Description
Book SynopsisAn original and irreverent retelling of overlooked stories from Irish history, hailed by Sebastian Barry as 'a stirring atlas of Irishness'
Trade Review'Delicious … a stirring atlas of Irishness' - Sebastian Barry, Guardian
'Marvellous … a magnificently eclectic collection' - BBC History Magazine
'Bunbury’s voice … is warm and engaging. He draws the reader in for a bit of a chat and a bit of a laugh about the eccentricities of his Irish antecedents' - Irish Examiner
'A rare and cherishable thing … Bunbury’s great skill is to illuminate the past through the picaresque activities of significant contemporary individuals. The approach is profoundly effective' - Yorkshire Times
'Corking' - The Corkman
'Fascinating' - Offaly Express
'Informative' - Wexford Today
Table of ContentsIntroduction – It Starts with a Bear • 1. Of Tetrapods and Volcanic Rings • 2. The Bear from Clare • 3. Neolithic Stargazers • 4. The Bell-Beakers • 5. Bog Toghers • 6. Roman Hibernia • 7. Pagan Christianity • 8. The Kingdom of Ossory • 9. The Uí Dúnlainge Kings of Leinster • 10. Sitric Silkbeard & Queen Gormflaith • 11. The Knights Templar of Ireland • 12. Rohesia’s Castle • 13. Great Scot: Edward the Bruce’s Invasion of Ireland • 14. Prince Lionel Comes to Carlow • 15. Great Pretenders & Warring Roses • 16. The Midland Shires • 17. Sir William Stanley, Public Enemy No. 1 • 18. Rise & Fall: The Maguires of Fermanagh • 19. Cromwell’s Tailor • 20. The Byerley Turk: A Warhorse on the Boyne • 21. The Lixnaw Project • 22. Joshua Dawson, Spymaster • 23. Lord Rosse & the Hell-Fire Club • 24. The Butcher’s Column • 25. Peg Plunkett, Queen of Vice • 26. The Cherokee Club • 27. The Avoca Gold Rush • 28. The Lucan Spa • 29. The Night of the Big Wind • 30. The Crimean Banquet • 31. The Prince of Wales & the Curragh Wren • 32. John Henry Foley – Sculptor of an Empire • 33. Bloody Balfour’s Kindly Deeds • 34. Queen Victoria’s Dublin Visit, 1900 • 35. Killer Gas in the Great War • 36. Operation Shamrock
