Search results for ""O'Brien Press Ltd""

In a fast-paced, modern Ireland it can be difficult to imagine how different our lives are to those that went before. In this book Olive Sharkey lovingly describes the lives, activities and material possessions of irish people living between 1800 and the 1930s. The implements of the home, the farm, the garden and home-crafts are recounted, with detailed drawings and photographs. These once familiar objects - bittles, butterworkers, noggins and truckle beds - are explored, as we are shown a lifestyle where people made much of their own furniture and clothes, and fed themselves from their own land. Based on Olive Sharkey's Ways of Old, this new addition to the O'Brien 'Heritage Series' will draw the reader back to a time when people were much more tuned into the rhythm of the year and the ground beneath their feet.

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The idea of place runs like a river through the life and works of the poet and playwright W.B. Yeats. This book focuses on his time in Dublin, London, Sligo and elsewhere in the west of Ireland, embracing the homes, landscapes and people that impacted his life and stimulated his vast body of work. Meet the poet’s father, the struggling artist John Butler Yeats; his mother Susan, the well-to-do Sligo girl who had no choice but to follow her husband’s path; his five siblings: Lily and Lolly, guiding lights in the Irish Arts and Crafts movement; Jack, the renowned painter; and Bobbie and Jane Grace, who died in infancy. Meet William Morris, John O’Leary, Katharine Tynan, George Moore, Oscar Wilde, Lady Gregory, Douglas Hyde, George Hyde-Lees, and, of course, Maud Gonne, as well as countless others who helped weave the cloth of Yeats’s poetic gift.

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A beekeeper's daughter and a student of folklore, Eimear Chaomhánach weaves folktales about bees with memories of growing up in a beekeeping household, collecting swarms with her father and learning how to harvest honey.

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'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through Croke ParkIt was quiet and peaceful; the great pitch was dark ...But not for long!As the clock strikes midnight, there'samagical surprise: Santa, his elves and reindeer arrive for a night of mischief, mayhem and football.

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I've heard of a chickpea. I've had those for lunch. Is a peachick the same?Is it something you munch?Come on a hilarious adventure with these weird and zany creatures, from the author and illustrator ofStanding on One Leg Is Hard

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Long ago in Ireland, there lived a boy called Fionn, who wanted to know everything ... Fionn goes to live with the wisest man in Ireland, hoping to find answers to his many questions. But Finnegas has a secret. He knows how to get all the knowledge in the world, and it starts with a silver salmon swimming in the River Boyne.

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A fascinating examination of the extraordinary life of Roger Casement, executed as part of the 1916 rising, fighting the empire that had previously knighted him. Roger Casement was a British consul for two decades. However, his investigation into atrocities in the Congo led Casement to anti-Imperialist views. Ultimately, this led him to side with the Irish Republican movement, leading up to the 1916 rising. Arrested by the British for gun trafficking, he was incarcerated in the Tower of London and then placed in the dock at the Royal Courts of Justice in an internationally-publicised state trial for high treason. He was hanged in Pentonville prison on the 3 August—two years to the day after Britain’s declaration of war in 1914.

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At nearly 16, Jane has lived in the shadow of her little sister Emma’s cancer diagnosis for over three years. Not that she was ever in the limelight; it is her sister who is the talented one, a dancer who at ten had been outgrowing her small town teachers’ skills. Jane had never resented her sister’s talent; without any interests herself, it had always kept the pressure off her. Now though, with her parents struggling to cope financially and emotionally, Jane’s life in her rural mining village seems to be a never ending monotony of skipping school, long bus rides to the hospital and hanging out with a boyfriend she doesn’t even know why she is with. Nobody really cares that her life is stuck in neutral; she is finding it difficult to care herself ... Ultimately, Jane begins to understand the real parts of her life that are good; her sister Emma's chances of recovery begin to improve and the two sisters try to rebuild the relationship they shared before the illness took over.

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This book introduces our youngest readers to all the wonderful creatures in our seas and on our shores! With simple text and pictures, this board book is perfect for children learning how to understand the world around them.

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Irish history isn’t boring ... it’s DEADLY! And nobody was more DEADLY! than the Vikings who attacked Ireland in the 8th century! DEADLY! Viking warriors! DEADLY! Viking ships! DEADLY! Viking weapons! But were they really just marauding, murdering maniacs? The first book in a new series 'Deadly Irish History', The Vikings is jam-packed with all kinds of interesting facts and stories about Viking life. Highly illustrated with cartoons and comic strips as well as illustrating how vikings ships and houses were made, it's also full of things to make and do, quizzes and puzzles. The world of the Vikings in Ireland is an endlessly fascinating one, so be like them and go out and EXPLORE!

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It's new year on Hazel Tree Farm. Peter helps Dad to bring baby lambs into the world, while his sister Kate falls in love with next door's fluffy chicks. But something is wrong with sheepdog Peg, and one stormy night, she runs away. Through wind and rain, the children race to find her ...

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In 1960s Ireland there was a special place for disabled children: behind the walls of an institution, cut off from the rest of society. Martin Naughton was one of those children, but he refused to be sidelined. With the help of some unexpected characters, he began to change the way a generation of young disabled people saw themselves.

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In the final years of the twentieth century Ireland's Celtic Tiger economy was the wonder of the western world. This book identifies the policies which will help in our changing circumstances and carry us through into a bright future.

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‘At the age of six I began to fear for the future. … By the age of nine I was on the run for my life. … By the time I was ten I had seen all there was to see.’ An accessible and honest account of the Holocaust that reminds us of the dangers of racism and intolerance, providing lessons that are relevant today. A true story of heroism during this painful horrific time in history. Tomi Reichental grew up in a small village, with friendly neighbours and a big, happy family. But things began to change, and Tomi was told he couldn’t play with some of the local children any more. Then the police started to take away friends and family. Life changed completely when he was sent a thousand kilometres away, with all the other local Jews, to the terrifying Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The Nazis killed millions of people, simply because of their race or religion. Tomi tells his story so that such a horrific thing won’t happen again.

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Relax with Alice, sit and chat over a cup of tea, as she invites you into her life. See an old press overflowing with the linen collection of two generations, the oil lamps and clocks inherited and collected over many years, and the books of people who once lived here. Alice tells you of the sad loss of her beautiful dogs Kate and Lolly, friends of the heart, and takes you around her village to meet her neighbours, join a meitheal to plant trees, and visit the fairy doors in the nearby wood. But Alice’s home and community are not a perfect place: hear about the split in the local GAA club, blocked off rights of way, the donations of the local canine population on the footpaths! Visit a restored famine graveyard and hear about the landlords who once owned this village and the landmarks they left on the landscape and the people. This is life in a small Irish village in 2016, one hundred years after the Rising. This Bestselling book is coming in paperback edition.

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On a dark, dark night, in a very quiet library, there is an old, old, beautiful book. Looking out from the pages of the book is a plump, grey mouse. When the clock strikes twelve, the little mouse hops right off the page and begins his magical exploration of Trinity College. The mouse, however, is not alone: Four furry paws with very sharp claws follow him from the book into Trinity College. This sharp clawed cat is hungry and in search of the plump grey mouse. Follow the night-time cat, Pangur Bán, as she searches Trinity College for the plump grey mouse. Along the way she asks for help from various figures in Trinity College, from Jonathan Swift to the Queen of England and from Oscar Wilde to Count Dracula. Will Pangur Bán catch the plump grey mouse or will this mischievous mouse evade capture? This is an enchanting tale full of adventure and discovery.

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Life is harsh in close-knit community of Dirrabeg, a community on the Dingle Peninsula facing extinction in the mid-1950's. Many of the young have left for England or America, where there are opportunities and chances for secure lives. Those remaining behind love their land and their independence but fear for the future as the bogs get thin, the yields are poor, and the children have little hope of success. ‘We never died a winter yet.’ A wickedly funny and insightful novel from the author of Sive, The Field, The Year of the Hiker, and many other classic works. In the Kerry village of Dirrabeg in the 1950s, the annual wren dance is a moment of light within the dark winter, especially for bodhrán player Donal Hallapy, whose skills are in high demand. But this paganism, and the singing, dancing and drinking that take place, are anathema to Canon Tett, who resolves to crush the old customs. Donal Hallapy, devoted father of a large family, is a bodhran player. He is always in great demand whenever the once-a-year wrendances take place, a day long festival on St Stephen’s Day, which can be traced back to pagan times. This paganism, the secret nature of the celebrations, the singing, dancing and drinking that takes place, and the fact that the church has no control over them has made them anathema to "the clan of the round collar," in the person of Canon Tett, an ultraconservative and downright sadistic priest determined to bring the free spirits of Dirrabeg to bay by ending the fun of the wrendances. Wickedly funny and full of insight into age-old conflicts and a lifestyle long passed into memory.

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In a time of war, how much would you risk to help a friend? Young Johnny Dunne works hard at Balbriggan’s Mill Hotel, but still finds time to enjoy life with his friends, Alice and Stella. Though the three come from different backgrounds – Johnny had a harsh childhood in an orphanage, Alice is the daughter of the hotel owner and Stella the daughter of the Commanding Officer at the nearby RAF Gormanston. – they’re inseparable, living at the hotel and playing together in the town band. But with the War of Independence raging, the friends face difficult decisions. Stella is pro-British, Johnny is pro-independence, and Alice is somewhere in between. Then Johnny’s secret role, spying for the IRA on the Crown forces, puts him in danger. And Stella and Alice have hard choices to make – choices that threaten their lives …

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So there I was, roysh, putting the 'in' in 'in crowd', hanging out, pick of the babes, bills from the old pair to fund the lifestyle I, like, totally deserve. But being a schools rugby legend has its downsides, roysh, like all the total knobs wanting to chill in your, like, reflected glory, and the bunny-boilers who decide they want to be with me and won't take, like, no for an answer. And we're talking totally here. Basically, it may look like a champagne bath with, like, Nell McAndrew, with, like, no clothes and everything, but I can tell you, roysh, those focking bubbles can burst. And when they do … OH MY GOD! Ross O'Carroll-Kelly is all meat and no preservatives, roysh, at least, that's what it says in the can in, like, one particular south Dublin girls' school, which shall remain nameless, roysh, basically to protect the names of the guilty. You know who you are. With a new introduction by Paul Howard, Ross's representative on, loike, earth?

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Something is stirring beneath Dubh Linn. When an ancient and forbidden power is unleashed, Izzy, who is still coming to terms with her newfound powers, must prevent a war from engulfing Dublin and the fae realm of Dubh Linn. But by refusing to sacrifice Jinx – fae warrior and her ‘not-really-ex’ – Izzy sets in motion a chain of events which will see them hunted across the city and into the hills where she'll face the greatest challenge of all. In the deepest and darkest Hollow, an angel of death is waiting … and the price he asks for his help might be too high … 'an excellent fantasy, with strange but memorable characters set in believable settings. The storyline all through is tense and exciting with a somewhat surprise ending.' Irish Examiner on A Crack in Everything 'Delicious and wonderfully romantic…Lyrical prose, along with highly imaginative and descriptive phrasing, makes the forest setting–and its creatures and people–immediately present and sparked with magic.' Booklist on The Treachery of Beautiful Things

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'A delightful evocation of Irishness and of the author's deep-rooted love of the very fields of home' Publishers Weekly Alice Taylor’s classic account of growing up in the Irish countryside, the biggest selling book ever published in Ireland, beautifully reproduced with photographs from Alice's life. If ever a voice has captured the colors, the rhythms, the rich, bittersweet emotions of a time gone by, it is Alice Taylor's. Her tales of childhood in rural Ireland hark back to a timeless past, to a world now lost, but ever and fondly remembered. The colorful characters and joyous moments she offers have made To School Through the Fields an Irish phenomenon, and have made Alice herself the most beloved author in all of the Emerald Isle. A must-have for fans of Alice Taylor.

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Storytelling has always been at the heart of Celtic societies. From firesides to books, these tales have been passed from generation to generation. Some are well known, such as the Irish legend of Diarmaid and Gráinne, while those less frequently told, including The Magic Pail from Cornwall, deserve their place in this unique collection. Tales from all celtic lands, including Brittany, The Isle of Man, Scotland and Wales, meet here. Skillfully retold by author and poet Una Leavy and brought to life by Fergal O’Connor’s lively illustrations. Read of giants and dragons, of fairies and princesses: all beautifully illustrated and told for a new generation of children.

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A complete account of the life and times of James Joyce in the form of a graphic novel. From his earliest days and school career, through to meetings with all the literary greats of the day, this story is dotted with anecdotes, as well as a captivating and beautifully drawn journey through the cities of Dublin, Trieste, Paris and Zurich, where this universal Irishman left traces of his life. A stunning one-of-a-kind publication about Joyce's life.

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A stunning illustrated collection of Irish legends, including: The Salmon of Knowledge, How Cú Chulainn Got His Name, The Children of Lir, The King with Donkey’s Ears, Fionn and the Giant, The White Wolfhound, and Oisín. This is a unique book, the only German language edition of an Irish legends collection for children. In a handy pocket format, which is also available in English, French, Spanish and Italian.

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Born in Cloughjordan in Co. Tipperary, MacDonagh was a poet and playwright, an educator and political activist. Appointed to the IRB Military Council he became a member of the Provisional Government of the Irish Republic and was a signatory of the 1916 Easter proclamation. During the Rising MacDonagh was commandant of the 2nd Battalion of the Dublin Brigade of the Irish Volunteers and occupied the Jacobs Biscuit factory garrison. Following an inspiring speech at his Court Marshal he was executed on 3 May 1916 at Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin. In this meticulously researched biography Shane Kenna places this remarkable man within the great pantheon of Irish Republican heroes. He provides a riveting reconstruction of the life of a man whose death played such a key part in the shaping of modern Ireland. 'an epic new series of books' - RTE Guide on 16Lives

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In the Dublin of 1922 with Civil War about to break out, working class Annie Reilly is thrilled to win a scholarship to Eccles Street Convent School. A little frozen out by her old friends, yet not wholly accepted by all of her new classmates, she is pleased to be befriended by Susie O'Neill an easy-going girl from a much more comfortable background. Through Susie's brother, Annie meets Peter Scanlon, a neighbour of the O'Neill's and a pupil at Belvedere college. Having been radicalised by the execution of Kevin Barry, another Belvedere pupil, Peter becomes involved with the rebels who oppose the Treaty with Britain, and who are in conflict with the forces of the newly formed Irish Free State. As families and friends across the nation are forced to choose sides, and with Peter's conservative parents unaware of the dangerous role their son is adopting, Annie and Peter find their friendship coming under strain. Torn socially between her old friends and the exciting opportunities her new school presents, Annie is further confused when fighting breaks out on the streets of the city, with Irishmen now fighting other Irishmen. When Peter comes under suspicion from the police he asks Annie to cover for him. Reluctantly she provides him with an alibi, knowing that this also places her at risk of arrest - and with it the loss of her vitally-important scholarship. While all of the friends try to enjoy normal life - engaging in after-school classes, sports and concerts - there is no escaping the conflict that is rocking the country. Annie and Peter argue, but despite disagreeing with his secret activities as a messenger for the Die Hards, Annie keeps his secret. Annie's father, who drives a hackney that is often used by government officials, is targeted by the rebels, and Annie is kidnapped at gunpoint to force her father to co-operate in an assassination bid. Knowing that both sides have become increasingly brutal and ruthless, Peter is horrified when he learns of the danger that Annie now faces. Torn between his convictions and the debt that he owes to Annie, Peter has a stark choice to make. And when he risks everything for his friend, Annie too has to struggle with loyalty and the notion of informing on a friend, when other peoples' lives are in the balance.

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Seán MacDíarmada moved in the shadows, ultra-cautious about what he committed to paper, aware that his letters could be intercepted by the police. Because of this, history has not allocated MacDíarmada the prominent role he deserves in the organisation of the Easter Rising. This book gives Seán MacDíarmada his proper place in history. It outlines his substantial role in the detailed planning of the Rising, which led to him signing the Proclamation of the Irish Republic: second only to Tom Clarke.

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