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Few countries have generated as many would-be expatriates as Ireland. Which is strange, considering how much persecution and racial hatred the Irish have been subjected to over the centuries. Whether it's the Scottish denying their Irish roots, the British despising their less fortunate neighbors, or the Americans resenting the presence of outsiders, there's a long and dubious tradition of being unpleasant to the denizens of Eire.

And yet there's always been a mystical aspect to Ireland and the Irish that many find irresistable. For one thing, the Irish are good with words. It's not just the accent (though that doesn't hurt anything)—it's the grasp of language so many of them exhibit, from the old guy at the pub to William Butler Yeats to James Joyce. There's also the warmth typically associated with the Irish, their hospitality, cozy hearths, and pubs filled with singing and banter.

But perhaps the most stereotypically Irish trait is membership in the Catholic Church. Images of stone Celtic crosses, humble peasants in prayer, and beautiful yet quaint churches are as recognizably Irish as pictures of green mountains and shepherds. The Church's roots there are deep (St. Patrick began his missionary work in the fifth century), and few countries in Europe embraced the true religion as ardently or as wholesale as Ireland.

One reason for this may be the familial nature of Irish life. Descendants of ancient tribes, the Irish think in terms of clans and groups, not just individuals. Villages, parishes, and congregations are intimately connected, and overseeing everything are the priests, who've replaced clan chiefs as the abiters and glue of society. Priests are not only admired, they fulfill a very real role in Irish society that shapes the lives of the Irish people themselves.

A society so immersed in Christian religion and healthy family relationships will naturally develop both admirers and detractors. Wholesome cultures are intrinsically attractive, illustrating as they do the way God created humans to function and fluorish. Irish culture, to the extent that it exemplifies these ideals, remains fascinating and attracive, not just to Christians and supporters of traditional family values, but to those with an innate desire for life at its best.

Modern Ireland has changed socially and culturally in ways older generations would find unfathomable and even distasteful. Yet the imprint of the past isn't easy to eradicate from the pages of history or the global consciousness, and Christian Ireland remains a tantalizing ideal. Of course there are plenty of dark parts in the history of Erin, but there's also plenty to be lauded. You'll find books that give the warts and all history of Ireland here, but you'll also find plenty of celebrations of a place and culture all too rare in the history of the world.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur.Read more of his reviews here.

 

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AIO Imagination Station Book #10
by Marianne Hering, Wayne Thomas Batson
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$7.99
Brendan Voyage
Modern Library Exploration
by Tim Severin
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.00
Celtic Fairy Tales
by Neil Philip, illustrated by Isabelle Brent
from Viking Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Short Story Anthologies for Kids (Location: FIC-ANTH)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Children of the Red King
by Madeleine Polland
from Hillside Education
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
Complete Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde
Signet Classics
by Oscar Wilde
from Signet Classics
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$5.95
Concise History of Ireland
by Fitzroy Maclean
3 Sub from Thames and Hudson
for 9th-Adult
in Great Britain / England (Location: HISMC-BRIT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Deirdre
by David Guard; illustrated by Gretchen Guard
2nd edition from Celestial Arts
for 4th-6th grade
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Dracula
by Bram Stoker
from Signet Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$5.95
Dracula
Puffin Classics
by Bram Stoker
from Puffin Books
for 10th-Adult
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$9.99
Dubliners
by James Joyce
from Oxford University
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$9.95
Dubliners
Dover Thrift Editions
by James Joyce
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.00 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Dubliners
by James Joyce
from Oxford University
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$9.95
Fingal's Quest
by Madeleine Polland, illustrated by W.T. Mars
2019 Reprint from Hillside Education
for 5th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$14.95
Gulliver's Travels
by Jonathan Swift
from Oxford University
Satire/Social Commentary for 9th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$7.95
Gulliver's Travels
by Jonathan Swift
from Dover Publications
for 7th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$6.00 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Gulliver's Travels
Windermere Readers #15
by Jonathan Swift, illustrated by Milo Winter
1954 Edition from Rand McNally
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
How the Irish Saved Civilization
by Thomas Cahill
from Anchor Books
for 10th-Adult
in Europe (Location: HISMC-EUR)
$17.00
Ideal Husband
Dover Thrift Editions
by Oscar Wilde
from Dover Publications
Drama for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$4.00
Importance of Being Earnest
Dover Thrift Editions
by Oscar Wilde
from Dover Publications
Drama/Comedy for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$4.00
Importance of Being Earnest
Signet Classics
by Oscar Wilde, with an introduction by Sylvan Barnet and an afterword by Elise Bruhl and Michael Gamer
from Signet Classics
Drama/Comedy for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$5.95
Ireland
from Crescent Books
for 4th-Adult
in Great Britain / England (Location: HISMC-BRIT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Ireland's Pirate Queen
by Anne Chambers
from MJF Books
for 11th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Ireland: The Culture
Lands, Peoples and Cultures
by Erinn Banting
from Crabtree Publishing
for 4th-9th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Irish Americans
by James Mullin
from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-9th grade
in Immigration & Emigration (Location: HISA-20IM)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Irish Cinderlad
by Shirley Climo & Loretta Krupinksi
Reprint from HarperCollins
for 3rd-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.99
King of Ireland's Son
by Padraic Colum
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-7th grade
$14.95
Leprechaun Tales
by Kathleen Green; illustrated by Victoria De Larrea
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Lovely is the Lee
by Robert Gibbings
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Medieval Castles of Ireland
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works
by Jonathan Swift
from Dover Publications
for 11th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$4.00
Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland
by Tomie dePaola
from Holiday House
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.99
Picture of Dorian Gray
Dover Thrift Editions
by Oscar Wilde
from Dover Publications
Mystery and Suspense for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$6.00
Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar Wilde
Revised from Penguin Classics
Mystery and Suspense for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$9.00
Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar Wilde, illustrated by Eugene Dete & Paul Thiriat
1910 Illustrated from SeaWolf Press
Mystery and Suspense for 10th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$7.95
Queen without a Crown
by Madeleine Polland, illustrated by Herbert Danska
from Hillside Education
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
Red Hugh, Prince of Donegal
Bethlehem Books Living History Library
by Robert T. Reilly
from Bethlehem Books
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
Romance of Tristan and Iseult
by Hilaire Belloc
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$6.95
Saint Patrick
by Jonathan Rogers
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for 7th-Adult
in Christian Encounters (Location: BIO-CE)
$12.00
Samuel Beckett
by Samuel Beckett
from Faber & Faber
for Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
She Stoops to Conquer
Dover Thrift Editions
by Oliver Goldsmith
from Dover Publications
Comedic Drama for 10th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$5.00
She Stoops to Conquer
Merrill's English Texts
by Oliver Goldsmith, edited with an introduction and notes by Mabel A. Bessey
from Charles E. Merrill Company
Comedic Drama for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
South
by Ernest Shackleton
100th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Expedition Memoir for 10th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$11.95
South
by Ernest Shackleton
from Living Book Press
Expedition Memoir for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.99
Tangle-Coated Horse And Other Tales
by Ella Young, illustrated by Vera Bock
2025 reprint from Unknown Publisher
for 3rd-6th grade
1930 Newbery Honor Book
$13.99
This is Ireland
by Miroslav Sasek
from Universe Publishing
for 1st-3rd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$17.95
Tristan and Iseult
by Rosemary Sutcliff
from Sunburst Book
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 7th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$15.99
Tristram Shandy
by Laurence Sterne
from Wordsworth Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$5.99
Vicar of Wakefield
Penguin Classics
by Oliver Goldsmith
from Penguin Classics
Realistic Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$12.00
Wonder Smith and His Son
by Ella Young, illustrated by Boris Artzybasheff
2025 Reprint from Unknown Publisher
for 3rd-6th grade
1928 Newbery Honor Book
$9.99
Yeats Reader
by W. B. Yeats
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 10th-Adult
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
$22.00
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