New History of Clare Published: Clare, History and Society

[sadhbh]

A major new book on County Clare has just been published. "Clare: History and Society" is the eighteenth volume in the County History and Society series of Geography Publications. This multidisciplinary set of county histories began in the early 1980s and the Clare volume is a welcome addition to the series. The Clare volume is edited by Matthew Lynch and Patrick Nugent. Here's a list of the contents:

Introduction by William Nolan (Series editor)

Foreword by Edna O’Brien

Chapter 1 THE CHURCHES OF MEDIEVAL CLARE
by Peter Harbison

Chapter 2 MAINTAINING THE MARCHES: SEIGNEUR, SEPT AND SETTLEMENT IN ANGLO-NORMAN THOMOND
by David Nally

Chapter 3 CONTINUITY AND CHANGE: DONNCHADH O’BRIEN, FOURTH EARL OF THOMOND (d.1624), AND THE ANGLICISATION OF THE THOMOND LORDSHIP
by Bernadette Cunningham

Chapter 4 THE INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POPULATION AND SETTLEMENT IN COUNTY CLARE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY: THE EVIDENCE FROM THE 1659 ‘CENSUS’
by Patrick Nugent

Chapter 5 A HISTORY OF URBAN ORIGINS AND VILLAGE FORMATION IN COUNTY CLARE
by Brian Ó Dálaigh

Chapter 6 SCRÍOBHAITHE LÁMHSCRÍBHINNÍ GAEILGE I gCONTAE AN CHLÁIR 1700-1900
by Eilís Ni Dheá

Chapter 7 ‘OUR NATIVE TONGUE MOST SHAMEFULLY REJECTED’: EDUCATION, PRINT CULTURE
AND ENGLISH LITERATURE IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY ENNIS
by Michael J. Griffin

Chapter 8 REACHING ‘THE UNAWAKENED MULTITUDE’: CHRISTIAN EVANGELICAL PROGRESS IN
COUNTY CLARE
by David J. Butler

Chapter 9 CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION AND THE ELECTION OF DANIEL O’CONNELL IN 1828
by Kieran Sheedy

Chapter 10 TERRY ALTS: THE RISE AND FALL OF AN AGRARIAN SECRET SOCIETY
by Flannan Enright

Chapter 11 THE YEARS OF THE GREAT FAMINE
by Ciarán Ó Murchadha

Chapter 12 EMIGRATION FROM THE WORKHOUSES OF COUNTY CLARE 1849-59
by Chris O’Mahony

Chapter 13 COLONEL GEORGE WYNDHAM, 1st BARON LECONFIELD (1787-1869) AND HIS ESTATE IN COUNTY CLARE
by Matthew Lynch

Chapter 14 COUNTY CLARE IN PHOTOGRAPHS
by Sonia Schorman and others

Chapter 15 ANOTHER CLARE: RANCHERS AND MOONLIGHTERS, 1700-11945
by Brendan Ó Cathaoir

Chapter 16 EUGENE O’CURRY 1794-1862: PIONEER OF IRISH SCHOLARSHIP
by Breandán Ó Madagáin

Chapter 17 THE IRISH REPUBLICAN BROTHERHOOD IN CLARE 1858-1871
by Eva Ó Cathaoir and Mathúin Mac Fheorais

Chapter 18 CITIZEN CUSACK AND CLARE’S GAEILC GAMES
by Daniel McCarthy

Chapter 19 THE IRISH LANGUAGE IN COUNTY CLARE IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY:
A CENSUS-BASED PERSPECTIVE
by Máire Ní Chiosáin

Chapter 20 FISHING COMMUNITIES OF THE CLARE COAST
by Críostóir Mac Cárthaigh

Chapter 21 DOCUMENTING THE TRADITION: THE WORK OF THE IRISH FOLKLORE COMMISSION AND SOME OF ITS COLLECTORS IN COUNTY CLARE
by Patricia Lysaght

Chapter 22 MEASURING HEADS, BODIES AND EVALUATING FAMILY FARMING AND OCCUPATIONAL CONTINUITIES: REVISITING THE 1931-36 HARVARD ANTHROPOLOGICAL
SURVEY OF COUNTY CLARE/IRELAND
by William J. Smyth

Chapter 23 A LIFETIME IN HURLING
by Jimmy Smyth

Chapter 24 TRADITIONAL MUSIC IN COUNTY CLARE
by Niall Keegan

Chapter 25 ‘A DUB IN CLARE’: TOM MUNNELLY, FOLKLORE COLLECTOR
by Rionach Uí Ógáin

Chapter 26 EDNA O’BRIEN: ‘PSYCHIC AND MORAL HISTORIAN’
by Maureen O’Connor

Chapter 27 ‘GO, MOVE, SHIFT’: TRAVELLERS IN TWENTIETH CENTURY COUNTY CLARE
by Bryan Fanning

Chapter 28 COUNTY CLARE LOCAL STUDIES
by Noel Crowley

Postscript EULOGY BY BRIAN COWEN, T.D., AT THE GRAVESIDE OF FORMER PRESIDENT, DR. PATRICK HILLERY ON 16 APRIL 2008

"Clare: history and society: Interdisciplinary essays on the history of an Irish county", Matthew Lynch & Patrick Nugent (eds.); Dublin, Geography Publications, 2008. ISBN 978 0 906602 393. xxxv, 789 pp. €60.

The book is not listed on Geography Publication's website yet, but can be ordered online from them. http://www.geographypublications.com
Happy reading
Sadhbh

[smcarberry]

Thanks for posting this. Even though the chapters/essays are numerous, there are even more topics that I can think of. I like the approach that each subject has been the focus of a single researcher, and all are grouped together in a collection that is then worthwhile to purchase. It is also good to know that Clare research on this level (in contradistinction to family histories) is ongoing.

Sharon Carberry USA

[Paddy Casey]

I've now read most of this book and have dipped into the rest as I continue. Not being a historian or specialist in this area I cannot give a professional opinion (e.g. on historical accuracy or bias). However, I assume that the accounts are reliable ones. I found them fascinating and profited from them enormously. This is another of those books that simply have to be read by anyone interested in the history of the County. It is jam-packed full of names of places and people and these are listed in very comprehensive indexes at the end. Because each contribution comes at the history from a different angle (e.g. medieval Clare, sport in the county, demographics, language, religion, politics, agrarian unrest, the Famine, emigration, photographic records, famous authors and chroniclers, folklore, traditional music) there is something for everyone here. The book is particularly relevant for those whose ancestors came from Clare. With almost every sentence I found myself transported back into the times of my ancestors and wondered how this or that event or political movement or demographic or economic change might have affected them.

Definitely required reading. Thanks to Sadhbh for flagging it to us.

Paddy.

P.S. The indigenous - lucky they - can find the book at the Clare County Library (see http://tinyurl.com/6lo8eq ).

[smcarberry]

Eugene O'Curry obit.pdf

(220.69 KiB) Downloaded 493 times

Chapter 16 EUGENE O’CURRY 1794-1862: PIONEER OF IRISH SCHOLARSHIP
by Breandán Ó Madagáin

Here, in pdf format, is an obituary to supplement the book chapter. It's a fairly long article without many hard facts, but it is headed by the below picture of O'Curry. This appeared in the 30 August 1862 edition of the NYC newspaper Irish American Weekly.

Sharon Carberry