to person, unsigned and unvalued. Then, in 1792, as Revolution sweeps through France, Gaston Morteau, a lieutenant in the Hussars, rescues the canvas from a canal in Holland. Louise becomes a very real presence in Gaston’s life, sharing his experiences — the trauma of war, his meeting with Napoleon. When events force Gaston to give up the painting to the sinister Count du Bois, Louise becomes embroiled in a tale of political intrigue and Gothic horror.In the ashes of the Delft explosion, Louise made a choice for life. Now she has to face the realities of love, loss and pain that this life brings.

In The Claws Of The Eagle

The year is 1913. The portrait of Louise is now hanging in the home of a Jewish family, the Abrahams, in Vienna. Izaac Abrahams is showing early signs of the talent that will make him a famous violin virtuoso and often practices in front of the picture. After the Anschluss of 1939, Izaac is sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp and then to Auschwitz. The portrait of Louisa falls into the hands of Erich Hoffman, an SS officer, and seems destined to join the art collection being amassed on the orders of Adolf Hitler What now for Louise and her portrait? Can Louise save Izaac from the gas chamber and Erich from his Nazism? And what is to be her decision on her own future?

Walk With The Devil

For the first time in his life, Robert Ryder doesn’t have orders. He just buried his son Mark. His career in the French Foreign Legion is finished. Unable to settle into civilian life he drifts to Thailand. There Ryder learns of a man on death row for dealing with the same drug lords responsible for Mark’s deadly overdose. But the drug smugglers find Ryder before he can find them. Kidnapped to Burma, Ryder escapes and realizes his mission. Facing the reality of a growing drug culture and the greed that fuels it, Ryder aims to make peace with his past by exacting retribution in the best way he knows, with the vengeance of a father wronged and the precise brutality of a Foreign Legionnaire. But the deeper he gets into the drugs world, the more familiar the faces become. This is globetrotting, hard-hitting action at its finest.

Such Little Time: A Collection Of Love Letters

I knew that Mom and Dad got engaged after only knowing each other for 4 days. I think I even knew that they had written each other during their engagement. What I didn’t know was that Dad had kept all of Mom’s letters and that Mom still had a few of Dad’s. I didn’t find that out until after my dad died. I read all of them. But why read should you read Art and Peggy’s letters? They weren’t your parent so who are they to you? Were they famous? A school bus driver/ farmer and a teacher? What did they do that was so great besides fall in love? They stayed in love. Less then fifty percent of marriages last. Ponder how many of those do so out of habit. Add to that the fact that Art and Peggy got engaged within four days of meeting each other; and that for the first eight months they were in a long distance relationship. Those are some pretty steep odds. Now imagine being with someone for forty years and still kissing them goodnight, every night. For them to still be able to make you laugh. For that laugh to still be the sweetest song you’ve ever heard. To be in love with someone from the first moment you see them until their dying breath. And when your lover’s heart, which has beat for you for almost four decades, stops, you say, “I just didn’t think we’d have such little time together”.

Fancy Footwork

Selected plays from the celebrated writer.

Miriam Gallagher

Song For Salamander

When Salamander Quinn decides to liberate all the lost souls at St. Job’s Infirmary, he embarks on a Kafkaesque journey. Powerful forces determine his ultimate destiny.

Bear: Dead Reckoning

In total darkness in the 1960s, an American Coast Guard icebreaker, the Cutter “Bear,” escorts a thin-hulled WWII Liberty ship through the high Arctic ice to provide supplies and rescue beleaguered Air Force personnel at fire-ravaged Thule Air Force Base, near the North Pole. After a collision in the ice, south of Thule, the Liberty ship breaks in half and sinks, but not before ramming the icebreaker. Holed and afire, the crew abandons ship in -66 degree weather, high winds, and darkness, leaving behind a sole sailor, left for dead with a badly broken arm. As the ship starts to sink, and grow more frigid by the moment, the sailor must survive the cold, starvation, and Polar bears that have come aboard the dying icebreaker.

The Visual Time Traveller

A collection of facts of historical importance, set out in five-year periods on a double page spread, beautifully illustrated. The colourful illustrations are often amusing and always relevant to a fact or facts within that page, which the reader may discover upon subsequent readings! The focus is on scientific discoveries, the arts and various unusual happenings or facts. Designed with a plain hard cover and without a spine, The Visual Time Traveller is a delight to dip into.

yours etc

Alison’s political opinions have been published more than 120 times as letters to the editor in the Irish Examiner, Irish Independent, The Irish Times, The Guardian, The Observer, Belfast Telegraph, Daily Telegraph, Financial Times and the Independent UK – now they are published in one compendium – Yours etc – divided into chapters Irish Politics, Brexit & Britain, Women, America, Europe, Law & Democracy, Education, Science Sex & Morality.

Empty Rooms

A collection of poems:The phrase, ‘a better sorrow,’ in the first poem in this collection, creates a frisson with the notion of betterness and sorrowfulness juxtaposed with each other – and so this collection begins! Here we have metaphors of moments – a delving deeper and a quest for meaning in the every-dayness of things. Pictures are painted in words, telling stories with apparent ease, and naturalistically, with more below the surface, flitting about like a shifting subtext. Science and spirituality blend and descriptions seem to melt into memories, or fix themselves photographically on the mind’s eye. The poet often slips into narrator mode, adding asides like a busy brain, giving the reader glimpses into real scenes as he perceives them to be. There is an existential glimmer of happenings, sometimes leaping about, reflecting the mind and trying to capture that which is paradoxically involved in human experience but which also travels into a void and a subsequent stillness. There is a one-dimensional perspective operating within a felt, multi-dimentionality – from a dot on a page to eternity; offering hope and peace as in the final poem.

Shy White Tiger

SHY WHITE TIGER, a second collection of poems by Richard W. Halperin, has just been published by Salmon Poetry. In the back-cover appreciation, Macdara Woods refers to “These marvellously accomplished new-mint poems.” Richard’s first collection, ANNIVERSARY, 2010, is also available from Salmon.

Blue Flower

Blue Flower, a sequence of 32 poems.Richard says, “the collections were inspired by a stay on Inis Meáin last summer. The title poem ‘Blue Flower’ is dedicated to Arthur Waley, translator of Tales of Genji and The Pillow Book. When a group of poets were talking way back when in Dublin, one of us, not I, said, ‘Some poems are so Irish they’re Japanese’ – and that’s what’s going on in the new collection.”

Anniversary

Anniversary is a sequence of love poems presented through a fracture of space and time: a husband still here and writing, a wife no longer here but present. Other poems punctuate this: parents, myths, the very young, the very old, various dead, various missing, are lit up in a few lines, then disappear. Places also loom up unexpectedly: a hotel room in Dublin, a lake in the North Woods of Wisconsin, a hospice in Ekaterinaberg, a Paris street. Whether a dream or not, they carry over and are described with precision.

Reconstructions: The Troubles Through Photograph and Word

World-renowned Northern Irish photographer, Bobbie Hanvey, captured some of The Troubles’ most defining and devastating moments. Bobbie is lauded as much for these photographs as he is for his iconic portraits of figures like Seamus Heaney, Gerry Adams, Brian Friel, and Ian Paisley.
In Reconstructions, these photographs take on even greater resonance when set in context by Bobbie’s eldest son, singer-songwriter and poet, Steafán Hanvey. Inspired by the photographs he often witnessed coming to life in the darkroom, Steafán’s memories of a childhood less ordinary are presented in a lyric poetry filled with startling imagery and insights that capture the wit, cadences, anguish, and dreams of the people of Northern Ireland.
Reconstructions daringly conflates the public and the private, and acts as a timely reminder of just how futile and unnecessary internecine conflict really is. But most of all, Bobbie and Steafán, father and son, have produced a book that is a testament to the strength and resilience of ordinary people living through extraordinary times.

Bergin’s Quest

Daniel Philippe Bergin, reared in the Paris slums, is a man torn apart by his quest to find his father. Fate brings him to Ireland, a country seething with treachery and rebellion. Beset on every side by patriots and traitors he battles his way through a defiant dash to fulfil his destiny and to further the ambitions of Napoleon Bonaparte.

The Night Bazaar

Eleven haunting tales of forbidden Wishes and dangerous desires.First volume in a trademarked series. These stories of fantasy, magic, and the supernatural, by eleven prizewinning authors, are linked by a secret, forbidden market which opens at midnight, closes before sunrise, and appears for one week . . . but never in the same venue each night, and never again in the same city. To enter you must be Invited. Tonight the Bazaar opens in a parking garage beneath Manhattan. In this huge subterranean fair the stories’ various characters will seek love, hope, excitement, even death . . . or sometimes just a second chance. They roam narrow, crowded aisles full of costumes, alchemical treatments, palmistry, Tarot and tea leaf-reading, and water-, glass-, and crystal-gazing, medical curiosities and strange instruments, erotic favors, time travel, and body alterations. Along the way they’ll encounter jongleurs, dealers in folk magic, freaks, charlatans, mountebanks, faeries, prostitutes, and acrobats. The scents of opium, perfume, tobacco, greasepaint, incense, plastic explosive, alcohol, and sex permeate the air. The Bazaar sells that which cannot be had elsewhere. Everything you’ve read about but thought had passed away, or never existed at all. How wrong you were! Will you be one of the Invited? Be warned: Each fantastic object or service comes with a gift, a curse, or a haunting. . .

Kinane: A Remarkable Racing Family

The Kinanes – stalwarts of Irish racing Regarded by many as the perfect jockey, Mick Kinane rounded off his thirty-four-year career on a dazzling high with champion horse Sea The Stars, winning the 2,000 Guineas, Epsom Derby, the Eclipse Stakes, International Stakes, Irish Champion Stakes and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 2009. However, Mick is just one member of several generations of Kinanes who have consistently excelled in professional horse racing: through grit, talent and a legendary work ethic. The backbone of Irish racing over the past fifty years, this is the story of a clan that includes National Hunt jockey Tommy, who won the Champion Hurdle on Monksfield and who once won a race despite a broken neck, and his sons Thomas, Jayo, Paul and of course Mick. The family has its roots in simpler and indeed harder times; this book tracks their rise to the pinnacle of their sport on the world stage. Illustrated with family and racing photographs.

Winners All

From the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 to recent Champion Hurdle winners at Cheltenham. The Byerley Turk won a race at Downpatrick and was a charger in the Battle of the Boyne. Eclipse lived up to his name and eclipsed all others. Manifesto ran in the Grand National eight times, winning it twice. Ireland has produced some of the world’s greatest racehorses, many of whom have gone on to win in England and further afield, like modern heroines Makybe Diva (Australia) and Zenyatta (USA). Every horse described in these pages has its own unique story, the ‘x-factor’ that makes it stand out as a character. What is it that makes some horses so much better than others? Sometimes it is literally the size of the heart…

In The Blood

A golden thread links diverse equine and human characters in Irish racing, past and present: generations of families in which racing is truly in the blood – or one-off fanatics who acquire it in their veins. Not only trainers and jockeys but also owners, breeders and the unsung heroes who care for their equine stars are portrayed here, as well as commentators and bookmakers, without whom the industry would be no more than a sideshow, instead of one of Ireland’s greatest global products.

The Grand National: The Irish At Aintree

The Aintree Grand National is the world’s most famous horserace – fast-paced, exhilarating and occasionally perilous. Everyone – serious racing fraternity and occasional flutterers alike – has heard of it. Millions are staked on the race, and millions watch. Down through the years it has produced many a fairytale result. This lavishly-illustrated book examines the Irish presence at Aintree from the festival’s earliest years; Irish horses, jockeys, trainers and breeders have always been prominent. No two horses have ever been trained alike for Aintree and no two stories have ever been the same. They are all here, written with the attention to detail and enthusiasm of a true racing fanatic. A wide-ranging and compulsively readable account of a beloved institution.

Sea The Stars

Sea The Stars – the very name has a magical ring. Horse of the season, the decade, the century – possibly of all time. The Arkle of the Flat Racing World, he has captured the imagination of racing fans throughout Europe. It is not just what he has won, but the manner in which he has done so: six Group Ones in six months, including the 2000 Guineas, the Derby and the Arc de Triomphe, the Big Three never before achieved by one horse in one season. Only once did any of his races approach a close finish. If trouble appeared, he cast it aside with his scintillating speed and he kept improving with every race. He held his own and more against older horses; not for him the tag ‘miler’ or ‘stayer’, for he proved his superiority at three separate distances. In short, Sea The Stars is the model racehorse. Anne Holland has been lucky enough to have held Sea The Stars in his stable, marvelled at his size, scope and demeanour. Her celebration in words and pictures of this racing phenomenom is a superb tribute to a three-year-old legend.

Taking The Scissors To Society

The Photomontages of Roger Hudson. A selected retrospective of Roger Hudson’s work over four decades exploring the very modern art genre of Photomontage. Colour images of 44 of his photomontages plus illustrations of templates used in creating many of them with autobiographical text of his creative processes at the time and associated poems and personal photographs.With an Introduction by Sean Hillen. Signed and numbered edition of 200 copies.

Plaything Of The Great God Kafka

Roger Hudson’s third collection of poetry ranges widely over a lifetime of varied experience, from autobiographical narratives to contemplations of social and political developments, observational experiments and mood pieces. The title poem takes off from those disturbing times in life when a close friend suddenly becomes an outright enemy, with absurdist author Kafka elevated to the status of god, imagined as the one to blame much as the ancient Greeks blamed their gods.

Greybell Wood And Beyond

Reading Roger Hudson’s ‘Greybell Wood And Beyond’ feels like sitting in a cosy pub on a Sunday afternoon listening to an old friend reminiscing. Each is memory recalled through a cascade of images, the narrative punctuated by fascinating asides and digressions. There is humour and honesty here and the voice, though rueful or sad at times, never judges the younger self but instead filters the experience through the wisdom of hindsight and a life fully lived.

Mutation

We owe our existence to bacteria. So what happens when we abuse them? What happens when we make them angry? This is the gripping premise of IWU Treasurer Roy Hunt’s new thriller Mutation, in which there is something very bad in the water, a vile creature that is killing the lake’s users. They have to destroy it. But not all of them feel the same. As forgotten lake spirits, long dormant, are awoken by the modern day monster, myth and legend, empathy, sorrow, grief and sheer horror combine in a maelstrom as unpredictable and dangerous as the ancient lake’s weather and threatens to destroy them all.

Dancing In The Asylum

Paying for friendship, angry knicker-flashing at ex-pats, gay cruising at a medieval carnival…not exactly what an outsider might expect of folks from the small towns of Ireland. These short stories introduce us to a host of fascinating characters. Sometimes funny, occasionally grotesque, always poignant, these pieces paint a wonderfully unexpected portrait of a place and its people in a time of great change, each page unfolding a delicate or deliciously devious secret.

The Priest And The Prostitute

The Roman era is coming to an end in Britain on the outer reaches of the Empire. Britain has been under Roman rule for almost four hundred years and is almost completely Romanised except for Scotland and Wales where the Celtic ways still held sway. Here the people were reluctant to give up their cherished heritage to what they regarded as the heathen Romans. The commands of the Roman Governor were not welcome here but grudgingly accepted nonetheless. As much as possible they went about their business in the time honoured ways. The people are beginning to rebel against Roman rule and reclaim their land and culture. The warriors and Druids are planning their attack and battle strategy preparing for when they will again rule their own lands and fate.

Shelter and Shadows: An Awakening to Our Common Identity

Shelter and Shadows reveals what it is to be born and live between two worlds that emerged from conflicting Irish traditions. In a lifetime quest to resolve his dilemma, Raymond Keogh traces the origins of his contradictory ancestral legacy. The outcome is the story of a hybrid family; its complex social histories; its interweaving genealogies; its genetic profile; and its identity. Coming to terms with ancestral conflict and cultural incompatibility awakens a revolutionary view of our common humanity. Ultimately, we are presented with an uplifting exploration of the meaning of human identity.

Strongbow: The Norman Invasion of Ireland

The coming of the Normans to Ireland from 1169 is a pivotal moment in the country’s history. It is a period full of bloodthirsty battles, both between armies and individuals. With colourful personalities and sharp political twists and turns, Strongbow’s story is a fascinating one. Combining the writing style of an award-winning novelist with expert scholarship, historian Conor Kostick has written a powerful and absorbing account of the stormy affairs of an extraordinary era.

The Siege Of Jerusalem

The most extraordinary siege in medieval history began with the arrival of a Christian army at Jerusalem on the dawn of 6 June 1099. There were other sieges that lasted longer, involved greater numbers of troops and deployed more siege engines, but nothing else in the entire medieval period compares to the extraordinary journey that the besiegers had made to get to their goal and the heady religious enthusiasm among the troops. This was the culmination of the First Crusade, a military pilgrimage that had seen hundreds of thousands of men, women and children leave their homes in Western Europe, march for three years over thousands of miles and undergo tremendous hardship to reach their longed-for goal: Jerusalem. No other medieval army had made such a journey to reach its goal. And no other army had such a peculiar makeup. There were hundreds of unattached poor women, gathered from the margins of Northern French towns by the charity of the charismatic preacher Peter the Hermit and given a new direction to their lives by the expedition to Jerusalem. There were farmers who had sold their land and homes, put all their belongings in two-wheeled carts and marched alongside their oxen. Bards came and earned their keep composing songs about the events they were witnessing, from the heroic charges of the nobles to bawdy satires on the lax behaviour of some of the senior clergy. Knights and foot soldiers were at the heart of the fighting forces, naturally. But even here there was a strange fluidity to the army, with the status of a warrior rising or falling depending on his ability to keep his horse alive and his armour in good order. Here is a vivid and engaging account of the events of that siege.

Edda

Edda is a ‘virtual’ world ruled by the electronic intelligence of Lord Scanthax. Penelope is a teenager ensnared in Edda. Can she uncover the truth about her human past and gain her freedom? And are there other humans still ‘out there’? A fast-moving fantasy from the author of internationally acclaimed Epic and Saga. Edda has all the exciting elements of avatars, mythical beings, magic, and cataclysmic battles, but also challenges the older reader to think deeply about humanity, power and politics.

Saga

How do we know we are real and not just some character in an elaborate game? In the virtual world of Saga, Ghost is a fifteen-year-old airboarding anarcho-punk, with no past, no memories, only a growing realisation of her own strange abilities. But who is she really and why is she becoming embroiled in a battle with the warped leader of Saga — the Dark Queen? How have Erik and Cindella Dragonslayer fared since their adventures in Epic? And what happens if you dare to reach outside your world, or to question your identity? Is that simply the road to madness, death and destruction?

Epic

“On New Earth, Epic is not just a computer game, it’s a matter of life and death. If you lose, you lose everything; if you win, the world is yours for the taking. Seeking revenge for the unjust treatment of his parents, Erik subverts the rules of the game, and he and his friends are drawn into a world of power-hungry, dangerous players. Now they must fight the ultimate masters of the game — The Committee. But what Erik doesn’t know is that The Committee has a sinister, deadly secret, and challenging it could destroy the whole world of Epic.”

Knowing Women

A new and highly-praised thought-provoking novel, Knowing Women, by award-winning writer James Lawless out now in paperback and only €2 on Amazon Kindle for limited time. See the great reviews on Amazon.com or find out more at jameslawless.net

American Doll

When Laura Calane of New York comes to Ireland to further her studies and to live in what her father considers a safer environment after 9/11, she discovers that the land of her ancestors is not the haven she had believed it to be. When she meets social worker Danny Faraday, she is torn between her attraction towards him and the emotional blackmail of her uncle Thady who is domiciled in Ireland and who never lets her forget that he saved her father’s life in a terrorist attack in New York.

Five Minute Dips

Five Minute Dips – Observations From A Life Lived, a collection of her work aired over the past 15 years on the popular RTÉ Sunday Miscellany. This delightful collection contains poetry, stories and reminiscenc

A Place For Unicorns

Eight year old Anna arrives in Pisa with her mother, the very beautiful but selfish Rosalind, for an Italian holiday. While Rosalind seems happy and carefree, Anna is homesick for her father David who has been left behind in disgrace. He drinks too much and Rosalind knows he is unfaithful. Their Italian idyll is shattered by a fatal car crash that leaves Rosalind in a wheelchair and forces their return to England where David must take care of his embittered and angry wife and his unhappy daughter. Further devastating events bring Anna to the wild but beautiful Ballynacarrig in the West of Ireland to live with her eccentric Aunt Pog.As she grows into a young woman, Anna continues her search for the love and affection she was so starved of in her youth. Is Anna to be unlucky in love or can her faith be restored by the handsome Benny?

Butterfly

Hebe sayer, a writer of novels, poetry and sometimes ‘children’s stuff’ believes that she has always been blessed, or cursed, with a surfeit of imagination. In the past her writing kept her troubled world together, helped her cope with a disastrous marriage and the turbulent teenage years of her daughters Cassandra and Pandora. But she hasn’t written a novel for nearly a year, not since the sudden tragic death of Pandora when Hebe’s world began to unravel.

Eden Fading

Beautiful young widow Rachel has been struggling with life since the tragic death of her much-loved husband Simon. Six months on, she is still troubled by the card left with some simple white flowers by his grave. It read: ‘For my brother – from his sister, D’. Perhaps a month in the sun would help her come to terms with his death and rid her mind of the niggling doubts the card has evoked. Ensconced in her close friends’ beautiful villa, strange happenings disturb the tranquil beauty and begin to unnerve Rachel. As events become more threatening, Rachel begins to rely on the dark and handsome Francesco. She is attracted to him but why is he reluctant to show his passion for her? In the fading Tuscan summer, Rachel wonders if she has been followed to Italy by someone linked to Simon’s death and to a past in which she has played no part.

Tumbling Jude

Jude has questions for her father – lots of questions. And now is the time for some answers. But will it mean leaving her family to fend for themselves for a while . . . Following the death of her beloved mother, Jude felt the alarming sensation of being in free fall. Her life was a shambles and she was tumbling. Geoffrey was under a lot of pressure lately in work and they had become distant. Their children, Oscar and Flora, were nearly grown up and had their own lives while her mother-in-law Mrs. Larchet, a cold and distant woman, lost no opportunity to belittle her. Now, as the ferry pulls into the Greek Island of Ios, Jude hopes that her father will want to see here after all this time. He left when she was just a baby so why would he want to see here now? But the news her father has for her is not what she expects. And when Marguerite, the exotic Nigerian artist who shares Liam Maybury’s life, tries to explain his unhappiness and his secret desire Jude feels angry. But if she is to make any sense of her own crumbling life she may have to learn to accept some harsh truths that will change her life forever.

Diving Through Clouds

Kate Fitzgerald’s spirit hovers above here hospital bed, looking down on her body lying still now. In the days following here death she finds herself far from extinguished but in some sort of limbo with unfinished business to attend to before she can go on to the next stage of here non-being. Still bound to the world by some invisible umbilical cord, she travels freely back and forth into the lives of those she left behind, her cold unloving husband, William, their estranged daughter Celia, her best friend Vanessa and her gentle lover, Milo. With her new found powers of insight she tries to understand the past and shape their future.

After Rome

After more than four hundred years of Roman rule, the island its conquerors called Britannia was abandoned – left to its own devices as the Roman empire contracted in a futile effort to defend itself from the barbarian hordes encroaching upon its heart. As Britannia falls into anarchy and the city of Viroconium is left undefended, two cousins who remained behind when the imperial forces withdrew pursue very different courses in the ensuing struggle to unite the disparate tribes and factions throughout the land. Passionate, adventurous Dinas recruits followers and dreams of kingship. Thoughtful Cadogan saves a group of citizens when Saxons invade and burn Viroconium, then becomes the reluctant founder and leader of a new community that rises in the wilderness. The two cousins could not be more different, but their parallel stories encapsulate the era of a new civilization struggling to be born.

Cave Of Secrets

When Tom feels rejected by his father, he finds a secret second family among the group of smugglers who trade in and around Roaringwater Bay. Though Tom doesn’t know it, his family in the Big House is under huge pressure. His father has had savage losses in business; his mother is always sad and worried, and his sisters have no hopes for a good future. This is seventeenth-century Ireland when cut-throat interests control everybody and everything, and land-grabbing is the order of the day. Friend turns into foe, and loyalty counts for nothing. From his new family, Tom learns all about boats and smuggling — and secret treasure. And then Tom discovers the best-kept secret of all…

Finn Mac Cool

This novelization of the life of Finn Mac Cool, the legendary hero of 3rd century Ireland, describes how even in his lifetime he became the subject of myth, supposedly born of a deer and blessed with extraordinary strength and wisdom after eating of the Salmon of Knowledge.

On Raven’s Wing

A novel based on the heroic legends of Ireland’s Ulster Cycle. Red Branch is an elite band of royal warriors led by Cuchulain. Here the life and times of this legendary champion of Irish prehistory are recreated. By the author of “Lion of Ireland” and “O’Sullivan’s March”.

 Strongbow

The dramatic story of the Norman conquest of Ireland in the 12th century. Full of battles and warfare, but a story of love, too, between an unlikely pair – wilful and wild Irish princess Aoife, and Strongbow, the greatest of the Norman knights to come to Ireland. A clash of cultures and a vivid story of one of the Greats of Irish history.

Brian Boru

This internationally best-selling author, winner of many awards in adult historical fiction, now turns her hand to historical fiction for children with a personalised account of the life of Brian Boru, from his childhood in the midst of a large warrior family to his final role as High King of Ireland. A life full of battles, intrigues, alliances and betrayals, which make a stirring tale told in realistic detail.

Young Irelanders

Edited by Dave, Young Irelanders features a selection of Ireland’s most gifted and daring contemporary short-fiction writers: Sheila Armstrong, Claire-Louise Bennett, Colin Barrett, Kevin Curran, Rob Doyle, Oisín Fagan, Mia Gallagher, Alan McMonagle, Roisín O’Donnell, Cathy Sweeney, Eimear Ryan and Sydney Weinberg. From Kevin Curran’s heart-wrenching portrayal of bullying and suicide, to Roisin O’Donnell’s beautifully poignant narrative of a Brazilian girl’s journey to Ireland for love, to Rob Doyle’s searing tale of infidelity, the characters in these tales are searching for love, for courage, for release, and for glory.

Prodigals and Geniuses
The Writers and Artists of Dublin’s Baggotonia

“Brendan Lynch’s book evokes vibrant memories of an ancient Dublin. Old friends come back to life whose minds still speak from the soul. Ancient sorrows remembered to haunt, but in which a bit of bright light still glows.”– J.P. Donleavy, from the Foreword. A former Grand Prix reporter, Brendan has written six books, including the award-winning Green Dust motor racing history, Parsons Bookshop and a memoir, There Might Be a Drop of Rain Yet. He has contributed to national and international media. His features on Irish writers encouraged the establishment of Dublin’s George Bernard Shaw Museum and the James Joyce Cultural Centre.

And Suddenly The Sun Again

Dealing with the truly great issues with wit and empathy, and carrying his considerable erudition and knowledge of prosody lightly, Lynskey in this his second book gives us poems on subjects as varied as political disillusionment to the burning question: is it possible to be dignified on a bicycle in the rain? A must – have for all lovers of poetry.

The Squad

The Squad is a fast-paced spy adventure thriller set in modern Ireland, connecting Ireland’s dramatic post-conflict landscape with the global war on terror. Two aging ex-IRA members are re-united to hunt down an ISIS gang in Ireland. After a day of multiple suicide bombings in Dublin the retired Provos realise there are more would-be martyrs in the capital. In a frantic race against time to find them they call on the assistance of an old adversary, a retired Special Branch officer, and two newcomers to Ireland, a medical doctor from Morocco and a young ex-paratrooper Polish immigrant. All that stands between Ireland and certain carnage is this unlikely alliance of misfits.

The Crude, the Barrel, & The Very Ugly
corruption of oil and the entrapment of Africa

An on-the-spot exposé, based on observation and analysis, of how the multinational oil companies have exploited and devastated the petroleum resources of African oil producing nations. It also explains how they have used the age-old tactic of ‘divide and conquer’ by corrupting the local politicians, who control and repress their own people because they dare to demand their basic human right to a fair share of the riches that corporate greed continues to deny them…

Harry Boland

This book documents for the first time the life of Harry Boland and the role he played in Ireland’s quest for independence. Long time friend of Michael Collins, this book charts their close relationship, begun through mutual dedication towards the achievement of an Irish Republic. The friendship suffers the difficulty of shared admiration for a woman from Co. Longford which ends in victory for Collins. They choose different sides in the Irish Civil War and die within three weeks of each other in enemy camps. Both “served their country in the way they knew best”. This book is easy to read and captures much of the drama, suspence and romance usually associated with a good novel. It describes in great detail the period from 1919-1921. It is to be recommended to students of Irish history as well as those readers in search of a tragedy, romance and suspence.

The Oath Is Dead And Gone

The clause in the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, which obliged all elected representatives in the Irish Free State to swear allegiance to the British monarch, was the major cause of the Civil War of 1922-3. The anti-Treatyites were defeated but Sinn Féin emerged with forty-four Dáil seats in the 1923 general election. Gradually, Sinn Féin leader Éamon de Valera became convinced that the party’s policy of abstaining from Dáil Éireann was untenable. In 1926 he proposed ‘that Sinn Féin elected deputies enter the Dáil or Six-County Assembly if the Oath of Allegiance were removed’. His motion was defeated and he resigned as President of Sinn Féin, soon afterwards founding a new political party, Fianna Fáil. In the general election of June 1927, the vast majority of Republican voters voted for Fianna Fáil and forty-four of the party’s deputies were elected. These TDs declared that the Oath was just ‘an empty formula’ and took their Dáil seats. After a long political battle, Fianna Fáil, in power from 1932 and backed by the Labour Party – which played a very important role in opposing the Oath throughout the 1920s – pushed a Bill through the Dáil and Senate and abolished the Oath in May 1933. The work of Cumann na nGaedheal’s Kevin O’Higgins at the Imperial Conference of 1926, which led to the passing of the Statute of Westminster, also played a vital role in the abolition of the Oath. Although initially the British government regarded the abolition of the Oath as a breach of the Treaty of 1921, it finally accepted the situation when the people of Ireland endorsed the 1937 constitution by referendum.

 The flying Column: West Kilkenny, 1916-21

Scottish Wit: An Anthology Of Quotations

“Scottish Wit” is a humorous anthology of quotations by and about the Scots, taking in love, alcohol, sport, politics, religion, showbusiness, sex, marriage and a raft of other topics. There are also chapters on places like Edinburgh and Glasgow. (‘A good audience in Glasgow is one that lets you live.) Bite-sized chunks of abuse are provided by everyone from Sean Connery to Lorraine Keane and Rod Stewart to Billy Connolly. ‘When L iz Taylor married Larry Fortensky,’ A.A. Gill tells us, ‘He was younger than her first wedding dress.’ Quotes about music include conundrums like, ‘How do you know when you’ve tuned the bagpipes?’ The great and good are here, iconic figures like Walter Scott going up against more contemporary ones like Ewan McGregor and Rhona Cameron. There are snatches of songs, lines of poetry and even a clerihew: ‘One often yearns/For the land of Burns/The only snag is/The haggis.’

Shooting From The Lip: An Anthology of Musical Invective and Wit

‘The music business is a cruel and shallow money ranch, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.’ – Hunter S. Thompson It’s the negative side that features mainly in this bilious collection of quotes from those involved in the industry up to their teeth. They have a go at themselves and their colleagues in a book that spares nobody’s blushes, least of all their own. The chapters are titled after the names of Bob Dylan songs. Dylan himself, who wasn’t short of an insult or two himself in his time, also features as a quoter. (‘Folk music is just a bunch of fat people.’) Music may be a pure art form but musical people, on the evidence of this collection, are not. Whether they’re speaking to the press or off the record – as it were – they seem to glory in washing their dirty linen, using the kind of language one doesn’t usually hear in Sunday School. Sample at your peril.

The Best Advice You’ll Ever Get: An A-Z Guide

Tired of receiving the same old advice from everyone you know? Anxious to change yourself in ways that will surprise even yourself? If so, you need to sample this riveting collection of quotes. It offers you a bevy of helpful suggestions, like. . . Don’t moon a werewolf, Don’t play leapfrog with a unicorn, and, even more importantly, Never trust anyone who, if he’s alone in a room with a tea cosy, doesn’t try it on. The Best Advice You’ll Ever Get is a book which will change your life, moving it forward in exciting and challenging new directions. Or maybe not. Aubrey Malone has compiled a number of quotation anthologies. He would advise you to buy this one.

Wedding Belles: Funny Quotes About Marriage

For brides-to-be, bridesmaids, brides and ex-brides, this book is for you. Hello girls, Marriage begins when you sink in his arms and ends with your arms in his sink. It begins with a knight in shining armour kissing a princess and ends with a bald fat man sitting across the table from a dishwasher. Put another way, marriage has three rings attached to it: engagement ring, wedding ring, suffering. if you’re thinking of going up the aisle anytime soon, this rib-tickling collection of quotes will make you think again.

And the Loser is… 

A history of Oscar Oversights.

A Close Shave With The Devil

With a tapestry of eight intertwined stories, the persona of gimlet-eyed Eily Doolin is the quintessential young pubescent abroad in late-1940s Ireland. These are richly observed, unsettling tales by a child narrator. With her pal Itchy Ryder, Eily inhabits secret childhood places, roof or field, as well as the grown-up kitchens and parlors of Blarney Park, twitching the veil between private and public spaces, house and street. As adult conversations are reported, gruesome vignettes are unwittingly laid bare to readers versed in the language of euphemism, exposing the pathology of the family unit, casual racism, loneliness, domestic abuse, as well as intense warmth and humor: an abused neighbor takes revenge on her elderly husband, a young boy exacts a terrible revenge on his mother, a woman retrieves her husband from the Argentinian Tango-dancer, and The Devil has been sighted going around town. These are powerful, coming-of-age fables which perfectly convey an era gone.

The Red-Letter Day

A brilliantly imaginative and hilarious romp through Irish history for 8-12yr-olds, with a magic suitcase and Finn McCool’s rude wolfhound, meeting world-famous fighting writers and collecting souvenirs along the way!

Cork Rock: From Rory Gallagher To The Sultans Of Ping

Journalist and author Mark McAvoy explores the history of Cork rock music from the rise of legendary blues-rock guitarist Rory Gallagher and his successful career on the international stage, through the Finbarr Donnelly-led punk era of the 1980s, to indie legends The Frank And Walters and the irrepressible Sultans of Ping. Cork Rock: From Rory Gallagher To The Sultans of Ping, published by South Bank Press, explores the records, venues, personalities, and culture that sprang up around rock music in Ireland’s second city. Delving deep into the stories behind seminal Cork acts such as Taste, Five Go Down To The Sea?, Microdisney and Simple Kid, this book traces the careers of many of the city’s most popular and talented musicians. It is also the first book to offer a detailed history of Cork rock music. First published by Mercier Press in August 2009 (paperback only), the new expanded 2017 second edition is published in paperback (298 pages) and on Kindle by South Bank Press.

Run With The Wind

The multi-award-winning ‘Run With the Wind’ series. ‘Don’t forget’, said the old fox, ‘if danger threatens, run with the wind …’ In the Land of Sinna, Black Tip, Vickey, Old Sage Brush, Fang, Hop-along and the rest of the foxes living around Beech Paw are in trouble. They are being hunted, trapped and harried and have no choice but to set out in search of the secret of survival. As they journey through countryside and city, facing many dangers along the way, they find new friendships and rediscover what it means to be ‘as cunning as a fox’.

The Extraordinary Temptation

After the success of McCusker’s medical thriller, Fear, comes his religious thriller, in which the true Crown-of-Thorns is discovered (in Glendalough) and a piece of mummified skin is found embedded on one of the thorns. A wealthy man, in Texas, attempts to clone from this piece of skin. Unsettling things happen to those scientists who become involved in the project and the wealthy Texan spirals down into a nightmare from which there is no escape. But there is a flood of hope and happiness too for millions in a world increasingly given over to scepticism. Oh, and there is romance too!

Water Worms

Water Worms is an American spine-chilling story that offers romance too. A young Japanese-American doctor takes the strong female lead. Fishermen in China are found, not just dead, but as light as hay with every drop of water missing from their bodies. American scientists are drawn into the mystery. Killer worms, new to science, suck on water in human blood to make more of their kind. They surface in Massachusetts. An entire hospital in Boston is overrun, and from there the worms pour into the Charles River that snakes through the city. Dogged research by the young heroine doctor leads to a discovery.

Planet Dancing

Publishished by Open Gate Press of London. Through any good book shop or order from Booksunlimited.ie Planet Dancing is a book on nature conservation like no other in that it does not bemoan the fact that species are becoming extinct but offers several global ideas how we might rectify this. Would make an ideal gift for anyone who has an affection for nature

ISBN 978 1871871 708

Remembering Seapoint

Memories of three boys who played at Seapoint, forging friendships that would last a lifetime.

Snow On The Hatchet Field

A wonderfully humorous and observant collection of short stories centred on life in Belfast and beyond in the 1950s.

Kate O’Brien and the Fiction of Identity

‘Mary Lavelle’ (1936), the first of Kate O’Brien’s books to be banned in Ireland (and Spain), tells the story of a young Irish girl who dreams of “perpetual self-government”. ‘Mary Lavelle’ makes a stand for those people adrift on the margins of respectability, in the contexts of feminist, queer, and anarchist dissent. But this is also an experimental novel, which plays with intermediality and subtext in a way few modernists had dared do, mixing the languages of architecture, film, painting, and bullfighting, with literature, and creating new and compelling stylistic hybrids. ‘Mary Lavelle’ is also a documentary of the city of Bilbo as it was in 1922, before Primo de Rivera’s coup d’état, when amidst the clashes and compromises between communists, nationalists, and anarchists, the city had become a laboratory of identities. Mentxaka’s book analises ‘Mary Lavelle’ through the various lenses of literary studies, art history, politics, life writing, philosophy, popular culture, history, and sexuality studies. The result: a new reading of a fascinating novel, and a new picture of Kate O’Brien as an experimental and committed writer who was part of the political and aesthetic avant garde of her time.

In Your Face: One Woman’s Encounter With Cancer, Doctors, Nurses, Machines, Family, Friends, and a Few Enemies

In early 2006, Lia Mills went to the dentist, worried about a painful lump in her cheek. In Your Face is her account of what happened next: a diagnosis of oral cancer; surgery to remove the tumour and reconstruct her jaw; a broken leg that came about as a result of a bone graft and that went undiagnosed for several weeks; radiotherapy and resulting illness; and, finally, recovery. Based on the journals she kept even when she was feeling her worst, In Your Face gives an extraordinary day-by-day account of what Lia went through. It also observes more beauty and comedy in the world than most of us notice even when we’re feeling our best. It is not so much a book about cancer as a book about life. It should be read by anyone who wants to understand illness and recovery, fear and hope and love.

Another Alice

A debut novel which explores childhood and motherhood, and which tells of one woman’s quest to recreate her life when she realises that, beneath the surface, things are not nearly as smooth as she likes to think they are.

The Manhattan Puzzle

A global puzzle. A secret symbol. A conspiracy that ends in death. Perfect for fans of Dan Brown’s Inferno. An international cover-up that could change the course of history… Sean has been tracking a symbol from another age. It provides a clue to a barbaric conspiracy. A puzzle with an answer feared for millenia. When Isabel wakes to find Sean hasn’t come home she doesn’t worry. At first. But when the police turn up on her doorstep wanting to interview him, she has to make a decision. Does she keep faith in him or does she believe the evidence? The symbol Sean and Isabel have been chasing will finally be revealed in Manhattan as one of the greatest banks in the world totters. Can Isobel uncover the truth before time runs out…or will she too be murdered?

The Istanbul Puzzle

Buried deep under Istanbul, a secret is about to resurface with explosive consequences… Alek Zegliwski has been savagely beheaded. His body found in an underground archaeological dig, hidden beneath the holy temple of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. When Sean arrives in the ancient city to identify his colleague’s body, he is handed an envelope of photographs belonging to Alek and soon finds himself in grave danger. Someone wants him dead but why? Aided by British diplomat Isabel Sharp, Sean begins to unravel the mystery of the mosaics in the photographs and inch closer to snaring Alek’s assassin. Evil is at work and when a lethal virus is unleashed on the city, panic spreads fast. Time is running out for Sean and Isabel. They must catch the killer before it’s too late.

The Jerusalem Puzzle

An archaic manuscript contains a secret, one that could change the world … The second in the series, from the author of The Istanbul Puzzle. Behind Lady Tunshuq’s Palace in the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem, archaeologist, Max Keiser, has been found dead. In the same city, Doctor Susan Hunter who was translating an ancient script discovered in Istanbul, is missing. With his girlfriend Isabel Sharp, Sean Ryan is about to piece together the mystery of his colleague Max’s death and Susan’s disappearance. But as they explore the ancient and troubled city, they soon find themselves drawn into a dangerous and deadly game of fire. A taut thriller in the tradition of Dan Brown and Robert Harris.

Echoes Of The Celtic Tiger

A colourful parade of characters feature in this diverse collection of short stories, offering compelling insights into the Celtic Tiger era, pointing out the dilemmas we all face in good times and bad.

Accordion Music

A superb collection of witty and poignant stories by the master of the Irish short story.

Sainte Bastien

Lambourn racehorse trainer Nick Marchant has never had it easy, but now things are going from bad to worse. Recently-retired jockey Mark Ashton has suffered a very public breakdown. His replacement, Kym Hughes, is dogged by ill-luck and apprentice jockey Dominic is eaten by bitterness and jealousy. Their lives become entwined in a web of danger and envy in this latest racing thriller by award-winning Lissa Oliver.

Chantilly Dawns

When top jockey Marcel Dessaint loses his racing licence, his whole world falls apart. Accused of deliberately pulling up healthy horses, Marcel is passed a verdict of Gross Misconduct and forced to face the enmity of his peers. With a famous face and nowhere to hide in Chantilly, Marcel becomes an outcast in the only world he knows. He struggles to overcome his own self doubt while battling to clear his name, as he discovers that it’s not just his licence on the line…

ISBN 978-1-907221-08-8

Gala Day

Pete Allen is a jockey desperate to regain the glory days of his youth and it seems trainer Sebastian Churchill can offer him the chance he needs, but does that chance come with a price tag and can Pete ultimately afford the cost?

ISBN 0-9534167-4-5

Tales Of The Turf

A mainly humorous collection of short stories, some set within the world of horseracing, others revolving around such diverse characters as vampires, popstars and serial killers. Meet a gaggle of giggly schoolgirls on their international tour of racecourses where no jockey is safe; the hapless punters in search of a winning formula; the movie star who fails to win a look-alike contest as himself; and the big business consortium out to cash in on high factor sun protection for their vampire clients, just in case such clients exist. All these and more will bring a smile to the reader’s lips, in the only collection of short stories available from award-winning author, Lissa Oliver.

ISBN 978-0953416707

Nero – The Last Caesar

At the age of ten Nero became heir to the Roman Empire – in exchange for his childhood. Emperor at 16, he was dominated by his mother and manipulated by the Senate. In the face of hatred from his peers, Nero fought to retain his enthusiasm and dedication, only to be worn down and broken by the politics of Rome. He ended his short life a sad and lonely outcast, but his reputation lives on, epitomising the wealth and decadence of ancient Rome.

ISBN 0-9534167-1-2

Angel Delight

COMING SOON!

Legacy

Sasha Goodwin’s father is the ruler of the world, a powerful wizard locked in a never-ending battle with his arch-enemy Soren, until a messenger brings news that will finally seal his rival’s fate. Sasha, believing this will cause the Apocalypse, sets out on a journey that will deliver her to the heart of evil and madness.

Cain

Cain after killing his brother Abel is cursed; destined to wander the Earth as a pariah, but blessed with immortality, incredible strength and miraculous self-healing abilities to protect him from his many enemies. Pursued down through the ages by the Romans, Nazis, CIA and many other kings and despots eager to harness his talents, he finally comes to the attention of the Illuminati, a powerful and insidious organisation run by Samuel Carson, a man who will stop at nothing including murder and the sacrifice of his daughter whom Cain loves to obtain ultimate power in Eden, the location of which only Cain knows and could bring about the Apocalypse.

The Holistic Gardener: First Aid From The Garden

Home-grown remedies for all kinds of ailments and injuries, especially those sustained while gardening. A handy guide to quick and effective first-aid treatments for commonly occurring accidents and complaints, derived from garden, pantry and under-sink sources. From a thorn prick to heatstroke, from chapped hands to heart attack, from pesticide poisoning to wasp stings: all of these can be treated on site with what you grow. The resource is on your doorstep: the plant beside you as your work or relax in the garden can be the answer to the hive, ache or watery eye. It is written by a professional gardener with a lifetime of experience of accidents that can happen in the garden and of how to cure/respond within the garden context using plants and items at hand in the garden. All the dots are joined, you won’t need a book on herbs, a book on homemade remedy preparation and a garden plant reference – they are all combined in the first aid advice in this book.

The Holistic Gardener: Beauty Treatments From The Garden

A handy guide to natural skin, body and beauty remedies derived from garden, pantry and kitchen sources. From natural shampoo to home-grown teeth whitener, cures for common ailments to tips on healthy nourishment, this book demonstrates the advantages and simplicity of natural beauty treatments. Fiann brings his singular knowledge of plants’ properties to bear in showing us that there are easier, healthier and cheaper ways to have good skin, great hair and an all-over glow of well-being. By using the resources around us and understanding the value of what we grow, Fiann shows how combining plants with the right ingredients can make us healthier, wealthier and wiser about our skin and bodies.

Heavenly Arcana

Esoteric exercises come in many forms and with many different outcomes. Heavenly Arcana contains revelations, assembled into nineteen lessons, gained from a deep study of the original nineteen class mantras created by Rudolf Steiner almost one hundred years ago. The new lessons have been designed to be a tool to aid further revelation and prepare the soul for its next incarnation. The book is split into two. In the first part the author lists four key steps in accessing the spiritual world: reading sacred works; meditation; prayer; and contemplation. Of particular interest is the author’s use of Mindfulness to prime the soul for its contemplation exercises. The second part of the book displays the fruits of spiritual communication in nineteen lessons. By studying the lessons, the student will begin to think about what the future will hold for the reincarnated soul thereby helping the soul’s transmigration from death to rebirth. The book is available from Amazon priced €10.00

Hitler’s Vision

Hitler’s Vision: From the Interrogation of Otto Ohlendorf by MI5 on July7, 1945 Hitler’s Vision recounts the astonishing claim by Otto Ohlendorf, a high-ranking SS Officer, that the creation of National Socialism was based on a spiritual event. Interrogated on July 7, 1945, Ohlendorf claimed that Hitler has attended an occult initiation ritual in Berlin on September 24, 1918. According to Ohlendorf, Hitler’s experience during the ritual, in which Hitler received information from a spiritual being, was fundamental in the formation of the Twenty Five Point Program of the National Socialist Party proclaimed on February 24, 1920. Local author, John Parr, from Ballyhaunis, discovered the interrogation files while working as a senior research office with the UK Ministry of Defence. His meticulous research explains the problems associated with Ohlendorf’s claims and carefully traces the convoluted provenance and evidence of the Vision. He also links the various protagonists involved in Ohlendorf’s testimony with the label “Keepers of the Holy Grail of National Socialism”. The book is available from Amazon priced €6.00

Coping With Loss

The title and the contents page both describe what this book is about. It is a self-help book for health and well-being. It is written in an easy to understand style and the principles and fundamental advice given in this book can be applied to many different types of loss. This book is designed to help the reader now or at other times in their life when they may encounter loss of some kind. It would make an ideal gift for someone you care about, even yourself! Balboa Press Australia

HERO OR TRAITOR?

What drives an Irishman to become a rebel?

This is a true story about a protestant Irishman of English descent who ends up becoming The Commander in Chief of The United Irishmen in 1798.

Corporal Jack

This is the story of Jack who was regimental mascot to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers from 1917 to 1922. Jack was a real dog and his picture is on the cover. His master was the author’s father. The book is historically correct and properly researched. Young people of 12 or more will enjoy reading about the dog that won medals and was promoted to Corporal. Jack was twice wounded and found his master, who had been gassed, when under fire. The story will appeal to people who liked ‘Warhorse.’

Breakfast The Night Before

This work combines two volumes of memoir “Breakfast the Night Before” and “Saturday’s Child”. It offers a personal view of Irish rural life from the “Economic War” of the 1930s to the farming boom and recession of the 1970s, and describes the upbringing of a Protestant only child on a farm near Nenagh in north Tipperary – an idyll interrupted by school in Dublin during the 1940s. Taking over on her father’s death, working the land and recounting with humour her dealings from the age of 17, at fairs throughout the country – Limerick, Kilrush, Cahirmee and Clonmel.

One Dog And His Man

Sheepdog breeder Marjorie Quarton tells the story of Shep, canine hero, TV star and sheepdog trials champion, from his point of view, charting his rise from humble beginnings in Coolcoffin, Ireland, where he is aided, and sometimes thwarted, by his comical but lovable “boss”.

Part-Time Writer: Notes and Reflections

Part-time Writer guides the reader through all aspects of writing – from the embryonic stages of researching and planning, to the hard slog of the writing and editing, through to the presentation of the manuscript, and finally, approaching agents and publishers. At each stage, the author explains how she did it – and how the reader can do it too. * How can I write engaging dialogue? * What can I do to make my characters ‘live’ on the page? * Must I always ‘show and not tell’? * How can I transform a hobby into a book? * When is the right time to show my work to others? * How should I present my manuscript? * Do I need an agent? * Should I self-publish? * Where can I find the time to write a novel? In her inimitable style, Marjorie Quarton merges literary memoir, anecdotes and straight talking to provide invaluable insights into the realities of being a writer, while offering indispensable advice on the trade, making this book a must-have for any aspiring author.

Love

Love, by Lucille Redmond, is a fantastic stories from other worlds and other times, that make the hair stand on the back of your neck when they aren’t making you burst out laughing, or crying. The title story is a terrifying stalker tale set in the West of Ireland. And the Green Sea Ebbs Away is set on a planet originally inhabited by people who mainly live in the sea, but now shared with people from Earth who have been genetically engineered to be able to live and work in sea and on land. It’s the story of a judicial killing, and it’s based on an 18th-century case in Ireland. Our Fenian Dead follows a Fenian to America, where he is relentlessly pulled back into the movement.

A Soldier’s Wife

A compelling, dramatic exploration of love, loss, resilience and divided loyalties, which explores the effects that war and political upheaval have on an ordinary family. Ellen leaves Ireland with her soldier husband, James, for a glamorous life in India but their idyll is shattered by a tragedy on the journey. They return to a frugal life in Dublin, a city rife with civil and political unrest. WW1 leaves her fending for herself and three children through the turbulence of the 1916 Easter Rising. A traumatized James returns from the war to a hostile city, children who are nationalists and a wife who has become a strong, independent woman. Caught between two loyalties, can Ellen hold her family together and make a place for them in the new Free State?

McSorely’s Evil Tea

The story of a young girl Sky Swift, an evil tea company and their plot to take over the world!Sky Swift lives happily in a cosy home with her mother. She enjoys the simpler things in life like drinking tea, munching biscuits, oh and sniffing everything. One day evil pays a visit. Her world has changed forever. Stalked by an evil tea bag and chased by an evil tea company that will stop at nothing to get her. They want her for their wicked plan. Sky is in trouble. She needs help. But who can she turn to?

Loftus – The Hall Of Dreams

Loftus Hall, on the wind-swept Hook peninsula is a three-storey nine-bay mansion rebuilt in 1871, which incorporates parts of an older medieval residence built in the time of the black death and the previous late 17th century house of the Loftus family. A fine example of Irish Palladianism, Loftus Hall harbours countless trapped, tortured spirits and is a known site of psychic disturbances. Here, powers of darkness dwell with innocence, amid the hopeless insanity of a young girl who died of a broken heart.

The definitive study on the Loftus Demesne and its past comes to life in a story based on research, facts and paranormal experiences. Evidence and comprehensive historical research are intertwined with popular myth and beautiful images of Irish architecture.  This book uncovers all that lay hidden beneath its abandoned walls and has not been forgotten. In silence, the house speaks through these pages and ultimately, tells its true story.

Loftus Hall is indeed haunted, but by whom?  A creative and factual work that transcends the popular myth of the devil and the young Lady Anne, unearthing what was hidden during centuries, bringing to light new theories and undisputed facts.   Perhaps it is not only Loftus Hall, but rather the land on which it lies that holds an even darker secret and older story; the dreams of many souls who left this world and the nightmares of those that are still living.

Walk with us as we guide you through Loftus Hall, Ireland’s most haunted house, to discover its untold story; finally unveiled through this book, written in its 666th anniversary.

Loftus – The Hall of Dreams is a lavish book and collector’s item.  This large luxurious volume measuring 298mm x 258mm, hand sewn and with quarter binding, has been lovingly created with great attention to detail. It is available as a signed limited edition only, with a cloth embossed hard cover which features the Loftus coat of arms and silver-foil stamping on the spine.  Our big “black book” contains 116 black and white haunting figurative photographs measuring 255mm x 205mm with a striking layout of text/colour imagery as a gothic story that speaks of immortal love, loss, the mysteries of the Otherworld, ancient secrets and the depths of the human spirit. The fonts chosen for the cover and some of the inside pages are reminiscent of the actual handwriting of relevant Loftus family members as seen in the original family documents which date back to almost 300 years ago. It is printed on 170gsm art silk paper.

Limited edition, numbered and signed copies can be purchased from www.thehallofdreams.com and from the author’s Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/HelenaBScott/.

ISBN 9781905597727

Curious Cargo

Make room Bill Bryson, there is a new travel writer in town! Imagine taking a trip with an erudite and informed companion who can regale you with relevant and entertaining information. Imagine standing under the stars at sea and wondering at Man’s place in the universe with a fellow traveller who can draw on Voltaire, Joyce and the classics. Imagine pondering the place of religion in society with a seasoned veteran who is familiar with both sides of the debate. Gentle but tenacious, Patrick Semple is aware of the human frailty that drives the machine. This is an account of voyages taken by Patrick and his wife Hilary on cargo vessels carrying everything from bananas to buses. They are the sort of people you love to bump into in foreign parts. Self reliant but willing to share, private but willing to open up, self effacing but full of resources and nuggets of survival gold. This is the kind of travelling the world thinks has passed into folklore. Midnight coffee on the bridge with the captain; weeks at sea between ports; colour, culture and novelty when you put to shore. There are storms and placid sunlit seas. There is the sound of the ocean and all the while the “machine is machining”. In this mode of travel there is time to reflect and space to set the mind free. Take this voyage and you will never take a banana or a vegetarian for granted again

Change To Your Optimum Life Now!

In this book you meet the New God, the God of the future, the same God who always was but you were never told about, the God with whom you connect instantly and effortlessly by thought not prayer. The God of change who is your best pal 24/7 and is ever-eager to help with your problems, does not regard you as a sinner. This is the God who enables you to be optimistic, have super self-esteem, achieve a blissful relationship, enjoy career success, raise great children, defeat illness and much, much more.

Foolish Pride

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman of a certain age must be in want of a man. So when a prospective husband is sighted on the horizon, mothers, friends and the entire community rally round to be of service. As the first tentative rumours of a male addition to the staff at Carrigmore National School hatch out from their shell, imaginations billow into overdrive and the busy wings of speculation begin to flap. The idea that he is destined for one of their own takes root, and is nurtured, until it flowers into certainty. However, at times, even deep-rooted certainties can contain a degree of foolish pride. Ten years ago, Beth Maguire walked away from the man she was going to marry. Now 34, she is still single and teaching in a small village school when her life suddenly becomes more interesting with the arrival of a new substitute. Andrew McKay seems to be everything a woman could ask for. Or is he? With strong echoes of Jane Austen, ‘Foolish Pride’ follows Beth’s search for happiness as she struggles to make the right choices, and to reshape her life. Among the obstacles in her path are the restrictions imposed by the small town mentality of rural Ireland, always quick to judge and condemn. In a world which prizes appearances, Beth needs to assert her own values. It is only by confronting the ghosts of her past that she finds a way to attain her goals without compromising her ideals.

Beneath The Surface

From top-ten Irish bestselling author Jo Spain comes the second novel in the Inspector Tom Reynolds series Ryan Finnegan, a high-ranking government official, is brutally slain in Leinster House, the seat of the Irish parliament. Detective Inspector Tom Reynolds and his team are called in to uncover the truth behind the murder. As the suspects start to rack up, Tom must untangle a web of corruption, sordid secrets and sinister lies.

With Our Blessing

It’s true what they say . . . revenge is sweet. 1975. A baby, minutes old, is forcibly taken from its devastated mother. 2010. The body of an elderly woman is found in a Dublin public park in the depths of winter. Detective Inspector Tom Reynolds is working the case. He’s convinced the murder is linked to historical events that took place in the notorious Magdalene Laundries. Reynolds and his team follow the trail to an isolated convent in the Irish countryside. But once inside, it becomes disturbingly clear that the killer is amongst them . . . and is determined to exact further vengeance for the sins of the past.

Pitter And Patter

Take a ride with Pitter on a water cycle! You’ll go through a watershed, down, around and up again. How about going with Patter? You’ll even go underground. Oh, the places you’ll go and the creatures you’ll see. A water drop is a wonderfully adventurous thing to be!

Fear Of The Collar

Sent to an Industrial School in Dublin at the age of seven, Patrick Touher was forced into a tough regime of education and training, prayer and punishment, strict discipline and fearful nights. No allowances were made for emotion, sentiment or boyhood worries, and anyone who disturbed the routine was severely punished. Artane demanded absolute obedience, absolute submission; Patrick’s was an education in cruelty and fear. Patrick Touher spent eight long years in Artane Industrial School. Run by the Christian Brothers, the school has become synonymous with the widespread abuse of children in Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s which is currently the subject of an official inquiry. This is the inside story of a childhood lived in the most horrific of circumstances. A moving and powerful true account, Fear of the Collar bears testament to the courage and determination of the children that society forgot.

Free As A Bird

This is Patrick Touher’s sequel to “Fear of the Collar”, his memoir of boyhood in Artane Industrial School. The book opens with his leaving of Artane. It then traces his life to the point where he marries, settles down and becomes a family man. In the meantime, he recounts, with great honesty, the difficulties faced by an institutionalized young man in coming to terms with the adult world. Poorly educated, with no family connections, utterly naive in sexual matters, he none the less made it from his unpromising background to a “normal” life.

Scars That Run Deep

Leaving his abusive Irish boarding school after eight long years, Patrick Touher thought his troubles were over. But the adult world was a dangerous place for a naïve adolescent. From the Dublin Catholic boys’ home to arriving alone in London, again Patrick is seen as easy prey. Yet Patrick’s strength, honesty and sense of humour never left him. The boy they couldn’t break fought back and eventually found love and a family. But the shadow of his early years was always with him. With the encouragement of his wife – a constant witness to his traumatic nightmares – Patrick set about taking the Christian Brother to task. The eagerly awaited sequel to bestseller Fear of the Collar that doesn’t disappoint, Scars that Run Deep is a deeply moving and ultimately triumphant true story.

Dirty Money

An excellent, witty book set in modern Ireland, in a city of financial greed and underworld crime and dealings. Surprising twists in the plot keep the reader intrigued. A book for both the young and old and a thorough enjoyment to read. A modern Irish thriller.

Up Up And Away

The story of air hostesses and pilots in an Irish airline, of romance and adventure on the ground and above the clouds.

One Of The Family

A moving story of an Irish family, of passion, tragedy and love. Claire Shannon knows happiness for the first time when drawn into the warmth and friendship of the McArdles family circle but sadly the father abuses her. In the aftermath of the double tragedy that rocks the family, she believes her childhood secret is safe… until she falls in love with the son of the man who abused her.

The Straw Hat and Other Stories

A collection of short stories about love and life in provincial Irish towns.

The Mask and Other Stories

An intriguing, sensual and poignant portrayal of modern Irish women.

Play The Ball Where The Monkey Leaves It

‘Playing the ball where the monkey leaves it’ is a necessary rule for anyone who wishes to find peace in life. For peace can come only with the acceptance of life, of the way things are in life. The suchness of life is the starting point in daily living and the beginning of the discovery of happiness and peace. The sage in the stories takes the reader along a path of apparent ordinariness and sudden depths. The stories are thematically arranged around issues of daily living such as relationships, suffering and helping, offering a treasure trove of wisdom regarding mindfulness in practical living. Reading them reflectively can be challenging and life-changing.

June Average

Hi, my name’s June McCarthy. I’m 13 years old and I’m (wait for it) AVERAGE! Average height! Average Weight! Average width! Average grades! Average everything! Is there anything worse than being average? I wish there was something unusual, or even weird, about me. A big nose, out-of-control hair, bizarre clothes or a mean stare would do. I mean, everyone has their own speciality. My friend Mia can stuff two bags of marshmallows into her mouth at once. Now that’s talent! Me? I can’t seem to find a special quirk that’d give me a ticket out of Averageville. Maybe the world’s just not ready for me, yet…

The Golden Age Dawns

There are dark forces that are determined to defeat humanity. The Protectors of the Light, immortals that protect humanity, combat the evil that threatens to overwhelm the world. They have a mission to guide humanity and individuals as the human race develop. Colin is a young man from a poor family in Dublin. He decides to travel with his friends to escape recession Ireland. He and his friends encounter situations of social unrest that test his mental and physical strength. Colin discovers he has to face events he never imagined could ever exist. His life and the lives of those he loves are under constant threat. Susan is in a race against time to save London from the outbreak of a new virus that threatens to spread throughout the world. Linda, a successful clinical psychologist but a lonely woman, decides to travel in search of love. Find out how these mortals cope with terrifying events as they are caught up in a cosmic battle for the survival of humanity. Will The Protectors of the Light be able to defend the human race and prevent the destruction of the Earth? This book takes you at a whirlwind pace across the globe in a story of intrigue, romance and suspense.

Easter Rising 1916: A Family Answers The Call For Ireland`s Freedom

Very different from other books about the Easter Rising, this is an exploration and celebration of art and culture a decade before, during and after 1916. The book spans 100 years from the era of 1916 to our time of 2016 and includes the ceremonies in Ireland which commemorated the Easter Rising 1916. The staff of his office Áras an Uachtaráin has selected images of President Michael D. Higgins and his role in the ceremonies and an inspiring speech to the relatives of the rebels that took part in the Rising. This book includes rare images that are a direct copy of documents that belonged to the leader of the Rising, Patrick Pearse, and an artist said to be the most important artistic revolutionary of the Celtic revival. These documents reveal intriguing insights into the character of these unique men and women. The Patrick Pearse Museum in Ireland has kindly selected images included in this book.