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Interesting books

Hi folks, want to share anything funny or thought-provoking not fitting in the categories below? Feel free to do it here :)
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Aoife

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Interesting books

PostWed Jul 16, 2014 8:16 pm

hi folks, I started this as a new topic in the Chat & Craic/Banter subforum for all who want to introduce or discuss books that might be of general interest here - special books on Clans, genealogy, history etc I'd suggest you better post in the relevant subforums :)
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Re: interesting books

PostWed Jul 16, 2014 8:23 pm

I just started reading David R. Cowan's latest book, Ley Lines of the U.K. and USA
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ley-Lines-U-K-U ... id+r+cowan

Sure it's way too early to give any in depth opinion, but to me the book seems very interesting and has lots of pictures not to be found anywhere else - except some of them also in Cowan's first book, Ancient Energies of the Earth.
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Re: interesting books

PostWed Jul 16, 2014 10:59 pm

I havent had time to bless meslf :roll:
My ipad controls my spellings not me so apologies from it in advance :) lol
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Re: interesting books

PostFri Jul 18, 2014 11:36 am

Tricia's remark about her dad's family probably being involved with the OO
viewtopic.php?p=884#p884
reminded me of HBC Pollards interesting book, The Secret Societies of Ireland, available for free here:
http://www.aasrschenectady.org/lib/Othe ... 201922.pdf

No one involved with Irish politics can claim not to be involved with a secret society of one kind or another.
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Tricia

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Re: Interesting books

PostFri Jul 18, 2014 11:42 am

Thanx aoife
My ipad controls my spellings not me so apologies from it in advance :) lol
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Re: Interesting books

PostSat Jul 19, 2014 2:39 am

http://archive.org/stream/bookofbrucean ... 1/mode/2up

Excellant free Ebooks ..Robert the Bruce and his irish connections
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Re: Interesting books

PostSat Jul 19, 2014 2:40 am

http://www.electricscotland.com/webclan ... /index.htm

Clans and Families of Ireland and Scotland
An Ethnography of the Gael A.D. 500 - 1750
© C. Thomas Cairney, Ph.D,
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Re: Interesting books

PostSat Jul 19, 2014 2:43 am

https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryM ... =IE108435.. a FREE EBOOK


* DONALD, MacDONALD, McDONALD, McDONNELL: History of the Clan Donald
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Re: Interesting books

PostSat Jul 19, 2014 2:47 am

My ipad controls my spellings not me so apologies from it in advance :) lol
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Re: Interesting books

PostSat Jul 19, 2014 11:41 am

Timothy O'Neill: Life and Tradition in Rural Ireland

A book I own and love since decades ... new copies nearly unaffordable now, but if you want it for the information contained a used one will do as well ;)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tradition-Rural ... al+ireland
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Re: Interesting books

PostSat Jul 19, 2014 1:46 pm

Thanx aoife just have a look
My ipad controls my spellings not me so apologies from it in advance :) lol
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Re: interesting books

PostSun Jul 20, 2014 8:57 am

Aoife wrote:Tricia's remark about her dad's family probably being involved with the OO
viewtopic.php?p=884#p884
reminded me of HBC Pollards interesting book, The Secret Societies of Ireland, available for free here:
http://www.aasrschenectady.org/lib/Othe ... 201922.pdf

No one involved with Irish politics can claim not to be involved with a secret society of one kind or another.

I just had a random look at this book Aoife. All i can say is,i'm glad i didn't pay money for it. My impression? Slanted,to put it mildly.
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Re: Interesting books

PostSun Jul 20, 2014 10:20 am

Thanx for imput john
My ipad controls my spellings not me so apologies from it in advance :) lol
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Re: Interesting books

PostSun Jul 20, 2014 10:40 am

Aoife wrote:hi folks, I started this as a new topic in the Chat & Craic/Banter subforum for all who want to introduce or discuss books that might be of general interest here - special books on Clans, genealogy, history etc I'd suggest you better post in the relevant subforums :)



Great idea Aoife , I may have a few titles of interest !
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Re: Interesting books

PostSun Jul 20, 2014 11:07 am

Fairlie wrote:
Aoife wrote:hi folks, I started this as a new topic in the Chat & Craic/Banter subforum for all who want to introduce or discuss books that might be of general interest here - special books on Clans, genealogy, history etc I'd suggest you better post in the relevant subforums :)



Great idea Aoife , I may have a few titles of interest !

Reading Game of Thrones , at the moment ! :o
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Re: Interesting books

PostSun Jul 20, 2014 11:18 am

My son sean is totally hooked on the tv series ..hes trying to get me interested but i was having none of it ..besides him and the girl was all cuddled up on settee so no gooseberry playing by me lol :lol:
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Re: Interesting books

PostThu Jul 24, 2014 8:08 pm

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Here are some titles by Morgan Llywelyn, well worth a read ,
Lion of Ireland,
King, warrior, and lover Brian Boru was stronger, braver, and wiser than all other men-the greatest king Ireland has ever known. Out of the mists of the country's most violent age, he merged to lead his people to the peak of their golden era. His women were as remarkable as his adventures: Fiona, the druidess with mystical powers; Deirdre, beautiful victim of a Norse invader's brutal lust; Gormlaith, six-foot, read-haired goddess of sensuality. Set against the barbaric splendors of the tenth century, this is a story rich in truth and legend-in which friends become deadly enemies, bedrooms turn into battlefields, and dreams of glory are finally fulfilled. Morgan Llywelyn has written one of the greatest novels of Irish history.

Bard: the Odyssey of the Irish

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Bard gives a new perspective by looking at the pre-history of the peoples before they left Europe. The plot of the story, including the migration to Ireland, is well-paced and imaginative, and suits the cultural background well.

Finn McCool

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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.herwise excellent treatment of the subject. Anyone wishing to learn more about Gaelic history while hearing a great story should read this book


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Re: Interesting books

PostThu Jul 24, 2014 8:38 pm

Luved THE bard ....powerful when you get i to it
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Re: interesting books

PostSat Jul 26, 2014 5:27 pm

Aoife » Wed Jul 16, 2014 8:23 pm wrote:I just started reading David R. Cowan's latest book, Ley Lines of the U.K. and USA
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ley-Lines-U-K-U ... id+r+cowan


One story from that book I'd like to share here, as it gave me a good laugh :lol: and as it's only a tiny bit of the whole book I hope this complies with "fair use" under copyright legislation ;)

The Stone of Destiny

The Stone of Destiny, one of the most sacred stones on the planet is thought to be Jacob's pillow, taken by him while in Haran, in present-day Turkey, and brought to Ireland by a Scythian princess, daughter of the Pharaoh Smenkhkare, when she married the exiled Greek prince, Gaylethus, and was then called Scota (ruler of the people).
According to legend Scota pursued the Children of Israel out of Egypt on their Exodus to the Promised Land, but shortly thereafter the couple were forced to lead an exodus of their own out of Egypt, going first to Spain, then Ireland and, finally, to Scotland, which was named after her. Scota's bloodline flowed down the centuries through all the high Kings of Ireland and Scotland, but Gaylethos' pedigree was more ancient still, stretching back many more generations to the Old Testament patriarch Noah, eldest survivor of the Biblical Flood.
When King Fergus I entered Argyll in AD 503 to set up the Dalriadic kingdom of the Scots the tradition was so strong that he sent for the stone which, for the next 400 years remained on the island of Iona.
In the 10th century it was transferred to Scone in Perthshire (Scone - Gaelic from sgonnsa, a protective shadow, which it may well have been). The original stone was said to be black, marble-like, of meteoric origin, with hooks for carrying poles, and was used as a portable altar.
King Edward I, 'The Hammer of the Scots', eager to be crowned on this much revered magnetic altar, rampaged across Scotland as far north as Elgin, sweeping all opposition aside, then returned to Scone, stealing the sacred stone as spoils of the war, and, as had so often happened before, and since, taking every record of the country they could lay their hands on, typical of any invading army, which always takes the sacred relics of the country to psychically bring it to its knees.
The monks however had fully six weeks to prepare for this event, and the stone that Edward carried back to England could never have been the original one, for the stone which until 1951 lay beneath the Coronation chair in Westminster was a block of flawed lower old red sandstone, indigenous to Perthshire. Some even point out that as this stone has rings at each end, it was much more likely to have been a 'cludgy cover' - (cludgy, old Scots, lavatory) a heavy stone placed on top of a foul-smelling cesspit - even monks have a sense of humor!
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Re: Interesting books

PostSat Jul 26, 2014 9:11 pm

Hmm Egypt wudnt have them either weren't they lucky they didnt let them settle there
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Re: Interesting books

PostMon Jul 28, 2014 6:44 pm

The Bruce Trilogy, by Nigel Tranter


]Nigel Tranter succeeds admirably in bringing the story of Robert I - Scotland's greatest King - to life. Not only is his historical reasearch near flawless, but the book is graced by that indisputable mark of a great storyteller; the reader is wholly absorbed into the world of the Bruce and his friends. Tranter also manages to draw a whole mixture of feelings from his readers - love, hatred, admiration and even that strange mixture of respect and disgust for Edward I that Bruce himself is said to have harboured.
In the past years, Scotland has found it hard to shake off the image of Mel Gibson's "Braveheart". While there is no doubting the role of Sir William Wallace against England, Tranter's view on Robert Bruce is a real tonic to Hollywood's polluted version of the Wars of Independence.
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Re: Interesting books

PostMon Jul 28, 2014 6:49 pm

Wallace , by Nigel Tranter

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At the end of the 13th century Scotland was suffering under the tyranny of the English and Edward Plantagenet. The eponymous hero swears to rid his land of their cruelty and to restore Robert the Bruce to the throne. Nigel Tranter has written many historical novels, mostly set in Scotland.
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Re: Interesting books

PostMon Jul 28, 2014 6:52 pm

Rob Roy McGregor, trilogy , by Nige l Tranter
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From 1706 to 1745, this trilogy charts the story of Rob Roy MacGregor and his gallant nephew, Gregor, both fierce opponents of their rulers' plan to unite the Scottish and English parliaments. Contains "MacGregor's Gathering"; "The Clansman"; and "Gold for Prince Charlie".
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Re: Interesting books

PostMon Jul 28, 2014 6:57 pm

The Stewart , trilogy,

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The action is seen through the eyes of the fictional Jamie Douglas, descendent of the famed "Black Douglas" of Robert the Bruce's day, who tries to help shore up the monarchy for David, Duke of Rothesay, oldest son of Robert III.
Scottish history can be incredibly murky and involved at times, and that's what makes it so fascinating. Tranter has a gift for breathing life into periperal characters and putting them into play across a wide landscape and over a long period of time.
My favorite subplot involves the notorious Wolf of Badenoch, who burns down the Cathedral of Elgin, the so-called Lantern of the North, because of a dispute with its bishop. The Wolf's son, Alexander , becomes a steadfast friend and ally of Jamie Douglas.

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Re: interesting books

PostThu Jul 31, 2014 4:11 pm

Aoife » Wed Jul 16, 2014 8:23 pm wrote:I just started reading David R. Cowan's latest book, Ley Lines of the U.K. and USA
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ley-Lines-U-K-U ... id+r+cowan

Sure it's way too early to give any in depth opinion, but to me the book seems very interesting and has lots of pictures not to be found anywhere else - except some of them also in Cowan's first book, Ancient Energies of the Earth.




,,,I find the theme of dowsing and pendulum use etc fascinating
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Re: Interesting books

PostThu Jul 31, 2014 7:34 pm

The Patriot

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A really good novel by Nigel Tranter. It covers Andrew Fletcher's early days as a politician, his flight to Holland and Europe, his work with William of Orange over the union of crowns, his disillusionment with William over his indifference and contempt for Scotland, the massacre of Glencoe, the failed Darien scheme which bankrupted Scotland and the hated Treaty of Union, made through English bribes and threats of boycotts and war. All in all a very interesting read about one of Scotland's greatest patriots and how the political union of England and Scotland came about in the first place.
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Re: Interesting books

PostThu Jul 31, 2014 7:44 pm

The Flockmasters ( reading this at the moment ,an incite into what the Highland Clearances were like )
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A hero of the Peninsular War, Lieutenant Alastair MacRory of Gleneidart returns home to Wester Ross to recuperate from a wound he suffered while fighting with the Highland regiments. Highland families are being evicted and sent to Canada. Alastair deserts and throws in his lot with his people.
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Re: interesting books

PostThu Jul 31, 2014 11:08 pm

unitedblogs » Thu Jul 31, 2014 4:11 pm wrote:,,,I find the theme of dowsing and pendulum use etc fascinating


well, I meself wrote a book on this topic ;)
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Re: Interesting books

PostSun Nov 09, 2014 12:00 am

Just started Dan Brown's ......Inferno !
( but have to say the critics have not been very kind to him regarding this novel)
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Re: Interesting books

PostMon Nov 10, 2014 12:07 am

Plenty of reading in those books
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Re: Interesting books

PostSat Dec 06, 2014 12:17 am

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Red Branch
(This book is also known as ......On ravens wing ! )
Powerful . . . A lusty, poetic and legendary world based on Ireland's mythical warrior-hero Cuchulain." The New York Times Book Review
In a land ruled by war and love and strange enchantments, Cuchulain -- torn between gentleness and violence, haunted by the croakings of a sinister raven -- fights for his honor and his homeland and discovers too late the trap that the gods have set for him in the fatal beauty of Deirdre and the brutal jealousy of King Conor.
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Re: Interesting books

PostSat Dec 06, 2014 2:54 pm

Lusty? Lol must get it :D
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Re: Interesting books

PostSun Jan 04, 2015 12:55 am

Reading Needles of Stone by Tom Graves, available for free here:

http://tomgraves.org/needles
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Re: Interesting books

PostSun Jan 04, 2015 11:52 pm

reading between the lines,, :hacker: a pastime ....lol
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Re: Interesting books

PostWed Jan 07, 2015 2:23 pm

Thanx aoife nice one
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Re: Interesting books

PostWed Mar 11, 2015 2:27 pm

"Paddy's Lament"


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"Paddy's Lament" tells the story of those who lived through and died in the Irish Potato Famine of 1846-1847. Throughout the book I kept wondering if my ancestors lived through the horrors described.
The economic setting of Ireland is laid out as that of an island of tenant farmers and large, often absentee, landlords. Agriculture produced wheat and beef for export to England. A small proportion of the land was planted in potatoes, the only food which could feed the population on such small acreage. With the advent of the textile industry in England, wool became a more profitable crop than the traditional ones, if only the native population could be done away with.
A fungus led to the destruction of the potato crop in 1846. Relief was available through the prohibition of the exportation of grain, a step which had previously been taken in other famine stricken countries. The control of Ireland's destiny was within the control of the British Lords who regarded the Irish as a subhuman species of which they would prefer to be rid. The aid extended by foreign nations, particularly the U.S., was a sharp indictment of British indifference. The Famine would not have occurred in a country in control of its own fate.
The famine cause tenants to fall behind in their rents. Massive evictions and destruction of homes followed. Many Irish were forced from their home villages to travel across the land. Is this why Mary McKeever's two brothers were born in the East, but she was born in the West?
Relief came in bits and spurts. The British Lords commissioned the chef of the Reform Club, their gathering place, to create an economical recipe for Irish soup kitchens. Emphasizing economy, he created a soup which was easy on the British exchequer, but provided little nutrition to the Irish. Did William Casey eat this greasy water?
The famine led to widespread starvation. The vivid description of the appearance of the victims is grotesque. Did Matthew Gallen's parents die this death?
Privation forced the Irish to abandon their homes in search of a new life beyond the hated British Empire. The practice of the American wake, in which the family mourned the loss of the son or daughter who was to leave forever was a heart rending affair for all involved. Many sought to avoid the wake by running away. Is this why Thomas English and his brother ran away from home?
The reader accompanies a group of immigrants on a voyage in the stinking, rocking, wretched steerage section of a British ship. The inferiority of the British ships as opposed to American is explained. The sailor's grim prediction that there would be more room the further out they got became hauntingly true. Again the details are presented in such detail as to turn the stomach of the readers even after all of these years. Is this the type of voyage on which Johanna Lynch chose a crewman for her husband?
A new life started for the survivors upon arrival in New York. The contrast between the lethargy of the Irish in Ireland and their industry in America spoke eloquently of the altered prospects for reward for their labors. Although many stayed in New York, others moved out to rural environments more reminiscent of Ireland. Is this how Patrick Nealon got to Bath, Maine?
The British realized that, as they ridded Ireland of its excess population, they were creating an America which was becoming Irish and anti-British. The failure of the potato crop was an act of God. The famine was an Act of Parliament. This perception turned the Irish dissatisfaction with the British into an intense hatred.
This book helps us understand our past and what made us they way we are.
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Re: Interesting books

PostWed Mar 11, 2015 2:31 pm

The Famine Plot

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During a Biblical seven years in the middle of the nineteenth century, Ireland experienced the worst disaster a nation could suffer. Fully a quarter of its citizens either perished from starvation or emigrated, with so many dying en route that it was said, "you can walk dry shod to America on their bodies." In this grand, sweeping narrative, Ireland''s best-known historian, Tim Pat Coogan, gives a fresh and comprehensive account of one of the darkest chapters in world history, arguing that Britain was in large part responsible for the extent of the national tragedy, and in fact engineered the food shortage in one of the earliest cases of ethnic cleansing. So strong was anti-Irish sentiment in the mainland that the English parliament referred to the famine as "God's lesson."

Drawing on recently uncovered sources, and with the sharp eye of a seasoned historian, Coogan delivers fresh insights into the famine's causes, recounts its unspeakable events, and delves into the legacy of the "famine mentality" that followed immigrants across the Atlantic to the shores of the United States and had lasting effects on the population left behind. This is a broad, magisterial history of a tragedy that shook the nineteenth century and still impacts the worldwide Irish diaspora of nearly 80 million people today.
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Re: Interesting books

PostWed Mar 11, 2015 2:34 pm

The Great Shame

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The Great Shame, expands upon the achievement of his earlier fiction; because this is more than just the story of the Keneally family tree, transported from Ireland to Australia in the 19th century. It is the story of how Irish men and women came to be dispersed all over the world, and what they made of their lives in their new homes. It is the epic history of a whole people.
The Great Shame is, superbly, rivetingly, hypnotically readable; partly because Keneally orchestrates his many narrative strands so expertly and touches his story with many moments of beautiful writing, but also because it is all, even at its most extraordinary, completely true. The result is astonishingly vivid. What The Great Shame is most reminiscent of is a classic 19th-century novel; a Dickens, or a George Eliot. We follow Keneally's characters with the same involvement through their successes and their trials, until the very last sentence in the book when, like a master from the classic age of the novel, Keneally pays tribute to "the piquant blood and potent ghosts of the characters to whom we now bid goodbye". --Adam Roberts --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Re: Interesting books

PostWed Mar 11, 2015 2:41 pm

Irish: The Remarkable Saga of a Nation and a City

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Irish is the story of the mass migration from Ireland to Glasgow that took place in the wake of the Great Famine of the mid-nineteenth century. It is an epic account of the coming together of a nation and a city. This is the tale of those who escaped a nightmare existence in the poorest and most deprived country in Europe and changed the city of Glasgow forever. Irish brings to life the horrot of those grim days and reveals the unimaginable suffering endured as a result of the Potatoe Blight. It describes in vivid detail the hazards and hardships faced by those fleeing Ireland in search of a better life overseas, including a startling account of one of the most deplorable maritime crimes ever committed, the voyage of the SS Londonderry. The coming of the Irish to Glasgow had a bigger impact on the city than other event. Now, for the first time, the truth about this most significant and stirring episode is vividly unfolded. It tells of the contribution made by Irish labourers in Glasgow to the Industrial Revolution; reveals that the legendary football clubs of Celtic and Rangers may never have existed were it not for the migrant's arrival; and describes the "Partick War", and the occasion of the first-ever Orange Walk
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Re: Interesting books

PostWed Mar 11, 2015 2:52 pm

1916
a Novel by Morgan LLywelyn,

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This novel with its intermingling of fact and fiction held me in its grip right from page 1. The historical detail is excellent, and the reader learns a great deal about the Irish fight for independence within an entertaining framework, populated with both fictional and real life figures.Being of Irish descent myself I enjoyed finding out more about the country's history without having to resort to a dry textbook. A marvellous, rattling good read. It moves along at a fervent pace....buy it!
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