Local history: Four revealing and entertaining reads provide a window on the past
A Belgian artist’s grá for Achill Island; ideas and the country house; the Celtic revival; an Anglo-Irish aristocrat’s memoirs
Erik Satie: The eccentric 20th century French composer who coined the idea of ambient or background music
If his topics were strange, then his life in Paris was unconventional in the extreme
Paul Clements: ‘I am often asked how long it takes to write a book. Now I can say with accuracy: 33 years’
Paul Clements, whose book about living in a cottage in the woods had a gestation of more than three decades, reflects on other slow-burn books that became travel and nature writing classics
Paul Clements on Forrest Reid, a 20th century author who is coming back into vogue
The novelist developed lifelong friendships with illustrious figures in the literary world
A Quiet Evening: The Travels of Norman Lewis – Five decades as wandering witness to the world
This collection, edited by John Hatt, brings together 36 of the English writer’s witty, observant travelogues
Irish Ordnance Survey Maps: A User’s Guide by Paul Mulligan: an invaluable companion, and not just for hill walkers
Paul Mulligan’s alphabetical glossary, running from Abbey to Zincography, uncovers the multi-layered aura of ancient places
Local history: Serendipitous signposts to the past, but not all townlands are born equal
Rich in variety, townland names are markers of tradition and belonging, reflecting historical events or landscape features
The fall of an ancient tree is a sad occasion. It marks the death of a living monument
Paul Clements spent a year living in a cottage on the grounds of Montalto Estate in Co Down
Local history round-up: Greater and lesser-known lives, from Down to Tipp and beyond
New works by Kevin Crangle, Brendan McCarthy, Martin Quinn, Thomas Carroll, Rod Smith and more
The Amergin Step: An Exploration in the Imagination of Iveragh by Paddy Bushe
Erudite and entertaining writer takes reader on journey with rich narrative tapestry of history, music and anecdote
A cross-section of Ireland’s historical buildings and the materials that went into making them
Books on Ireland’s built heritage from Robert O’Byrne, Peter Harbison, Michael Lunt, Susan Roundtree, Ian Hannigan and Andrew Ziminski
Local history: From William Orr and the not-so-united Irishmen to a box of underwear labelled ‘ass sizes’
Histories of the United Irishmen, Elizabeth Bown and George Egerton, Donegal visionary John Gwyn, Abbey of Carryke in Co Down, and songs of Clare
Local history: Cartoonish cruelty betrays a fundamentalist who would not cotton on
The Reverend Psychopath: Suffer Little Children, Terror, Tears and Tragedy: The Mount Cashells and the Notorious Divorce Case of 1876, and Under the Metal Man: Sligo in Yeats
Ambassador of Nowhere: A Latin American Pilgrimage - inquisitive journeying
Richard Gwyn blends memoir, cultural travel and political history
The Origin of Ireland’s Ordnance Survey: Charting the intriguing backstory of the survey’s birth in 1824
A tasty appetiser of the OSI’s primordial days that may perhaps lead to a wider banquet