MALACHY MCCOURT’S HISTORY OF IRELAND
By Malachy McCourt
 Running Press
ISBN:978-0-7624-3181-6
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Grace O’Malley, Maud Gonne, Countess Markievicz, Bernadette Devlin and Bobby Sands are just a few of the diverse personalities to grace the pages of Malachy McCourt’s History of Ireland.
First released in 2004 in hardcover and now available in paperback, this fine chronology stretches from pre-Christian times to present day.
Spanning centuries of struggle, McCourt takes the reader through a sweeping chronicle of skirmishes and battles in the campaign for independence and freedom.
As you plough through the layers of invasions, civil unrest, economic hardship, oppression and slaughter, it is astonishing to see what the Irish people have endured in their struggle to be rid of British dominance.
To have survived the Great Hunger (1845-52) alone is an amazing feat given the devastating death toll.
It is also extraordinary to contemplate the sweeping cultural contributions this country has made worldwide, ranging from literature to music, to film and the arts in general.
Although I am already familiar with a good deal of the material presented in this book, there was still enough intriguing information to make reading it worthwhile.
It was a joy to read McCourt’s account simply for its compact, condensed version of historical and present day Ireland. Although, I still think McCourt was far too charitable in his references to Conor Cruise O’Brien and Charles Haughey.
The chapter on Granuaile (Grace O’Malley) was the most interesting for me and compelled me to search out a copy of Anne Chambers’ biography, Granuaile.
I have never read any of McCourt’s other works, but I can say I thoroughly enjoyed reading his interpretation of complex and volatile episodes in Irish history.
I would recommend this book, even if you are a novice on the subject of Irish history. It might just peak your interest to delve further into the complexities of this endlessly fascinating country.
Malachy McCourt was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1931. At the age of three his family moved to Limerick, Ireland where he was raised. In 1952, at the age of 21, McCourt returned to the United States where he continues to live today.
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