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For more than six decades John Faulkner has been at the heart of British and Irish music-making, as a singer, songwriter, composer, musician, producer and film-maker. _Storm in My Heart_ is John’s highly personal account of his life in music, from his childhood in wartime London, through his years in the English folk explosion and on to life in Ireland as a significant player in the traditional music scene. In a lifetime’s journey John falls under the influence of Ewan McColl and Peggy Seeger, marries tempestuous singer Dolores Keane, and moves to County Galway where he brings his words and music to the world. He has an international number one success with ‘Lion in a Cage’, his campaigning tribute to the imprisoned Nelson Mandela, whom he subsequently meets. In this honest and witty memoir John recalls his work with Frankie Gavin, Alec Finn, John Prine and others, revealing the dark arts of the Irish music business while revelling in the freewheeling delights of a life devoted to performing. Storm in My Heart is a clear-eyed chronicle by one of Ireland’s finest artists._Storm in My Heart_ includes QR codes to a curated selection of John Faulkner’s best loved music.

Unable to free themselves from a personal trauma six years past, one that has come back to haunt them due to an outrageous miscarriage of justice, Brendan and Irene Gogarty find themselves amongst a planeload of Holy Joes bound for Medjugorje. A pair of agnostics, most unlikely pilgrims, they’re taking a punt on divine deliverance.Medjugorje in 1995 is a spiritual shrine in the middle of a warzone, a ready-made getaway with Vegas-type odds on salvation, but the sacred hill does not deliver. Overcome with unrealistic hopes for some heavenly sign, Irene has a meltdown on Cross Mountain. Things will never be the same.The couple head for the coast and witness first-hand a country ravaged by conflict before they reach the azure calm of the Adriatic. Over lazy days in a fishing village the Gogartys begin to unwind. On a whim Brendan decides to buy an old cottage – dubbed the villa – as a gift for Irene. It is perfect except that it is occupied by the auctioneer’s pregnant cousin, Anja, and her severely war-damaged husband, Damir. The young Bosnian couple literally have nothing, yet it is the Gogartys who feel they have lost everything.Irene cannot accept Brendan’s offer of a fresh beginning, knowing it would result in her new friends becoming homeless, but now the Irish couple must face some hard truths about both their past and their future. In this unlikely setting in a faraway land, Brendan and Irene must reach deep into themselves and, under the shade of a cedar tree, find the means to cope with loss and discover the things that really matter . . .

As a student in Trinity College Dublin, Soline Humbert experienced a call to the priesthood in the Catholic Church, which she was unable to pursue because of the ban on women’s ordination. She found herself on a collision course with a powerful church hierarchy intent on quashing any such vocation, and was even warned of excommunication if she persisted.In this ground-breaking memoir, Soline candidly shares her struggles, her dark nights of the soul and her ecstasies, as well as her decades-long effort to bring about an end to women’s exclusion from the priesthood. She is told again and again: ‘The door to women’s ordination was shut and would remain shut.’ And that was that.But as the Catholic Church continues its decline in weekly Mass attendance, its huge drop in male celibate priestly vocations and waning cultural significance, as it reels from decades of scandals due to child sexual abuse by clergy, it is becoming increasingly clear that the time for change is at hand.A Divine Calling is an inspirational story of hope, determination, courage and one woman’s passionate desire to make a difference.

In One Step from Heaven, Dubliner Derek Mahon provides a riveting account of his successful summit of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world. An experienced mountaineer who has since completed the Seven Summits – climbing the highest peak on each of the seven continents, the oldest Irishman to do so – Derek was well aware of the extreme challenge he was facing when he decided to join the Mount Everest expedition.Like all experienced climbers, Derek knew the mindset required was 80% mental and 20% physical. One needed to be ultra fit with great endurance, but also well organised and psychologically prepared for the unforeseen. From grappling with temperatures well below freezing, the perils of acute mountain sickness and the realisation that one slip on the mountain could be fatal, the Mount Everest climb is not for the faint-hearted. One in five climbers perish, a sobering statistic.Derek describes in detail the preparations he made before he departed, including the difficult conversation he had with his wife Michelle negotiating his absence from the family for eight weeks on a dangerous quest. She eventually acquiesced, but with one solemn condition: ‘Promise me, you will come home alive’.Thankfully he did, but there were many close calls along the way, near death experiences that would send the less resilient back home. Fortunately, his training, determination, focus and pure grit enabled him to survive the uninhabitable Death Zone and reach the summit at 8,848 metres. There was little time to celebrate though as he then had to face the equally treacherous descent back to the Advanced Base Camp.With over 150 colour photos of Derek’s journey, highlighting the dramatic landscape and the majestic Goddess of the Himalayas, One Step from Heaven is an unforgettable story about one man’s resolve to fulfill his dreams.

Mental health difficulties bring us face to face with our vulnerability as human beings, and after two years of struggling with the effects of Covid-19 concerns about mental health worldwide have never been higher. But our discussions are still fraught with issues of language and understanding. Are we all on a ‘spectrum’ of mental wellness? Is ‘well-being’ about ‘being well’ or about coping? Mental health problems can be frightening when we experience them ourselves, or see them in others. And despite all the talk, most of us find it hard to decide when or where to seek help. What is often missing from these discussions is the most valuable resource of all – the personal accounts of those with lived experience of mental health difficulties. Making Sense of Mental Health is centred on hours of in-depth interviews with adults coping with mental health issues. The author follows their journeys from the origin of their distress to their lowest moments to eventual recovery and a sense of moving on. These lived experiences show how in times of crisis people can move forward amidst the chaos, vulnerability and uncertainty brought on by mental health problems. There are no quick fixes or miracle cures to serious mental health issues. This book shows that ‘what works’ is whatever helps an individual make sense of what is happening to them. A problem entwined with the human condition, mental health difficulties can best be treated by understanding the experiences of those who have lived through them, and as a society by finding a way to ascribe meaning to the complex reality of mental health.

In this ground-breaking book, Niall Downey – a cardio-thoracic surgeon who retrained to become a commercial airline pilot – uses his expertise in medicine and aviation to explore the critical issue of managing human error. With further examples from business, politics, sport, technology, the civil service and other fields, Downey makes a powerful case that by following some clear guidelines any organisation can greatly reduce the incidence and impact of human error. While acknowledging that in our fast-paced world getting things wrong is impossible to avoid completely, Downey offers a strategy based on current best practice that can make a massive difference. He concludes with an easy to use, aviation-style Safety Management System that can be hugely helpful in avoiding preventable catastrophes in organizations of all kinds. An acknowledged expert in error management, Niall Downey advises governments, major corporations and the health industry on how to develop a systemic approach to controlling for human imperfection. Arguing that prevention is far preferable to denying responsibility after the fact, he gave an influential TEDx talk outlining how healthcare could use aviation's experience to reduce tragic outcomes and improve patient safety. Oops! Why Things Go Wrong seeks to understand and navigate error. It shows how we have become particularly vulnerable to blunders due to new technologies and today’s pressurised work environments. But it also shows how we can fight back against our own inherent fallibility to live in a safer and less error-strewn world.

Battling time, tide and the weather, Big Dream, Little Boat is a compelling account of one man’s journey by kayak around the island of Ireland. Kevin O’Sullivan, an Aer Lingus pilot based in Skerries in north County Dublin, had set himself a mission – to circumnavigate the entire Irish coast – and to get home safely. The only problem was finding a way to do it. With a demanding job and family commitments he decides to break the journey into manageable three- and four-day chunks, leaving his kayak at stages along the way and resuming the adventure when the opportunity arose. Travelling mainly in the summer months, his expedition takes three years. Along the way he reflects on the fascinating marine life, colourful Irish history, lovely scenery, and in particular on the remarkable people he met on his journey. He also recounts the many challenges he faced, not least of which was his biggest difficulty – chronic seasickness! Despite an attempt to paddle only in good weather, Kevin still encountered some very difficult conditions. Unexpected winds and great swells left him digging deep, using all his skills and experience of years of kayaking to survive.In the great Irish tradition of taking care of travellers on the road, he was supported by oftentimes complete strangers who put him up in their homes, fed him and enthusiastically encouraged him along the way. On a journey of soul-searching and deep contemplation, the kindness of strangers helped to renew his faith in humanity.

The boundless and miraculous is what Vincent van Gogh believed we should all seek – and to be satisfied with nothing less. This is exactly what he achieved in his art, despite many profound difficulties which he recorded in his letters.  These letters later became recognised for their literary virtues, such as simplicity, clarity, spontaneity and rich imagery.  Such qualities are among those most prized in poetry. In The Boundless and Miraculous, extracts from Van Gogh’s letters are presented as ‘found poems’ – writing not originally intended to be a poem, reinterpreted as such – mainly in the form of sonnets. They record many of the pivotal moments in Van Gogh’s life and his struggles and emotional state at these times are evident in the content and tone of the writing. There are also his views on the work of other artists, both his contemporaries and those who went before him. In particular, the poems encapsulate much of the thinking behind the way van Gogh’s art developed, and notably the thought processes behind some of his most iconic paintings. With 87 colour plates, The Boundless and the Miraculous celebrates Van Gogh’s spectacular art as well as his wonderful writing in what could be considered a series of brief autobiographical sketches. A fabulous gift book aimed at all lovers of Van Gogh’s work, this volume will also make a major contribution to our understanding of his short and amazing life. To TheoYou must understand how I regard art.One must work long and hard to arriveat the truthful. What I want is difficult,and yet I don’t believe I’m aiming too high. I would like to reach the point where peoplesay of my work, that man feels deeply, feels subtly.What am I in the eyes of most people?A nonentity or an oddity. Very well – assuming that, I’d like to showwhat there is in the heart of such an oddity,such a nobody. This is my ambition,based less on resentment than on love. Even though I’m often in a mess, inside methere’s still a calm – pure harmony.The Hague  c. 21 July 1882

The world economy had barely recovered from the global financial crisis when the COVID-19 pandemic struck and knocked it back to the floor. Governments already struggling with low growth and high debt have, once again, been forced to take extraordinary measures to protect businesses and jobs. The future looks grim. The pandemic swept across the globe in 2020 as quickly as confidence in the banking system had vanished in 2008. In Ireland, only the tough decisions of a small group of regulators and officials kept the country from collapse, though the price of salvation was a huge national debt and years of lost opportunities.  As a key insider to the Irish bailout, Jonathan McMahon was at the heart of the response, witnessing what it takes to manage a crisis that threatens a nation. Battle-hardened by his experiences at the top of UK financial regulation during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Jonathan's advice on how to deal with crises is invaluable as countries all around the globe grapple with the effects of COVID-19. Jonathan does not have all the answers, but as Henry David Thoreau said, "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." Jonathan argues that we have to attend to the real, underlying causes of crises, not expediently dodge the difficult choices to be made. The bitter truth is that even if a vaccine is found to eradicate the virus, the huge challenges facing political and business leaders will persist.  Post-Pandemic is essential reading as we make decisions about our future. It is a book for our times. "… a magnificent book. McMahon brings his policy experience … to give us key lessons of looking at the data, making judgements, and acting quickly before the problems become unmanageable. … [W]ritten in a fun, racy style … in the post-pandemic world of pervasive uncertainty, it carries profound messages." – Ashoka Mody, Visiting Professor in International Economic Policy at Princeton University, former Assistant Director with the International Monetary Fund and author of EuroTragedy: A Drama in  Nine Acts "Can our reactions to the previous crisis help us navigate the post-pandemic economic recovery? Drawing on a shrewd interpretation of his experience in Ireland a decade ago, and illustrating the discussion with vivid cameos, Jonathan McMahon makes a persuasive case that they can. A lively and instructive read." – Professor Patrick Honohan, former Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland and author of Currency, Credit and Crisis: Central Banking in Ireland and Europe. "The Covid 19 pandemic has produced an economic crisis which, as usual, is quite unlike its predecessors. But Jonathan McMahon shows that there are some enduring principles which should govern crisis management. He has drawn on his experience in the eye of the storm in the euro zone banking crisis to write an entertaining and extremely useful book." – Sir Howard Davies, Chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland and former Director of the London School of Economics.

In this delightful memoir, Ted Turton describes his escapades as an artist, designer, photographer, printer, truck driver, publicist, front-of-house salesperson, document forger and occasional street actor for the acclaimed Footsbarn Theatre. With its free-spirited nature and boisterous energy, Footsbarn attracted many talented people who wanted to be part of a travelling theatre. The romantic idea of taking theatre to the people, be it in the city, the suburbs or rural communities, was attractive but the reality was tough. Life on the road with a barnstorming company of extraordinarily talented actors, clowns, musicians and artists – plus all their children – was a challenge. This was showbiz, circus-style, with their own tent, trucks, buses and caravans.My Travels with Footsbarn Theatre comprises Ted Turton’s reminiscences about travelling the world with an infuriating, endearing and totally inspirational family of performers. With amusing stories about various scrapes and mishaps, descriptions of the amazing places they visited in Europe, the USA and Australia, and entertaining tales about life in the freewheeling 1980s, this is a heart-warming coming-of-age story. It is also stunningly illustrated with Ted Turton’s work as an artist with the company, plus dozens of photographs he took with his trusty Leica rangefinder camera.

Ireland’s historic Royal Canal, originally built in the late 1700s, is now home to the longest Greenway in the country, extending from Dublin to Longford. A haven for walkers and cyclists, this 146 kilometre pathway provides a wonderful opportunity to discover the hidden treasures to be found in Ireland’s Midlands. In this lavishly illustrated guidebook and travelogue, author Tom Dredge invites the reader to join him on his own personal Camino as he explores the entire route of the Royal Canal from the River Liffey to the River Shannon.Walking from city to countryside, through small villages and provincial towns, Tom meets local residents who enthusiastically share their experiences and tall tales of living by the Royal. He hears stories about the Ribbonmen planning civil disobedience and explores the exotically named Deep Sinking. Literary figures such as James Joyce, Dermot Bolger and Oliver Goldsmith feature prominently, as do colourful historic figures like The Hanging Judge of Cabra and The Wicked Earl of Belvedere House. A welcome respite from modern life, the Royal Canal offers ramblers peace and tranquility as they walk along the lush hedgerows, delighting in the flora and fauna on view. From primroses to yellow irises, bees, butterflies, damselflies and finches, plus the amusing acrobatics of the evasive red squirrel, all living in a finely balanced ecosystem. Rambling Along the Royal Canal provides an informative and entertaining step by step guide to the many wonders to be found on Ireland’s iconic waterway.

One hundred years ago this year, the largest Irish WWI ex-servicemen housing estate on the island of Ireland was completed, the Killester Garden Village. Comprising 247 bungalows, it was the flagship estate for returning Irishmen from what some dubbed ‘the war to end all wars’. So who were those men who lived in Killester Garden Village? In their mid-twenties, more than likely poor, living in tenements or urban dwellings, unskilled or working as casual labourers, they enlisted in the British forces at the outbreak of WWI. Then, having survived the terror of that war, they came home to a hostile Ireland that had politically changed in their absence. In fact, the Irish men and women who served in the British forces during WWI came home to a different country. During their absence in the battlefields of France, Flanders and Gallipoli, a terrible beauty had been born. And during the ensuing War of Independence, Irish ex-servicemen had to keep their heads down. Of the 196 civilians killed by the IRA between 1919 and 1921 for alleged spying activities for the British forces, between 100 and 120 were ex-servicemen. Possibly even worse, as the Irish ex-service men and women died off years later, so too did their place in the narrative of modern Irish history. They were largely forgotten. But now, in this brilliantly researched book, profiles of 300 of these brave Irish men and women bring them back to life so that their stories can finally be told.

Written for food aficionados everywhere, this book provides an entertaining look at the history and development of the key foods we eat every day. Mike Gibney, Professor Emeritus of Food and Health at University College Dublin, traces the story of food from early hunter gatherers through settled agriculture to the migration across Europe, and examines the influence early trading, imperial conquests and medieval exploration had on the food chain.Along the way Food through the Ages uncovers some fascinating nuggets:* Indian rice is fluffy to eat with the hand, while Chinese rice is sticky to eat with chopsticks.* In the Middle Ages it became fashionable to stuff boned smaller birds into bigger birds into even bigger birds and so on. This process, known as engastration, is still popular today in Cajun cuisine with Turducken, a hen in a duck in a turkey.* A passion for tea led two great powers, China and England, to engage in warfare* The popularity of the potato accounted for about 25% of the population growth in Europe from 1700 to 1900* The Arabs brought pasta to Italy but the popular shaped pastas were most often produced in religious orders by nuns* The Jesuits and Dominicans argued bitterly over the perceived magical yet sinful attributes of Aztec chocolate.Professor Gibney explains the origins of commonplace foods, including bread, meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, pasta, rice, sugar, tea, chocolate and of course Ireland’s beloved potato. He defines a well-stocked larder and shows how the kitchen has changed over thousands of years, getting cleaner, less smelly, more reliable, less dangerous and more accessible to all.

Youth Sport in Ireland is based on extensive original research and examines the lifestyle patterns of Irish adolescents as we begin a new millennium. The study particularly focuses on the sporting trends of adolescents and provides comprehensive data against which the broad impact of existing programmes and policies can be assessed. The challenge of keeping teenagers active against the competition of television, DVDs, mobile phones, computer games, the drink and drug culture or the pressures of doing well in school is a daunting one. This book examines these issues in detail and offers practical tips on how parents and schools can help to keep children physically active. Research shows that children who remain active during adolescence are likely to continue to do so throughout their lives. Written in a clear and accessible style, this book will be of considerable interest to sports administrators, coaches, teachers, parents, youth workers and policy makers.

Bruce Arnold has been one of Ireland's leading journalists and critics for over 40 years. In this selection of some of his most memorable essays and articles, Arnold casts his expert eye on Irish literature, art and contemporary culture. The book is divided into three sections, with the first section covering broad cultural issues, including the title essay, "The Spire", plus essays on the Charlton years, Riverdance and a moving tribute to Jack Lynch. The second section focuses on literature and includes essays on Brendan Kennelly, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney, among others. The third section covers art and features essays on Jack Yeats, Mainie Jellett, Paul Henry, Derek Hill, William Orpen and other prominent Irish artists. Taken together, this collection of writings provides a fascinating look at Ireland's rich cultural heritage as seen by one of its leading commentators and writers.

"No Place Like Home" is the first major output of the Social Policy and Ageing Research Centre at Trinity College Dublin. The Centre was established in 2005 with the view to producing and disseminating policy-relevant research in the area of ageing. The domiciliary (in-home) care for older people was selected as the initial flagship project because it represents a policy area of growing concern both in the Irish and international contexts. While much rhetorical emphasis is placed on the importance of enabling older people with care needs to remain living in their own homes (not in the least due to the increasing perception that many older people are in inappropriate institutional care settings in hospitals and nursing homes), the absence of baseline data and lack of a clear understanding of policy structures constitute significant obstacles to achieving this aim. This study, conducted in August 2005-April 2006, involved interviewing 125 informants who are closely involved in planning, financing and delivering home care to older persons across Dublin.It represents the first systematic attempt in the Irish context to map out the respective roles and characteristics of the public, private and non-profit sector organisations involved in financing and delivering home care to older people. The book maps out the considerable shifts in the organisation and delivery of domiciliary care services for older persons over the last 10 years. A historical account is given of the shift from policy emphasis on institutional to domiciliary care. The increasing complexity of the 'care mix' that has resulted from changes in the non-profit (formerly voluntary) sector and the emergence of the private sector care agencies, and their relationship to the State as purchaser of care services are analysed. While the book is highly policy-relevant and includes a number of recommendations for changes in policy and practices, it also makes a major contribution to theory-building and historical analysis in the area of social care.As a result, the book is of interest to academic, policy and practitioner audiences, as well as postgraduate and undergraduate students, in the areas of social policy, politics, history of care services (the role of the voluntary sector in particular), sociology and social work. "No Place Like Home" fills a vacuum in an area that has changed rapidly and remained under-researched until now.

Ireland's equality legislation prohibits discrimination in employment and in access to goods, services and facilities on nine discriminatory grounds: gender, marital status, family status, age, disability, sexual orientation, race, religion and membership of the Irish Traveller community. In 2000, building on extensive provisions at EU level to promote equality between men and women, the EU adopted two new Equality Directives which prohibit discrimination based on racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation in the workplace and, as far as racial and ethnic origin is concerned, in other aspects of daily life. A further new directive on equal treatment - prohibiting discrimination on grounds of age, disability, sexual orientation and religion or belief outside the employment sphere - is being negotiated. There is a clear need for policymakers to make use of sound evidence on equality and discrimination, in order to monitor and evaluate EU and national anti-discrimination laws, policies and programmes and to guide future policy and legal development.This book will examine international experience in measuring equality and discrimination and will highlight good practice developed in Ireland to date. "Making Equality Count: Irish and International Approaches to Measuring Equality and Discrimination" is jointly organised by the Equality Authority, the Economic and Social Research Institute, the Central Statistics Office and the UCD Geary Institute and is co-funded under the EU PROGRESS Programme.

Apart from the Left Bank in Paris, no other European city quarter boasts as many literary and artistic associations as Dublin's Baggotonia. Among its inhabitants and habitues were Nobel Prize winners Samuel Beckett, Seamus Heaney, George Bernard Shaw and W.B. Yeats, as well as such notable writers as Oscar Wilde, Oliver St. John Gogarty, James Joyce, George Moore, Flann O'Brien and Brendan Behan, and artists Jack B. Yeats, Paul Henry and Mainie Jellett. Centred on Baggot and Leeson Streets and surrounding Georgian backwaters, Baggotonia is bounded by the Grand Canal and Stephen's Green. Short story virtuosi Mary Lavin, Frank O'Connor and Liam O'Flaherty lived beside the canal, which also features in the work of Beckett and Joyce. The Green hosts the famous studio occupied by portraitists Sir William Orpen and John B. Yeats. Written by award-winning author Brendan Lynch, who knew both Brendan Behan and Patrick Kavanagh, "Prodigals and Geniuses" is the first history of the quarter. It includes chapters on Behan, Kavanagh, Flann O'Brien, legendary "Irish Times" editor Robert Smyllie, neglected best-selling author Ernie Gebler and the original Ginger Man, Gainor Crist.Based on interviews and contemporary accounts, the book also features chapters on art, censorship, literary pubs, Parsons Bookshop and such 1950s causes celebres as the Pike Theatre prosecution and the Patrick Kavanagh libel case.

It's Vancouver, Canada in the early 1980s. Greenpeace has just been founded, Bob Geldof has just had his first hit, Ireland is a waste land. Dubliner Pete Hogan finally gets it together to build his own boat, a Tahiti Ketch, an iconic American sailboat design. His dream is to sail away into the sunset and be like his heroes, the famous singlehanded sailors Knox Johnston and Taberly. It does not quite work out like that, but he does build his boat, the Molly B, and sails it engineless and on a shoestring down the coast of California, through the Panama Canal, and across the Atlantic to Ireland, with numerous adventures along the way. Ten years later he sails it around the world. He meets a girl. The boat sinks in the Mediterranean in a storm. Pete is lucky to survive. In short, this is the story of one boat, the 30 foot long Molly B, from building to shipwreck, and the man who lived to tell the tale. It is lavishly illustrated by the author, a professional artist.

“It’s really a horror to live in a war”, Antoine Makdis told me in Aleppo. And over the next ten days we were witnesses to that horror. “The war has aged me not just psychologically but in my way of thinking. It aged me in my body. I have pain when I walk. I have pain when I’m sleeping. I’m not wiser but I’m older.” Featuring stories of human rights violations and struggles in a world of human- and earth-destroying globalised capitalism, the RTÉ What in the World? television series has filmed in over fifty countries across Africa, Asia and The Americas. This is the second book published by The Liffey Press based on the award-winning series. With a focus on war and its consequences, this book tells profoundly moving stories of how conflict has convulsed the lives of people caught up its insidious grip, plunged people into the depths of despair and crushed the hopes and dreams of whole generations. None of this is accidental. Wars don’t just happen. They are the inevitable result of the military industrial complex, the colonial legacy, the economic dividends of war.  War, Suffering and the Struggle for Human Rights describes the suffering of ordinary people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Mexico, Russia, South Sudan, Syria, Uruguay, Western Sahara, Palestine/Israel, Brazil, South Korea, Somalia and Timor Leste. Above all, the reader will be left with an understanding of how wars live on in the lives and bodies of the injured and the traumatized long after they are deemed officially over.

Ireland is home to some of the world’s oldest astronomically-aligned structures, giant stone monuments erected over 5,000 years ago. Despite their apparent simplicity, these megalithic edifices were crafted by a scientifically knowledgeable community of farmers who endeavoured to enshrine their beliefs in a stellar afterlife within the very fabric of their cleverly-designed stone temples. Finally back in print, this reissued edition presents evidence suggesting the builders of monuments such as Newgrange and its Boyne Valley counterparts were adept astronomers, cunning engineers and capable surveyors. Their huge monuments are memorials in stone and earth, commemorating their creators’ perceived unity with the cosmos and enshrining a belief system which resulted from a crossover between science and spirituality. As investigation of this awe-inspiring civilisation of people continues on many levels, evidence is emerging that significant archaeological sites dating from deep in prehistory are linked – not just through mythology, archaeology and cosmology – but through an arrangement of complex, and in some cases astonishing, alignments. Some of these alignments of ancient sites stretch from one side of Ireland to another.While the accounts of the lives of some prominent Irish saints appear to be steeped in folklore and mystery, it seems from new interpretations of the literature that the cosmic world view which existed in Neolithic Ireland experienced a continuity right into the Early Christian period. Join us on this fascinating exploration of stones, stars and stories. "The sheer amount of information contained within the book is mind-boggling. It is well thought out and structured… The more you read the evidence the more convinced you become." – Astronomy& Space magazine "Refreshing and fascinating . . . a wonderful magical book, sumptuously illustrated and a must for anyone who loves to delve deep into our past." – Kenny’s Irish Bookshop "A fascinating insight into Ireland’s ancient burial sites" – Irish Independent "A monument" – Drogheda Independent “It is a beautiful book and very well written. The information that you collected is outstanding.” – Barbara Carter, co-author, The Myth of the Year and The Goddess and the Bull “The authors… reach interesting and challenging conclusions about the significance of ancient astronomical knowledge. The book is jammed with colour illustrations, maps and photographs. A thoroughly interesting read!” – Archaeology Ireland "An essential book that demonstrates just how much the beliefs and practices of our ancestors were influenced by the movement of the stars, in particular those of the constellation Cygnus - the celestial swan and Northern Cross - once seen as a source of life and the destination of the soul in death. A must have tome for all those passionate about what remains of our fast disappearing ritual monuments of the prehistoric age." - Andrew Collins, author of The Cygnus Mystery