Review
Books in Brief
Blarney Castle by Mark Samuel and Kate Hamlyn (Cork University Press)
A beautifully produced account of the location of Ireland’s mythic stone from fifteenth-century MacCarthy castle and tower, through Cromwellian occupation, to residence of Jeffreyes and in-laws, Colthursts, who now own the delightful demesne and built the nineteenth-century mansion. It was ‘Fr Prout’ – native son, FS Mahony (1804–66) – who first romanced the stone, but the evolution of its cult is a relatively insignificant part of this work, which is rich in archaeological and architectural detail. One might be tempted to call it an Irish-Coffee table book, except for it high seriousness.
SM
4/5
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Spike Island by Michael Martin (Nonsuch)
From an island of ecclesiastical retreat and contemplation to a dark and godforsaken destination of victims of Ireland's Great Famine, Spike Island has been a crucial part of two contrasting periods in Irish history. The era of saints and scholars during which Spike was described as a Holy Island is set against a later backdrop of famine, disease and death and the dark judicial practice that saw men and boys transported from it to the penal colonies of distant Australia. This book explores the island through these two very different environments from the founding of the monastery there by Saint Carthage to the use of the island as a place of detention, punishment and undignified death.
This is a compact but comprehensive little guide to a place that embodies parts of the brightest and darkest legacy of Ireland's history.
SL
4/5
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The Digital Photography Handbook by Doug Harman (Quercus)
Anyone can now take professional quality photographs on affordable digital cameras and most of us do. More to the point, we can take umpteen shots and discard the useless ones, a process until now available only to someone with a handy darkroom and an understanding of contact sheets. So we might be starting to wonder why our snaps don’t, actually, look like professional photographs. This guide is here to tell us why, and it doesn’t miss a trick. If you want to explore your creative side through photography or just learn how not to catch everyone’s ‘bad side’ in your holiday snaps, this is the book for you. Even if you don’t need it yourself I’ll bet you know a man/woman/child who does.
MC
5/5
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The Dust of Death by Paul Charles (Brandon)
This Inspector Starret Mystery, set in Ramelton, Co. Donegal, is about to be issued in paperback. When it was first published we said:
“Smoothly crafted...An improbable hero in an improbable setting, trying to solve an improbable murder, a crucifixion. Yet it is to Charles’s great credit that he pulls it off, speeding the reader along with a red herring or three and a romantic sub-plot that holds our interest until the end.”
That says it all, really, except that Donegal appears to be a much more dangerous place these days than you would think…
MC
5/5
