Of Irish Descent

What does it mean to be of Irish descent? What does Irish descent stand for in Ireland? In Northern Ireland? In the United States? How are the categories of “native” and “settler” and accounts of ethnic origin being refigured through popular genealogy and population genetics? Of Irish Descent addresses these questions by exploring the contemporary significance of ideas about ancestral roots, origins, and connections. Moving from the intimacy of family stories and reunions to disputed state policies on noble titles and new applications of genetic research, Nash traces the place of ancestry in interconnected geographies of identity—familial, ethnic, national, and diasporic. Underlying these different practices and narratives are potent and profoundly political questions about who counts as Irish and to whom Ireland belongs. Examining tensions between ideas of plurality and commonality, difference and connection that run through the culture and science of ancestral origins, Of Irish Descent is an original and timely exploration of new configurations of nation and diaspora as communities of shared descent.

What does it mean to be of Irish descent? What does Irish descent stand for in Ireland? In Northern Ireland? In the United States? How are the categories of “native” and “settler” and accounts of ethnic origin being refigured through popular genealogy and population genetics? Of Irish Descent addresses these questions by exploring the contemporary significance of ideas about ancestral roots, origins, and connections. Moving from the intimacy of family stories and reunions to disputed state policies on noble titles and new applications of genetic research, Nash traces the place of ancestry in interconnected geographies of identity—familial, ethnic, national, and diasporic. Underlying these different practices and narratives are potent and profoundly political questions about who counts as Irish and to whom Ireland belongs. Examining tensions between ideas of plurality and commonality, difference and connection that run through the culture and science of ancestral origins, Of Irish Descent is an original and timely exploration of new configurations of nation and diaspora as communities of shared descent.

An essential new history of ancient Ireland and the Irish, written as an engrossing detective story About eighty million people today can trace their descent back to the occupants of Ireland. But where did the occupants of the island themselves come from and what do we even mean by “Irish” in the first place? This is the first major attempt to deal with the core issues of how the Irish came into being. J. P. Mallory emphasizes that the Irish did not have a single origin, but are a product of multiple influences that can only be tracked by employing the disciplines of archaeology, genetics, geology, linguistics, and mythology. Beginning with the collision that fused the two halves of Ireland together, the book traces Ireland’s long journey through space and time to become an island. The origins of its first farmers and their monumental impact on the island is followed by an exploration of how metallurgists in copper, bronze, and iron brought Ireland into increasingly wider orbits of European culture. Assessments of traditional explanations of Irish origins are combined with the very latest genetic research into the biological origins of the Irish.

Roughly 44 million Americans of Irish descent, though understandably proud of their heritage, have grown up with a shocking degree of cultural deprivation with regard to the culinary traditions of their ancestors. For most, Irish cuisine means potatoes, corned beef, and cabbage. Now at last, The Irish Heritage Cookbook will set the record straight. Margaret Johnson offers a much-needed fresh perspective on what Irish cooking is all about. She tells stories about the foods of Erin and how these dishes were reinvented by Irish emigrants and their offspring, evolving to include new ingredients and to suit modern circumstances and tastes. Offering a bountiful collection of both traditional recipes and contemporary innovations from a host of chefs and cooks in the Old Country and the New, The Irish Heritage Cookbook affirms at last the place of Irish cooking among the great cuisines of the worldand one to be enjoyed by all who love Ireland.

Hundreds of illustrations and period photographs chronicle the history of the Irish people in America and document their contribution to American culture.

"Here is a new Clay Sanskrit Library publication of the middle book of Valmiki's Ramayana, the source revered throughout South Asia as the original account of the career of Rama, the ideal man and the incarnation of the great god Vishnu." "After losing first his kingship and then his wife, Sita, Rama goes to the monkey capital of Kishkindha to seek help in finding her, and meets Hanuman, the greatest of the monkey heroes. The brothers Valin and Sugriva are both claimants for the monkey throne; in exchange for the assistance of monkey troops in discovering where Sita is held captive, Rama has to help Sugriva win the throne. The monkey hordes set out in every direction to scour the world, but they have no success until an old vulture tells them Sita is in Lanka. The book concludes with Hanuman's preparation to leap over the ocean to Lanka to pursue the search." "The tragic rivalry between the two monkey brothers is in sharp contrast to Rama's affectionate relationship with his own brothers, and forms a self-contained episode within the larger story of Rama's adventures. Rama's intervention in the struggle between Sugriva and Valin is the chief moral focus of the book." --Book Jacket.

"The authors look at the state's earliest Irish residents and communities and describe the critical roles played by Irish immigrants in the settlement and founding of the Prairie State"--

Follows the Irish from their first arrival in the American colonies through the bleak days of the potato famine, the decades of ethnic prejudice and nativist discrimination, the rise of Irish political power, and on to the historic moment when John F. Kennedy was elected to the highest office in the land.