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The prospect of Irish unification is now stronger than at any point since partition in 1921. Voters on both sides of the Irish border may soon have to confront for themselves what the answer to a referendum question would mean - for themselves, for their neighbours, and for their society.Journalists Fintan O'Toole and Sam McBride examine the strongest arguments for and against a united Ireland. What do the words 'united Ireland' even mean? Would it be better for Northern Ireland? Would it improve lives in the Republic of Ireland? And could it be brought about without bloodshed?O’Toole and McBride each argue the case for and against unity, questioning received wisdom and bringing fresh thinking to one of Ireland’s most intractable questions.

Knowth, Co. Meath, has been a place of ritual and settlement from the beginning of the Neolithic to the modern era. It is a national monument and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Property: the ancient Brú na Bóinne passage tomb complex that also includes Dowth and Newgrange. This book, based on material from the archaeological excavations published in our seven-volume Excavations at Knowth series, offers a general overview of what Knowth is all about, outlining why it is of interest and importance. In part, it is intended as a guide that people can use to navigate their way around the site, but it is also a book that anyone can read, use and enjoy without being on site and still get a feel for Knowth and how it came to be what it is. Did you know… Knowth and the other passage tombs in the Boyne Valley contain the largest collection of megalithic art in Europe. Knowth has the largest collection at any single location. The number of blue glass beads recovered at Knowth is more than twice the combined total from all other Late Iron Age burial sites in Ireland. Early medieval ‘graffiti’ in the form of ogham and insular inscriptions was carved in the passages of the East and West tombs of the Great Mound at Knowth in the eighth century ad. Knowth has produced the richest archaeological assemblage of material of tenth- to thirteenth-century date from any rural site in Ireland, surpassed only by the urban excavations at Dublin and Waterford. At the time the carved flint macehead was recovered in the East tomb at Knowth in 1982, it was one of only two maceheads to have been found as grave goods in an Irish passage tomb. The other, a partial pestle macehead, had been found in Knowth’s West tomb in July 1967.

Enlightening, entertaining and often surprising, Irish Food History: A Companion takes you on an unforgettable and expert journey through Ireland's culinary past.Beginning at the end of the Ice age, before reindeer, brown bears, and the giant Irish deer became extinct; this vital and brilliantly researched collection brings us forward from the introduction of farming and livestock, to the delicious world of medieval honey, banqueting, bog butter, whiskey distilling, to eighteenth century feasts, famines, and on to the modernisation, industrialisation, and eventual globalisation of food. Through analysis, storytelling, and mouth-watering descriptions, every dish and moment in time reveals ancient techniques, hidden gems, and innovative cooking seemingly far beyond its time, all of which have shaped Ireland's culinary landscape for centuries. Irish Food History: A Companion brings the reader on a gastronomic odyssey from earliest times and the start of the hunter-gatherer community, all the way to the abundant world of modern Irish cooking, safe in the hands of the world's most highly regarded food historians. With an engaging introduction from the editors Mairtin Mac Con Iomaire and Dorothy Cashman, and a foreword from Professor James Kelly, the thirty-two different contributors, all experts in their own particular field or period of study, provide the latest thinking and research from a wide range of academic disciplines. This book offers you the chance to explore the rich tapestry of Ireland's history with food in these twenty-eight urgent and compelling chapters.Whether you are a seasoned 'foodie' or a novice in the kitchen, a keen historian or merely curious about life, Irish Food History offers a glimpse at horizons old and new, unfurling a complex culinary history and revealing nuances of our cultural heritage. Comprehensively chronicling the island's deep connection to food and drink and bringing us right up to the present moment, we are presented with a portrait of a country and a place forever connected to its culinary traditions while also showing us a new and exciting snapshot of a vibrant, modern daring and connected nation of eaters and drinkers. Beautifully designed, this volume is richly illustrated and interspersed with folklore, songs, recipes, and food-related poetry from Seamus Heaney, Paula Meehan and Raiftearai, making it a must-read for the culinary and culturally curious both young and old.Contributors: Toby Barnard, Dorothy Cashman, Seamus Caulfield, Danielle Clarke, Catriona Clear, Margaret Connolly, Jonny Dillon, Clodagh Doyle, Patrick Doyle, Bryce Evans, Nikolah Gilligan, Claudia Kinmonth, Shane Lehane, Patricia Lysaght, Mairtin Mac Con Iomaire, Donall O Braonain, Elaine Mahon, J.P. Mallory, John McCafferty, Tara McConnell, Finbar McCormick, Ian Miller, John D Mulcahy, Brian J Murphy, Grace Neville, Fionnan O'Connor, William Sayers, Maeve Sikora, Isabella Mulhall, Katharine Simms, Ailbe van der Heide.

Across artificial intelligence, climate change, food safety, transport and communication, the fields of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) are integral to modern society. Through a selection of 46 lives from the Dictionary of Irish Biography, this book brings together natural philosophers, mathematicians, engineers, particle physicists, code breakers and many more. Celebrating the diversity of STEM in Ireland, from the development of the ‘scientific method’ in the circle surrounding Robert Boyle through to the large-scale particle physics experiments undertaken by John Stewart Bell and Anne Kernan at CERN, Irish STEM Lives traces the evolution of the pursuit of knowledge over the past four centuries.The Dictionary of IrishBiography is a project of theRoyal Irish Academy. It tellsthe island’s life story throughthe biographies, at home andoverseas, of prominent menand women born in Ireland,north and south, and thenoteworthy Irish careers ofthose born outside Ireland.The online edition of theDictionary of Irish Biographynow features nearly 11,000lives and continues to grow. dib.ie

Step into the intimate worlds of Presbyterian women and men who lived, loved and laboured in long-eighteenth-century Ulster. Drawing on letters, diaries, newspapers and church court records, this book reveals the personal moments that shaped the rhythms and rituals of Presbyterian family life. From anxious parents and lovesick courting couples to rebellious youths, unfaithful spouses and grieving widows, these stories bring to life the full range of human experience. Pious and Promiscuous offers a vivid and previously unseen glimpse into how ordinary people navigated life’s most significant milestones as members of a closely knit religious community. Their stories may make you laugh, gasp or even shed a tear, as you encounter the colourful – and oftentimes messy – lives of Ulster’s Presbyterians.

'The Táin' (meaning ‘The driving-off cows of Cooley’) is a legendary Irish tale set in the first century AD. It tells of a war against Ulster by the Connacht queen Medb and her husband Ailill, who intend to steal the stud bull Donn Cuailnge and are challenged by the Ulster hero Cú Chulainn. Written in the 12th century and set in the pre-Christian first century, the Táin is the central text in the ‘Ulster Cycle’. These stories from the Tain were edited with glossary by the Celtic, Greek and Sanskrit linguist John Strachan, also the author of ‘Old Irish Paradigms’, the ‘Old Irish Workbook’ and ‘Selections from the Old Irish Glosses’. This third edition of 'Stories from the Tain' was revised by the Irish language scholar Osborn Bergin. It is an essential text-book for beginners in Old-Irish.

This book takes 100 objects and explores their significance in shaping Ireland. Photographs are accompanied by a concise and insightful story that shows the social, political and artistic vitality of each object. Beginning with Mesolithic Ireland and ending in 2005, ornamental treasures such as the Book of Kells, the magnificent 8th century Ardagh Chalice and a chair by modernist furniture designer Eileen Gray are given equal importance as pieces such as the bloodstained shirt of Irish revolutionary James Connolly, a 1950s washing machine and the letters from the Anglo Irish Bank sign which were dismantled in 2011. The concept for this book came from a series in the Irish Times by columnist, writer and literary editor Fintan O’Toole, who also writes the robust introduction to the book.

Renaissance Galway is the next ancillary publication from the Irish Historic Towns Atlas.The subject of the book is the remarkable ‘pictorial map’ of Galway, which was produced in the mid-seventeenth century. It offers a bird’s eye view of Galway city at this time and presents insights into the cultural, sociopolitical and religious outlook of the local ruling elite — the so-called ‘tribes’ of Galway. Originally intended as a wall hanging, it was produced to impress and remains a centrepiece of Galway’s visual history.Only two copies of the original printed map are known to exist and it is the well-preserved version from Trinity College, Dublin that is reproduced in Renaissance Galway. Following the format of previous map-guides from the Irish Historic Towns Atlas, the book presents carefully selected extracts from the pictorial map, each accompanied by a commentary. These range from descriptions of particular buildings or areas, to aspects of everyday life that are revealed in the map. In an introductory essay, the author ponders the many mysteries that continue to surround the pictorial map of Galway — its origins, compilers and purpose.Together the map extracts and accompanying texts offer a new perspective — a window into the culture and mindset of Galway’s mid-seventeenth century ruling Catholic elite. The modern viewer is invited to inhabit the world of ‘Renaissance Galway’.The Irish Historic Towns Atlas is a research project of the Royal Irish Academy and is part of a wider European scheme. www.ihta.ie

The thirteenth volume in the Documents on Irish Foreign Policy (DIFP) series runs from April 1965 to July 1969. It covers the Fianna Fáil governments of Seán Lemass (April 1965 to November 1966) and Jack Lynch (November 1966 to July 1969) in which Frank Aiken was Minister for External Affairs.The four years and three months covered by DIFP XIII saw significant changes in the international context in which Ireland conducted its foreign policy. In 1965 the hope of the Department of External Affairs was that Ireland would enter the European Economic Community (EEC) before 1970. EEC entry would take place alongside that of Britain, an Anglo-Irish Free Trade Area (AIFTA) having come into operation in 1966, cementing trade between Ireland and its principal trading partner. Overall, the United Nations would remain the benchmark of global Irish foreign policy. Peacekeeping, advocating nuclear non-proliferation and ensuring the proper financing of the United Nations as well as promoting decolonisation and the universality of the United Nations system within the bipolar world of the Cold War remained central to 1960s Irish foreign policy.These assumptions were thrown out of balance by the continuing refusal of France to facilitate the expansion of the EEC and EEC membership remained out of reach for Ireland. Dublin’s fragile relations with Belfast were destabilised with the emergence of new social and political forces in Northern Ireland and the recurrence of sectarian violence. The Department of External Affairs proved initially unable to respond comprehensively to this new environment in Northern Ireland, which was the precursor to the outbreak of the Troubles in 1969. Improved economic and political relations with London were affected by local and international economic difficulties and also as a consequence of events in Northern Ireland. At the United Nations, superpower politics constrained Irish attempts to follow up the success of the 1968 Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty with a major policy initiative on the financing of international peacekeeping missions.

Can a long-term perspective on human adaptations to climate change inform Ireland’s response to the crisis we face today?Climate and Society in Ireland is a collection of essays, commissioned by the Royal Irish Academy, that provides a multi-period, interdisciplinary perspective on one of the most important challenges currently facing humanity. Combining syntheses of existing knowledge with new insights and approaches, contributors explore the varied environmental, climatic and social changes that occurred in Ireland from early prehistory to the early 21st century. The essays in the volume engage with a diversity of pertinent themes, including the impact of climate change on the earliest human settlement of Ireland; weather-related food scarcities during medieval times that led to violence and plague outbreaks; changing representations of weather in poetry written in Ireland between 1600 and 1820; and how Ireland is now on the threshold of taking the radical steps necessary to shed its ‘climate laggard’ status and embark on the road to a post-carbon society.With contributions by Máire Ní Annracháin, Katharina Becker, David M. Brown, Lucy Collins, Lisa Coyle McClung, Bruce M.S. Campbell, Rosie Everett, Benjamin Gearey, Raymond Gillespie, Seren Griffiths, James Kelly, Francis Ludlow, Meriel McClatchie, Conor Murphy, Simon Noone, Aaron Potito, Gill Plunkett, Phil Stastney, Graeme T. Swindles, John Sweeney, Graeme Warren.

A collection of useful and interesting tips, hacks and insights from people who have made a mark in their field, and that readers might find helpful in their professional and personal lives.

Field naturalists have searched across Clare Island for animal groups ranging from the microscopic to birds and mammals. Many more species have been found since the original survey a hundred years ago, due to the availability of modern methods, which greatly add to our knowledge of the biodiversity of Clare Island. The lists of species featured here include some new to the island, some new to Ireland and some new to science. This volume signals the need for further field work and taxonomic research to track biodiversity changes arising from human activity.Land and freshwater fauna is the tenth volume in the New Survey of Clare Island series, which seeks to build on the pioneering work of the first Clare Island Survey (1909–11), the most ambitious natural history project ever undertaken in Ireland and the first major biological survey of a specific area carried out in the world.

From 1918 to 1922 Michael Collins kept working diaries of his busy revolutionary life. They are a collection of hurried notes, necessary lists, names and appointments, things to do, and things not done. They are a record of his long working days, and they got him to where he needed to be on time. Though these diaries do not contain conventional lengthy entries in which Collins finally reveals his innermost thoughts, they still tell us much about this extraordinary man. In this book, Michael Collins's biographers, Anne Dolan and William Murphy, capture the nature of this new Collins source. They reflect on how the diaries change what we know about him, and challenge us to think differently about his life. The diaries begin with Collins a revolutionary among many; they end in 1922 with Collins as the most powerful figure in Ireland. They begin with Collins a single man; they end with him about to be married. The authors present thematic reflections on what the diaries reveal of his transformed life. As they are also the diaries of his everyday life, the book examines very particular episodes, the curious and ordinary entries, which allow us to see Collins from new angles. Rather than offering the final piece that will solve the Collins puzzle, the diaries pose new questions to be asked. Michael Collins (1890-1922), was born in Co. Cork, he was a staff captain in the GPO in 1916, and emerged as a leading figure during his internment in Frongoch camp. As the Director of Organisation with the Irish Volunteers, he masterminded their campaign in the Anglo-Irish war (1919-21). Having signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty, in 1922 he became chairman of the Provisional Government and commander-in-chief of the National Army. He was killed in an ambush in Co. Cork on 22 August 1922.