Jiving At The Crossroads (New Edition)

Jiving At The Crossroads (New Edition) PDF Author: John Waters
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1446486877
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 151

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Book Description
In 1991, Ireland was in the midst of a devastating recession; thousands of young Irish men and women had emigrated over the previous decade, and divisive social and moral debates on abortion and divorce had rocked Irish society. The great pillars of society - politics and religion - were beginning to crumble, a process that continued in subsequent years as both institutions were hit by scandal. A questioning of the values on which Ireland had been built had begun, with an apparently unbridgeable divide opening between "traditionalists" and "modernizers". At the start of the decade, the modernizers appeared to have won, with the election as President of the iconic Mary Robinson. Irish Times columnist John Waters captured the zeitgeist of the time with the hugely successful Jiving at the Crossroads, which sold over 50,000 copies. A defining book of the era, its success was partly due to its remarkable blending of social/cultural commentary with personal memoir. At the emotional core of the book was the relationship between John and his father, and the story of Ireland was intricately woven into this powerful narrative. It was the first in a long line of books to question the very notion of modern Irish identity, and to examine the deep-rooted tensions at the heart of the Irish psyche. Twenty years later, much has changed in Ireland, and yet Jiving at the Crossroads remains a deeply resonant book, particularly in the light of the remarkable rise and precipitous fall of the Celtic Tiger, and the fresh questioning of how we got where we are now. This twentieth anniversary reissue of a landmark book, with a new Afterword, will be welcomed by those who remember it, and will be a fascinating insight for a new generation of Irish people.

Jiving At The Crossroads (New Edition)

Jiving At The Crossroads (New Edition) PDF Author: John Waters
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1446486877
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 151

Get Book Here

Book Description
In 1991, Ireland was in the midst of a devastating recession; thousands of young Irish men and women had emigrated over the previous decade, and divisive social and moral debates on abortion and divorce had rocked Irish society. The great pillars of society - politics and religion - were beginning to crumble, a process that continued in subsequent years as both institutions were hit by scandal. A questioning of the values on which Ireland had been built had begun, with an apparently unbridgeable divide opening between "traditionalists" and "modernizers". At the start of the decade, the modernizers appeared to have won, with the election as President of the iconic Mary Robinson. Irish Times columnist John Waters captured the zeitgeist of the time with the hugely successful Jiving at the Crossroads, which sold over 50,000 copies. A defining book of the era, its success was partly due to its remarkable blending of social/cultural commentary with personal memoir. At the emotional core of the book was the relationship between John and his father, and the story of Ireland was intricately woven into this powerful narrative. It was the first in a long line of books to question the very notion of modern Irish identity, and to examine the deep-rooted tensions at the heart of the Irish psyche. Twenty years later, much has changed in Ireland, and yet Jiving at the Crossroads remains a deeply resonant book, particularly in the light of the remarkable rise and precipitous fall of the Celtic Tiger, and the fresh questioning of how we got where we are now. This twentieth anniversary reissue of a landmark book, with a new Afterword, will be welcomed by those who remember it, and will be a fascinating insight for a new generation of Irish people.

Jiving at the Crossroads

Jiving at the Crossroads PDF Author: John Waters
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
A journey to the heartland of today's Ireland, its people and politicians, Jiving at the Crossroads marks a radical new departure in Irish writing. Cutting to the very core of the unresolved struggles that haunt the Irish psyche -- the past and the present, between the urban and the rural -- Irish Times columnist John Waters creates a uniquely personal insight into the dilemmas faced by a whole gerneration born since de Valera's vision of comely lads and lasses dancing at the crossroads.

Dancing at the Crossroads

Dancing at the Crossroads PDF Author: Helena Wulff
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 9781845455903
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
Dancing at the crossroads used to be young people ́s opportunity to meet and enjoy themselves on mild summer evenings in the countryside in Ireland - until this practice was banned by law, the Public Dance Halls Act in 1935. Now a key metaphor in Irish cultural and political life, ́dancing at the crossroads ́ also crystallizes the argument of this book: Irish dance, from Riverdance (the commercial show) and competitive dancing to dance theatre, conveys that Ireland is to be found in a crossroads situation with a firm base in a distinctly Irish tradition which is also becoming a prominent part of European modernity. Helena Wulff is Associate Professor of Social Anthropology at Stockholm University. Publications include Twenty Girls (Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1988), Ballet across Borders (Berg, 1998), Youth Cultures (co-edited with Vered Amit-Talai, Routledge, 1995), New Technologies at Work (co-edited with Christina Garsten, Berg, 2003). Her research focusses on dance, visual culture, and Ireland.

For the Love of Ireland

For the Love of Ireland PDF Author: Susan Cahill
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0345434196
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 482

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Book Description
Welcome to the Ireland of its Writers Walk the streets of Dublin with Jonathan Swift, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, and Roddy Doyle. Contemplate the wild glens of Wicklow with John Millington Synge and Seamus Heaney. Wander the thrilling Cliffs of Moher with Wallace Stevens. Visit antic Limerick with Frank McCourt; mysterious Coole Park with Lady Gregory; breathtaking Sligo with William Butler Yeats; wild Donegal with Brien Friel; and hidden Clare with Edna O'Brien. No place has inspired more great literature than Ireland, which in each new generation gives birth to an astonishing number of poets, storytellers, and dramatists. For the literary pilgrim to arrive, book in hand, at the pub where Joyce set a scene or the mountain where Yeats imagined a myth is to uncover fresh meaning in the works of writers in love with their native landscape. In For the Love of Ireland, Susan Cahill offers the jewels of Irish literature. Each selection is followed by traveler's advice on how to find and fully experience the place that's about. Whether you take this book with you to Ireland or savor it in your armchair, you will be enriched, ennobled, and entertained by writers of remarkable range and at the top of their form.

Politics, Society and the Middle Class in Modern Ireland

Politics, Society and the Middle Class in Modern Ireland PDF Author: F. Lane
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230273912
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 307

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Book Description
An examination of Irish society and politics, providing a wide-ranging introduction to the involvement of the middle classes in Irish political life and the public sphere accrosss the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. Combines analytical surveys and case/area studies to offer new perspectives on crucial movements and figures in Irish history.

What If? Alternative Views of Twentieth-Century Irish History

What If? Alternative Views of Twentieth-Century Irish History PDF Author: Diarmaid Ferriter
Publisher: Gill & Macmillan Ltd
ISBN: 0717163911
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
What If? is an entertaining, thoughtful, provocative and original look at some of the milestones of twentieth century Irish history that offers a glimpse of what might have been. We all know that there was nothing inevitable about much of modern Ireland's history. Things could have turned out very differently, so it is natural to wonder what would have happened if certain events had never occurred or happened in a different way. What If? is the thought-provoking, enjoyable and insightful book that explores this conceit as its starting point, asking of key events in twentieth-century Ireland: 'what if?' Based on Diarmaid Ferriter's acclaimed RTÉ Radio One series, the book looks at twenty events in twentieth-century Ireland, each of which was discussed on Ferriter's show with two experts, and speculates on how things might have developed had circumstances been different. In doing so, Ferriter also sheds much new light on what actually did happen, how Ireland changed during the course of the twentieth century and the experiences of those who lived through it. The big questions are tackled: what if there had been no 1916 Rising? What if Ireland had been invaded during World War II? What if there had been no programmes for economic expansion? What if Mary Robinson had not been elected president in 1990? But the book also poses other, less obvious, questions: what if James Joyce and Samuel Beckett had stayed in Ireland; if Britain had blocked Irish immigration in the 1950s; if there had been no Late Late Show or Magill magazine; if Bishop Eamon Casey had never met Annie Murphy; or if John Charles McQuaid had never been Archbishop of Dublin? What If? Alternative Views of Twentieth-Century Ireland: Table of Contents Introduction - What if there had been no Late Late Show? - What if there had been no pro-life amendment referendum in 1983? - What if there had been no Magill magazine? - What if John Charles McQuaid had not been appointed Archbishop of Dublin in 1940? - What if Ben Dunne had not gone on a golfing trip to Florida in 1992? - What if Bishop Eamon Casey's secret had not been discovered? - What if there had been no 1916 Rising? - What if the Treaty ports had not been returned in 1938? - What if the Blueshirts had attempted a coup in 1933? - What if de Valera had stood down as leader of Fianna Fáil in 1948 instead of 1959? - What if Donogh O'Malley had not introduced free secondary education in 1967? - What if the Irish Press had not closed down in 1995? - What if James Joyce and Samuel Beckett had stayed in Ireland? - What if Frank Duff had not established the Legion of Mary in 1921? - What if the Jim Duffy tape had not been released during the 1990 presidential election? - What if Proportional Representation had been abolished in 1959 or 1968? - What if T. K. Whitaker had not been appointed Secretary of the Department of Finance in 1956? - What if the members of U2 had gone to different schools in the 1970s? - What if Britain had imposed restrictions on Irish immigration in the 1950s? - What if Noël Browne had not been involved in Irish politics?

The impact of the Troubles on the Republic of Ireland, 1968–79

The impact of the Troubles on the Republic of Ireland, 1968–79 PDF Author: Brian Hanley
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1526131633
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 307

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Book Description
The first book to examine in detail the impact of the Northern Irish Troubles on southern Irish society. This study vividly illustrates how life in the Irish Republic was affected by the conflict north of the border and how people responded to the events there. It documents popular mobilization in support of northern nationalists, the reaction to Bloody Sunday, the experience of refugees and the popular cultural debates the conflict provoked. For the first time the human cost of violence is outlined, as are the battles waged by successive governments against the IRA. Focusing on debates at popular level rather than among elites, the book illustrates how the Troubles divided southern opinion and produced long-lasting fissures.

Was It For This?

Was It For This? PDF Author: John Waters
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1446486850
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
Ireland today stands at a defining moment. The prosperity of the Celtic Tiger years has given way to the sudden crash, the turbulence of the euro crisis, and the loss of our sovereignty to the faceless technocrats of Europe and the IMF. Our leaders seem impotent and rage, bewilderment and despair have swept through Irish society. Was It For This...? delves into the Irish psyche to answer the questions: What happened to our hopes and dreams? What is at the heart of the sense of betrayal that we feel? In the rush to modernity, did we throw away everything of true value? Have we lost the ideals of nationhood and patriotism set out by those who dreamt of the Irish Republic? John Waters’ remarkable new book sweeps through the pages of our recent history to get to the heart our political, social and existential identity crisis. Ranging across a vast canvas, Was It For This...? argues that the Celtic Tiger was built on a collective delusion, and that the seeds of its destruction were sown many years before it even began, when we exchanged our colonial shackles for a no-less destructive dependency for short-term gain. Ireland’s sovereignty was given up long before the IMF came to town. Along the way, Waters ponders our love/hate relationship with Fianna Fáil; the undercurrents that ran through the 2011 presidential election; why our political leaders and commentators have clung onto the remnants of 1960s revolutionary fervour long after the revolution was won; how our denial of an authoritative father figure has led to a leaderless ‘sibling society’; the emptiness of our ‘youth culture’ and the suppression of real thought and discussion through cynicism and irony; and why we have lost the very language that once enabled us to speak of ‘Ireland’ with pride.

The Fourth Estate

The Fourth Estate PDF Author: Mark O'Brien
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1526108437
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 395

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Book Description
This book examines the history of journalists and journalism in twentieth-century Ireland. While many media institutions have been subjected to historical scrutiny, the professional and organisational development of journalists, the changing practices of journalism, and the contribution of journalists and journalism to the evolution of modern Ireland have not. This book rectifies the deficit by mapping the development of journalism in Ireland from the late 1880s to today. Placing the experiences of journalists and the practice of journalism at the heart of its analysis, it examines, for the first time, the work of journalists within the ever-changing context of Irish society. Based on strong primary research - including the previously un-consulted journals and records produced by the many journalistic representative organisations that came and went over the decades - and written in an accessible and engaging style, The Fourth Estate will appeal to anyone interested in journalism, history, the media and the development of Ireland as a modern nation.

Twentieth-Century Ireland (New Gill History of Ireland 6)

Twentieth-Century Ireland (New Gill History of Ireland 6) PDF Author: Dermot Keogh
Publisher: Gill & Macmillan Ltd
ISBN: 0717159434
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 620

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Book Description
Professor Dermot Keogh's Twentieth-Century Ireland, the sixth and final book in the New Gill History of Ireland series, is a wide-ranging, informative and hugely engaging study of the long twentieth century, surveying politics, administrative history, social and religious history, culture and censorship, politics, literature and art. It focuses on the consolidation of the new Irish state over the course of the twentieth century. Professor Keogh highlights the long tragedy of emigration, its effect on the Irish psyche and on the under-performance of the Irish economy. He emphasises the lost opportunities for reform of the 1960s and early 70s. Membership of the EU had a diminished impact due to short-term and sectionally motivated political thinking and an antiquated government structure. Professor Keogh looks at how the despair of the 1950s revisited the country in the 1980s as almost an entire generation felt compelled to emigrate, very often as undocumented workers in the United States. Professor Keogh also argues that the violence in Northern Ireland from the late 1960s was an Anglo-Irish failure which was turned around only when Britain acknowledged the role of the Irish government in its resolution. He extends his analysis of the twentieth-century to include a wide-ranging survey of the most contentious events—financial corruption, child sexual abuse, scandals in the Catholic Church—between 1994 and 2005. Twentieth-Century Ireland: Table of Contents - A War without Victors: Cumann na nGaedheal and the Conservative Revolution - De Valera and Fianna Fáil in Power, 1932–1939 - In the Time of War: Neutral Ireland, 1939–1945 - Seán MacBride and the Rise of Clann na Poblachta - The Inter-Party Government, 1948–1951 - The Politics of Drift, 1951&1959 - Seán Lemass and the 'Rising Tide' of the 1960s - The Shifting Balance of Power: Jack Lynch and Liam Cosgrave, 1966–1977 - Charles Haughey and the Poverty of Populism - Ireland in the New Century