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

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams offers a unique, intimate account of his childhood in working-class Belfast and the turbulent years of social activism that followed. First published in 1996 – at a time when politics in the North was at an impasse, and the Good Friday Agreement was still many intense months away – Before the Dawn tells of the pogroms of 1969 and the hunger strikes of 1981, moving from the streets of West Belfast to the cages and the H-Blocks of Long Kesh. An engaging and revealing self-portrait that is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand modern Ireland. Updated with a new introduction and epilogue.

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Are you left not having a baldy by what punters around you are saying? Does the way you hear English being spoke lack rime and raisin? If so, this is exactly the wee toady book you've been duking for. Self-proclaimed Norn Irish expert Owen Kelly has compiled the definitive basic introduction to local lingo, helping the reader to tell the difference between an 'Absolutely!' and a 'Wise'! So, whether you're a native or a visitor, and without Annie Furderadoo, overcome your diffs and join in the banter. Square crack! 'The authentic voice of Ulster - irreverent, independent, humorous and humane.' Northern Life

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So there I was, roysh, enjoying college life, college birds and, like, a major amount of socialising. Then, roysh, the old pair decide to mess everything up for me. And we're talking totally here. Don't ask me what they were thinking. I hadn't, like, changed or treated them any differently, but the next thing I know, roysh, I'm out on the streets. Another focking day in paradise for me! If it hadn't been for Oisinn's apartment in Killiney, the old man paying for my Golf GTI, JP's old man's job offer and all the goys wanting to buy me drink, it would have been, like, a complete mare. Totally. But naturally, roysh, you can never be sure what life plans to do to you next. At least, it came as a complete focking surprise to me … The life and times of Ross O'Carroll-Kelly, cult hero.

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The multi-award-winning ‘Run With the Wind’ series ‘Don’t forget’, said the old fox, ‘if danger threatens, run with the wind …’ In the Land of Sinna, Black Tip, Vickey, Old Sage Brush, Fang, Hop-along and the rest of the foxes living around Beech Paw are in trouble. They are being hunted, trapped and harried and have no choice but to set out in search of the secret of survival. As they journey through countryside and city, facing many dangers along the way, they find new friendships and rediscover what it means to be ‘as cunning as a fox’. ‘Entertainment and suspense at it’s very best, it is the Watership Down of the fox world.' The Irish Times ‘A wildlife winner for all ages.' The Sunday Independent Back in print, one of the most popular Irish wildlife stories of all time

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So there I was, roysh, twenty-three years of age, still, like, gorgeous and rich, living off my legend as a schools rugby player, scoring the birds, being the man, when all of a sudden, roysh, life becomes a total mare. I don't have a Betty Blue what's wrong, but I can't eat, can't sleep, I don't even want to do the old beast with two backs, which means a major problem, and we're talking big time here. Normally my head is so full of, like thoughts, but now I'm down to just one: Sorcha, I'm playing it Kool and the Gang, but this is basically scary. I mean, I'm Ross O'Carroll-Kelly, for fock's sake, I don't do love. With a new introduction by Paul Howard, Ross's representative on, loike, earth.

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Derry, 1689. An anonymous letter is read out saying that every last Protestant man, woman and child is to be murdered. Panic takes hold. Two teenage boys, Daniel and Robert Sherrard, help close the city gates against the approaching Catholic army. The siege has begun. Bombs rain down. Behind the walls, tensions grow day by day. Trapped, the people are injured, dying, starving. But there is no going back … Daniel and Robert are drawn into a fight to the end. 'this fantastically written book will hook you from the start... this is historical fiction at its best.' The Guardian on City of Fate

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From the first symptoms of serious unrest - the Divis Street riots of 1964 - to the tortuous political manoeuvrings culminating in the 2003 Assembly elections, the book traces the reality of life in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. It details the motivation behind the IRA 'armed struggle', the Civil Rights movement, the murder campaigns of various loyalist terror groups, the major incidents of violence and the response of the British security forces and the justice system. It describes what it was like to live with bombs, army searches in the dead of night, death threats to politicians, activists and others. A detailed account of the political and personal toll of the Northern Ireland conflict.

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‘Security guards told the police that they were surprised by assailants who had somehow evaded the sophisticated security system. They could not say how many robbers there were…it appears to be one of the biggest robberies in U.S. history.’ New York Times, front page In 1993 $7.4 million was stolen from the Brink’s Armored Car Depot in Rochester, New York, the fifth largest robbery in US history. Sam Millar was a member of the gang who carried out the robbery. He was caught, found guilty and incarcerated, before being set free by Bill Clinton's government as an essential part of the Northern Ireland Peace Process. This remarkable book is Sam's story, from his childhood in Belfast, membership of the IRA, time spent in Long Kesh internment camps and the Brinks heist and aftermath. Unputdownable.

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Big changes are coming to late-Sixties Belfast. At first life seems normal for Sammy and Maeve, two children from the opposing republican and loyalist communities. Sammy tries to avoid trouble with his unemployed father, while Maeve has lived with her aunt and uncle since her mother’s death. When twins Dylan and Emma Goldman move from Washington to Belfast they strike up friendships with Maeve and Sammy. Gradually the nationalist girl and loyalist boy overcome their suspicions of each other, and all four children become friends. But even as they have fun at local sports clubs, attend the Goldman’s barbeques, and secretly make their own radio programmes, they can’t ignore the trouble that is slowing gripping the country. And when the simmering tensions in Northern Ireland erupt into violence it threatens not just their friendships – but their very lives.

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From a staunchly Republican family, Michael O’Hanrahan’s outwardly quiet and serious demeanour concealed a burning desire to see an independent Ireland. He was instrumental in setting up the first branch of the Gaelic League in Carlow. Michael also helped found the workingman’s club in Carlow, which he left when they decided to admit a British soldier. After moving to Dublin, he played important roles in both Sinn Fein and the Irish Volunteers. As quartermaster of the Volunteers, he was responsible for the procurement of many of the arms used in the Easter Rising. Michael O’Hanrahan was also a talented journalist and novelist whose development was cut short by his execution in 1916. In this new biography Conor Kostick brings to life a man who helped launch the 1916 Rising.

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The final book in the Agnes Browne trilogy. At forty-seven years of age Agnes, now thirteen years happily widowed, enters the 1980s with a fruit stall in Moore Street, a French lover and six children, five of them in their twenties. Becoming a grandmother is a terrible shock to her system, especially as Agnes suffers every one of her daughter-in-law's labour pains! And as the family expands so do the problems -one son's inevitable brush with the law, the heartbreak of emigration. But Agnes Browne is nothing if not a fighter, and she squares her shoulders, offers up a quick one to her departed pal, Marion, and sets about getting things back on an even keel - or as even as things ever get in the Brown household! The same quick-fire dialogue, hilarious humour and great characterisation as in Brendan's bestselling The Mammy, filmed as Agnes Browne by Angelica Huston, and the BAFTA-winning TV series Mrs Brown’s Boys.

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More trivia about Ireland than you ever needed to know! Distract yourself from doom-and-gloom with useless information: guaranteed to make you a hit at parties or gatherings of more than one person! This book contains jewels like the following: During the first half of the nineteenth century, the average number of CHILDREN per household in Ireland was 10. An ancient Irish marriage ritual called ‘handfasting’, involved tying a rope between the newlyweds’ wrists for 366 days. It is said that this is where the expression ‘TYING THE KNOT’ originated.

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Alice celebrates the special moments and the everyday blessings of life. Come sit awhile with Alice Taylor. Take a little time out – to rest, to think, or just to be. Life can race along at a fast pace, sometimes almost stampeding us along with it. What a pity not to slow down and take the time to enjoy little things, or simply doing nothing or chatting with a good friend. Sometimes Alice finds a comfortable place to sit, maybe a low wall, a garden seat or a grassy bank. A place to let the mind calm down and let thoughts drift. With this book she invites you to share the special moments of life.

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Solace is that feeling of calm and comfort, that sense of peace that is all around us when we are open to finding it. Writer and photographer Catherine Drea explores the solace to be found in nature and creativity. She reflects on loss, the cycle of life and the healing power of family and community. She muses on the joy of finding a place to call home, the escape that travel brings and the exhilaration of plunging into our waters – all the while embracing the therapeutic power of observing the ordinary and the everyday. With the passing seasons, her camera captures fleeting moments in nature – the light and lie of the land with its precious wildlife: among them sentinel robins, elusive Irish hares and serene swans. Solace is quite simply a balm for the soul. ‘In this beautiful book Catherine Drea explores deeply emotive issues, calms the mind, soothes the soul, and focuses her sensitive lens on the wonders of the natural world.’ Alice Taylor, author of To School through the Fields

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‘There were twenty-five hours in my day then ... any job or challenge that the ocean or the harbour might offer was an option. I undertook them all.’ Des Lavelle was born on Valentia Island in County Kerry in 1934, surrounded by the wild Atlantic waters. Known to the world for his passion for the nearby Skellig Islands, Des has led a fascinating and varied life, but his heart forever draws him back to Valentia. His wide-ranging memoir takes us on an extraordinary journey from an idyllic childhood on Valentia, through a short-lived ‘permanent, pensionable job’ with the Western Union Telegraph Company to a rich and fascinating life where the sea always offered opportunities. When the movie Ryan’s Daughter needed marine advice in 1968, they came to Des. In 1974 a North Sea oil rig sought him out to help with a giant safety net, and a few years later his special skills came to the fore once more as Telecom Éireann laid their cables under the waves. From sea-faring on his beloved 32ft Béal Bocht to pioneering deep-sea diving, running a ferry, campaigning for his beloved island outpost, crewing with the Valentia lifeboat and travelling to far-flung places, Des Lavelle shares his ups and downs on his road to becoming a renowned author and expert on the historical and wildlife riches of Kerry’s intriguing Skellig Islands. Island Boy is the compelling story of a man born and raised in Valentia and of a unique life that he continues to live to the full.

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