Irish History

In the summer of 1982, Irish aristocrat Malcolm Macarthur embarked on a brutal killing spree in a doomed plan to remedy his financial woes. Two weeks later, in a sensational turn of events, he was arrested in the home of Attorney …

Pioneering human rights campaigner, patriot, romantic, traitor, LGBTQ+ martyr: this is the story of Roger Casement, one of the 20th century's most complex and compelling figures. In 1904, Casement became internationally celebrated…

On the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, Peter Taylor tells for the first time the gripping story of Operation Chiffon, the top-secret intelligence operation that helped bring peace to Ireland. April 1998: the Good Fr…

Explore the lives of over forty men and women – great and otherwise – whose pioneering journeys beyond the Irish shore played a profound role in world history. The Irish have always been a travelling people. Since 1800 an estimat…

In the first half of the 20th century, the men and women of Ireland experienced the brutal realities of a succession of wars - from the unrelenting casualties of WW1, to the domestic upheavals of the 1916 Rising and the Irish Civi…

Marianne, Louise and Cassandra Knight were nieces of the great 19th century novelist who gave us Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Jane knew the girls well, reading and sewing with them as they grew up, and they were …

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…

In the twenty-first century there are two jurisdictions on the island of Ireland, and two very different heads of state represent the populations of Ireland and Northern Ireland respectively: the elected presidency of the republic…

Executed in Kilmainham Gaol on 8 May 1916, Michael Mallin had commanded a garrison of rebels in St Stephen's Green and the College of Surgeons during Easter Week. He was Chief-of-Staff and second-in-command to James Connolly in th…

Joseph Mary Plunkett (1887-1916) from Dublin was one of the leaders of the 1916 Rising, the designer of the military plan and the youngest signatory of the Proclamation. A recognised poet, he was already dying of TB when, aged 28,…

'A personal journey into the prehistory and heritage of West Cork and surrounds. Over 140 sites with colour photographs and supporting text. Tombs, stone circles, standing stones, inscriptions, Ogham stones, caves and lots more'. …

In this gripping memoir, Eamonn Mallie takes us on an extraordinary journey through his life as a journalist in Northern Ireland. From the frontlines of the Troubles to the corridors of power, Mallie’s fearless reporting and unrel…

One night in December 1972, Jean McConville, a mother of ten, was abducted from her home in Belfast and never seen alive again. Her disappearance would haunt her orphaned children, the perpetrators of the brutal crime and a whole …

First written down in the eighth century AD, these early Irish stories depict a far older world - part myth, part legend and part history. Rich with magic and achingly beautiful, they speak of a land of heroic battles, intense lov…

If you are looking for happy, positive or uplifting stories then this might not be the book for you. If, on the other hand, tales of human tragedy, executions, wars, grave-robbing, rioting, man-eating Kerry eagles, rat-eating Belf…

In 1993, aged twenty, Carmel Mc Mahon left Ireland for New York, carrying two suitcases and a ton of unseen baggage. It took years, and a bitter struggle with alcohol addiction, to unpick the intricate traumas of her past and pres…

How far would you go for the missing?When Clair Wills was in her twenties, she discovered she had a cousin she had never met. Born in a Mother and Baby Home in 1950s Ireland, Mary grew up in an institution not far from the farm wh…

Shortlisted for the ALCS Gold Dagger Award for Nonfiction A brilliant work of historical true crime charting a pivotal event in the l9th century, the Phoenix Park murders in Dublin, that gripped the world and forever altered the c…

The Abbey Theatre played a leading role in the politicisation of the revolutionary generation that won Irish freedom, but comparatively little is known about the men and women who formed the lifeblood of the institution: those who…

100s of personal testimonials, 1000s of teachers, 100s of 1000s of pupils… all connected through one organisation, Cumann na mBunscol. Caoga Bliain ag Fás is a story of ‘ordinary’ men and women who did extraordinary things, and th…

Níl aon dabht ach gur mhinic cogaíocht, ár agus sléacht le fáil i stair na hÉireann, agus is iomaí scéal ar a léithéid. Ach bhíodar ann i gcónaí a mhol slí eile don tír, slí na síochána. Má bhí uaireanta ann nár tugadh cluas dóibh…

Seán French was first elected to Cork Corporation in January 1920 with a paltry 73 first preference votes. In the turbulent period that followed he was arrested in September 1922 and served 13 months in Newbridge Internment Camp a…

The conflict in Northern Ireland was one of the most devastating in post-war Europe, claiming the lives of 3,500 people and injuring many more. This book is a riveting new history of the radical politics that drove a unique insurg…

Ireland is known worldwide as a country that produce emigrants. The existence of the Irish diaspora' is the subject of this fifth instalment of the 'Irish perspectives' collaboration between Pen and Sword and History Ireland. From…

For the Love of Ireland's Buildings takes us on a tour of our built heritage, from ancient monuments to Modern architecture. For over fifty years the iconic Roadstone Calendar celebrated Ireland's architectural treasures and trium…

Breathing new life into Ireland's history once again, this carefully restored and colourised collection of wonderful black and white images captures the beauty of the nation's fascinating past. This sequel to the bestselling The C…

Simms and his team’s meticulous work are proof positive that well-built social housing can add immensely to the tone and style of a city. His work remains a touchstone and an inspiration.

The Irish Civil War ended in 1923. Eighty years on, documentary-maker Tom Hurley wondered if there were many people left from across Ireland who experienced the years 1919 to 1923, their prelude and aftermath. In early 2003, he re…

Leading journalist Matt Cooper examines the key players behind the scenes of Irish property ownership - who really controls the valuable land where we live, work and play and how did they acquire it? Who are the new foreign invest…

Old Ireland in Colour celebrates the rich history of Ireland and the Irish through the colour restoration of stunning images of all walks of Irish life, and the Irish abroad, throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. From…