The Irish Times

The Irish Times is a pillar of Irish society. Founded in 1859 as the paper of the Irish Protestant Middle Class, it now has a position in Irish political, social and cultural life which is incomparable. In fact this history of the Irish Times is also a history of the Irish people. Always independent in ownership and political view and never entwined in any way with the Roman Catholic Church, it has become the weather vane, the barometer of Irish life and society followed by people of all religious and political persuasions and none. The paper is politically liberal and progressive as well as being centre right on economic issues. This history is peopled by all the great figures of Irish history - Daniel O`Connell, W.B. Yeats, Garret FitzGerald, Conor Cruise O`Brien and the paper has numbered among its internationally renowned columnists Mary Holland, Fintan O'Toole, Nuala O'Faolain, John Waters and Kevin Myers . Its influence on Irish Society is beyond question. In his book, Terence Brown tells the story of the paper with narrative skill, wit and perception. Analysis of the stance of the Times during events ranging from The Easter Rising, The Civil War, the Troubles and the recent economic recession make the book essential reading for students of Irish history, be they the general reader, the academic or amateur historian. The book will be seen as crucial to our understanding of Irish history in the past century and a half.

'Wonderfully dark, extremely funny' proclaimed ADAM KAY, author of the No.1 bestselling This is Going to Hurt 'A filmic romp with great characters, a jet-propelled plot, and a winning premise' said the GUARDIAN JASON MANFORD thinks it's 'Hilarious. You'll never look at Manchester the same way again.' The Chronicles of St Mary's series author JODI TAYLOR declared 'I loved this . . . great premise - great story - great characters . . . hugely enjoyable.' And THE TIMES called it 'ripping entertainment from start to finish.' There are dark forces at work in our world (and in Manchester in particular), so thank God The Stranger Times is on hand to report them . . . A weekly newspaper dedicated to the weird and the wonderful (but mostly the weird), it is the go-to publication for the unexplained and inexplicable. At least that's their pitch. The reality is rather less auspicious. Their editor is a drunken, foul-tempered and foul-mouthed husk of a man who thinks little of the publication he edits. His staff are a ragtag group of misfits. And as for the assistant editor . . . well, that job is a revolving door - and it has just revolved to reveal Hannah Willis, who's got problems of her own. When tragedy strikes in her first week on the job The Stranger Times is forced to do some serious investigating. What they discover leads to a shocking realisation: some of the stories they'd previously dismissed as nonsense are in fact terrifyingly real. Soon they come face-to-face with darker forces than they could ever have imagined. The Stranger Times is the first novel from C.K. McDonnell, the pen name of Caimh McDonnell. It combines his distinctive dark wit with his love of the weird and wonderful to deliver a joyous celebration of how truth really can be stranger than fiction. Readers love The Stranger Times: ***** 'A delight from start to finish - laugh out loud funny yet with plenty of thrills.' ***** 'Full of wit and humour, and knows how to keep the reader hooked.' ***** 'You'll soon fall in love . . . fans of Pratchett, Gaiman, Aaronovich will be blown away.'

The first comprehensive account to record and analyze all deaths arising from the Irish revolution between 1916 and 1921 This account covers the turbulent period from the 1916 Rising to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921—a period which saw the achievement of independence for most of nationalist Ireland and the establishment of Northern Ireland as a self-governing province of the United Kingdom. Separatists fought for independence against government forces and, in North East Ulster, armed loyalists. Civilians suffered violence from all combatants, sometimes as collateral damage, often as targets. Eunan O’Halpin and Daithí Ó Corráin catalogue and analyze the deaths of all men, women, and children who died during the revolutionary years—505 in 1916; 2,344 between 1917 and 1921. This study provides a unique and comprehensive picture of everyone who died: in what manner, by whose hands, and why. Through their stories we obtain original insight into the Irish revolution itself.

In Stephen Sexton' s remarkable debut, the video games of his childhood are once again a way to slip through the looking glass; to be in two places at once; to be two people at once. In these poems about the death of his mother, Sexton charts the familiar levels of Super Mario World, whose flowered landscapes bleed into our world-- and ours, strange with loss, bleed into it. This moving, otherworldly narrative is a daring exploration of memory, grief, and the necessity of the unreal.

For fans of Karen Foxlee’s Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy comes a rollicking debut about a young girl’s adventures in the far reaches of the icy north. When Emmeline’s scientist parents mysteriously disappear, she finds herself heading for a safe house, where allies have pledged to protect her. But along the way, she is kidnapped by the villainous Doctor Siegfried Bauer, who is bound for the ice fields of Greenland. There he hopes to summon a mystical creature from the depths of the ancient glaciers, a creature said to be so powerful that whoever controls it can control the world. Unfortunately, Bauer isn’t the only one determined to unleash the creature. The North Witch has laid claim to the mythical beast, too, and Emmeline—along with a scrappy stowaway named Thing—may be the only one with the power to save the world as we know it. Can Emmeline face one of the greatest legends of all time—and live to tell the tale?

From the acclaimed, controversial singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor comes a revelatory memoir of her fraught childhood, musical triumphs, fearless activism, and of the enduring power of song. Blessed with a singular voice and a fiery temperament, Sinéad O'Connor rose to massive fame in the late 1980s and 1990s with a string of gold records. By the time she was twenty, she was world famous--living a rock star life out loud. From her trademark shaved head to her 1992 appearance on Saturday Night Live when she tore up Pope John Paul II's photograph, Sinéad has fascinated and outraged millions. In Rememberings, O'Connor recounts her painful tale of growing up in Dublin in a dysfunctional, abusive household. Inspired by a brother's Bob Dylan records, she escaped into music. She relates her early forays with local Irish bands; we see Sinéad completing her first album while eight months pregnant, hanging with Rastas in the East Village, and soaring to unimaginable popularity with her cover of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2U." Intimate, replete with candid anecdotes and told in a singular form true to her unconventional career, Sinéad's memoir is a remarkable chronicle of an enduring and influential artist.

A disarming novel that asks a simple question: Can gentle people change the world? In this charming and truly unique debut, popular Irish musician Ronan Hession tells the story of two single, thirty-something men who still live with their parents and who are . . . nice. They take care of their parents and play board games together. They like to read. They take satisfaction from their work. They are resolutely kind. And they realize that none of this is considered . . . normal. Leonard and Hungry Paul is the story of two friends struggling to protect their understanding of what’s meaningful in life. It is about the uncelebrated people of this world — the gentle, the meek, the humble. And as they struggle to persevere, the book asks a surprisingly enthralling question: Is it really them against the world, or are they on to something?