Book Reviews

by David Green Boston-based writer, teacher and world traveler David Green has written a tour de force novel set in the Celtic region of Galicia during the latter half of the 20th century. Described as a coming-of-age novel, Porto Lúa introduces a country and people “living in a time before the disenchantment of the world,…

Padraig O’Malley As a major voice on the topic of divided societies, from Northern Ireland to South Africa and the Middle East over the past half century, Padraig O’Malley’s latest book is a welcome addition to the literature, especially now, when the prospect of a united Ireland seems closer than it has been in the…

by Kevin Kenny Professor Kenny has a distinguished academic career as a teacher, researcher and writer, with a specialty on migration, especially pertaining to Irish, Jews, Africans and Asians. His latest book offers an original interpretation of “how slavery shaped immigration policy as it moved from the local to the national level in the period…

Samuel K. Fisher The tension between the British Empire and American colonies that led to the American Revolution is getting a fresh look by historians as a lead-up to the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026. Catholic University history professor Samuel K. Fisher’s new book examines the roles of Indigenous natives, Irish…

Peter Quinn Foreword by Dan Barry Prolific Bronx scribe Peter Quinn synthesizes his wideranging interests into a personal, engaging narrative that begins in his beloved Bronx and takes him to the political corridors of Albany. He shares some amusing political anecdotes along the way, and movingly, talks of his often complicated relationship with his father….

Sean Connolly On Every Tide explores not just Irish immigration to Boston and the United States but also to Britain and Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and South Africa and South America. It offers insights and anecdotes on what Irish Catholics had to overcome in the US, and how they overcame their victimized underclass status…

Robert J. Savage Focusing on the British broadcast media’s coverage of the conflict in Northern Ireland throughout the 1980s, beginning with the Hunger Strike in 1981, Savage explores the “incessant wrangling between Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s government and an aggressive broadcast media determined to provide objective news and information about the complexities of ‘the Troubles’…

Paul Muldoon County Armagh’s Paul Muldoon has distinguished himself as a daring, insightful, skillful poet, willing to fly into flights of fancy with alliterative cascades of language. The Princeton-based, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet is also a melodious lyricist who has written opera librettos and rock stanzas. Some years ago, Muldoon gave a joint reading with singer/songwriter…

Niall Williams with Christine Breen A well-lived life is the best kind of life if it brings daily fulfillment and contentment. Married couple Williams and Breen have built such a life in rural Kiltumper, County Clare, Ireland, raising a family and building community, all the while tending a garden and writing books. The centerpiece of…

Neal Thompson Readers are always eager for a new book on the Kennedys, especially one that chronicles the family’s journey from impoverished immigrants to the pinnacle of power, wealth and achievement, exemplified by the presidency of John F. Kennedy. Neal Thompson’s book The First Kennedys delivers a well-written, lively account of Patrick Kennedy and his…

Damien Murray The evolving identity of the Boston Irish during the first quarter of the 20th century provides a fascinating backdrop for Damien Murray’s book on Irish nationalism. Murray, an Associate Professor of History at Elms College in Chicopee, examines how Boston Irish identity was shaped by seismic events in Ireland like the 1916 Easter…

Dan Milner Dan Milner’s new book, The Unstoppable Irish traces the ascension of Irish Catholics in New York City through music over a full century, from post-Revolutionary War to post-Civil War. Folk songs, broadsides, songsters and sheet music form the thread for this evolution and lend insight into how the Irish were perceived and how…

Hidetaka Hirota The hordes of Irish immigrants who came to North America in the 19th century were more often paupers, traumatized by famine, disease, war and social injustice. Their transatlantic migration to eastern seaboard cities like Montreal, Boston, New York and Philadelphia is well documented. Less understood is how rampant anti-Irish nativism toward these immigrants…

Michael Coffey Author Michael Coffey has published a new book called Samuel Beckett is Closed. Written according to a sequence laid out by Beckett in his notes to the unpublished manuscript, “Long Observations of the Ray,” Coffey’s book is a mediation that shifts through numerous themes that range from a NY Mets Baseball game in…

Foreword: Caroline Kennedy Think of this exquisite coffee-table book literally as a family album, with photos, snippets from letters, humorous asides and personal reflections. But it’s a family album that chronicles one of America’s most famous families. The 300 plus photographs, overwhelmingly black & white, were lovingly saved and preserved by Rose, who in many…

Peter Behrens Canadian author Peter Behrens has written an epic tale of a sprawling Irish family in 20th century America that starts in Quebec and ends in California.  Along the way family ambition, betrayal, madness and violence are all examined by beautiful prose and great insight.  Publishers Weekly called The O’Briens a work of ‘rough…

Patrick L. Kennedy and Lawrence W. Kennedy Foreword by Bill Rogers. The Boston Marathon is filled with iconic characters like John J. McDermott, who won the first contest in 1897, and Johnny Kelley, who finished the race 58 times. Equally notable is “Bricklayer Bill” Kennedy, a working class Irish-American who was part of the amateur…

Cóilín Parsons Literature and history are inextricably linked in Ireland. Wandering bards and minstrels, then novelists, essayists and poets, measured every inch of the Irish experience on this tiny island. Cóilín Parsons, English professor at Georgetown, examines ways in which Irish writers viewed the Ordnance Survey of Ireland, a massive 22 year public works project…

Garrison Nelson John McCormack worked his way from South Boston’s housing projects to a leading figure in the U.S. Congress, winning 22 consecutive elections from 1928 to 1971. In 1962 he was elected the first Catholic Speaker of the House, serving nine consecutive years, a record later broken by his protégé Tip O’Neill.Written by Garrison…

Cynthia Levinson and Sanford Levinson Written for children and young adults, Fault Lines in the Constitution is a wonderful introduction to one of the world’s enduring documents. The husband-wife team features Professor Sanford Levinson, a Harvard Law constitutional scholar and his wife Cynthia, a well-known writer of children’s literature. Together they trace the origins of…

Christine Breen Christine Breen has written a beautifully-rendered first novel that takes readers on an odyssey from Dublin and County Clare to Boston and New York and back. In 1990, an American girl studying in Dublin gets pregnant and gives up her baby Rose for adoption to an Irish couple who raise the child with…

Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson has been a voice of fairness, justice and change throughout her career. She is one of the most influential public figures in Ireland.  As first female President of Ireland (1990-’97), she spoke forcibly for women’s contraception and equal rights.  As UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (’97-2002),…

Robert J. Savage Rob Savage, professor of history at Boston College, has done extensive academic research on 20th century Irish politics and media. The BBC’s Irish Troubles, combines his expertise in both areas with a nuanced, detailed examination of the BBC’s role in reporting on Northern Ireland (NI) from 1968-’88. The story is replete with…