John A. Costello The Reluctant Taoiseach

John A. Costello The Reluctant Taoiseach
Author: David McCullagh
Publisher: Gill & Macmillan Ltd
Total Pages: 839
Release: 2010-10-08
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0717151638

John A. Costello remains the most elusive of our former Taoisigh, despite his enormous contribution to Irish history. He declared the Republic, led the country's first ever coalition government, and faced the Mother and Child Crisis. A surprise choice who battled against taking the job, Costello was the Reluctant Taoiseach. Historian and political correspondent David McCullagh charts the life of this fascinating man, using his personal archive of papers, as well as interviews with former colleagues, family and friends. McCullagh offers new insights into a political career which stretched from Independence to the end of the 1960s, including the Commonwealth Conferences of the 1920s, to the new Constitution of 1937, and Governments in the 1940s and 1950s. Politician, barrister, Attorney General, politician, family man – The Reluctant Taoiseach takes a fresh and revealing look at the life of a man at the centre of politics and law during one of the most turbulent periods in Irish history

The Reluctant Taoiseach

The Reluctant Taoiseach
Author: David McCullagh
Publisher: Gill & Macmillan
Total Pages: 560
Release: 2011-10-14
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780717150601

John A. Costello remains the most elusive of our former Taoisigh, despite his enormous contribution to Irish history. He declared the Republic, led the country's first ever coalition government, and faced the Mother and Child Crisis. A surprise choice who battled against taking the job, Costello was the Reluctant Taoiseach. Historian and political correspondent David McCullagh charts the life of this fascinating man, using his personal archive of papers, as well as interviews with former colleagues, family and friends. McCullagh offers new insights into a political career which stretched from Independence to the end of the 1960s, including the Commonwealth Conferences of the 1920s, to the new Constitution of 1937, and Governments in the 1940s and 1950s. Politician, barrister, Attorney General, politician, family man--The Reluctant Taoiseach takes a fresh and revealing look at the life of a man at the centre of politics and law during one of the most turbulent periods in Irish history. "This is the best historical biography in recent years" Maurice Manning, Irish Mail on Sunday "In David McCullagh, John Costello has found the best biographer he could possibly have hoped for" Andrew Lynch, Sunday Business Post Agenda "A biography that is not just hugely authoritative but also highly readable" Shane Coleman, The Sunday Tribune

De Valera Volume 1

De Valera Volume 1
Author: David McCullagh
Publisher: Gill & Macmillan Ltd
Total Pages: 756
Release: 2017-10-20
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0717155846

Éamon de Valera was the single most consequential Irish figure of the twentieth century. He was a leader in the Easter Rising, the figurehead of the anti-Treaty rebels during the dark days of the Civil War and, later, as the founder of Fianna Fáil and president of Ireland, the pivotal figure in the birth of the Republic. In this, the first volume of a magisterial new biography, acclaimed historian and broadcaster David McCullagh charts De Valera's vertiginous rise from humble beginnings to electoral victory with Fianna Fáil in 1932. Riveting, nuanced, provocative and humorous, it draws on a wealth of new and neglected sources to present a truly ground-breaking portrait of de Valera the man, his times and his complex, ever-shifting legacy. 'David McCullagh combines the investigative skills of an experienced journalist with the detachment of an accomplished historian. In this vividly readable and at times gripping biography he tackles head-on all of the perennial de Valera controversies, including his parentage, his role in the 1916 Rising, his relationship with Michael Collins, his responsibility for the Civil War and his subsequent rise to power, and does so with acuity and objectivity. McCullagh's range and command of the source material is masterly ... a comprehensive, mature biography, both enlightening and entertaining.' MAURICE MANNING

The Great Irish Politics Book

The Great Irish Politics Book
Author: David McCullagh
Publisher: Gill Books
Total Pages: 96
Release: 2021-10-22
Genre:
ISBN: 9780717190287

The latest book in the Gill Books series of important topics tackled by experts, this engaging guide demystifies political systems, elections, voting, and government, and explores issues including human rights, freedom of speech, and fake news.

De Valera: Rule

De Valera: Rule
Author: David McCullagh
Publisher: Gill & Macmillan Ltd
Total Pages: 675
Release: 2018-10-26
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0717184064

In this, the concluding volume of David McCullagh's monumental new life of the revolutionary and statesman, we join De Valera in 1932 as he takes the reins of power in the first Fianna Fáil government, and follow him as he confronts one challenge after another – the Economic War, the drafting of Bunreacht na hÉireann, the Emergency, the North, the declaration of the Republic, economic stagnation in the 1950s – and sets about gradually remaking a sovereign Ireland in his own image.Beautifully written and deeply researched, McCullagh's De Valera is a provocative and nuanced portrait of Ireland's most enigmatic leader, as well as a balanced assessment of his role in shaping our national self-image.

For Ava

For Ava
Author: Vera Twomey
Publisher: Mercier Press Ltd
Total Pages: 267
Release: 2019-08-09
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1781176841

What would you do to save your child? When Vera Twomey's daughter Ava was diagnosed with Dravet Syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy that causes multiple seizures a day, the family's life was thrown into chaos. Where they hoped to find treatment and support in the medical system, they found only frustration. The only medication that would have any effect on Ava's condition is a form of medicinal cannabis that was unavailable in Ireland. Thus began the family's fight to alleviate their daughter's suffering and give her a chance at life. Faced with an intransigent system and political establishment, Vera's campaign eventually culminated in her decision to walk from Cork to Leinster House in Dublin in protest to ask health minister Simon Harris for help in person. For Ava tells the story of the campaign for Ava's medication and the family's move to the Netherlands in order to legally access the medication that would save her life. It also pays tribute to the people who helped Vera achieve her goal. Above all, this is a moving story about the lengths a parent will go to for their child's health and happiness.

De Valera: Rule (1932-1975)

De Valera: Rule (1932-1975)
Author: David McCullagh
Publisher: Gill & Company
Total Pages: 480
Release: 2018-10-19
Genre: Ireland
ISBN: 9780717179220

The concluding volume of David McCullagh's new life of Eamon De Valera. In this, the concluding volume of David McCullagh's monumental new biography of the revolutionary and statesman, we join de Valera in 1932 as he takes the reins of power in the first Fianna Fáil government and follow him as he confronts one challenge after another - the Economic War, the drafting of Bunreacht na hÉireann, the Emergency, the North, the declaration of the Republic, economic stagnation in the 1950s - and sets about gradually remaking a sovereign Ireland in his own image. Beautifully written and deeply researched, McCullagh's De Valera is a provocative and nuanced portrait of Ireland's most enigmatic leader, as well as a balanced assessment of his role in shaping our national self-image.

Saving the State

Saving the State
Author: Stephen Collins
Publisher: Gill & Macmillan Ltd
Total Pages: 549
Release: 2020-10-30
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0717189740

When Fine Gael entered a coalition government with Fianna Fáil in 2020 the party did what would have been unthinkable for its forefathers, who had fought and won a bitter civil war to establish the institutions of an independent Irish state almost a century earlier. Saving the State is the remarkable story of Fine Gael from its origins in the fraught days of civil war to the political convulsions of 2020. Written by political journalist Stephen Collins and historian Ciara Meehan, Saving the State draws on a wealth of original historical research and a range of interviews with key political figures to chart the evolution of the party through the lens of its successive leaders. From the special place occupied by Michael Collins in the party's pantheon of heroes to the dark era of the Blueshirts, and from its role as the founder of the state to its claim to be the defender of the state, the ways that members perceive their own history is also explored. Saving the State is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding how Fine Gael came to be the party it is today, the ways in which it interprets and presents its own history, and the role that it played in shaping modern Ireland.

Ireland's Violent Frontier

Ireland's Violent Frontier
Author: H. Patterson
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2013-03-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1137314028

The IRA's ability to exploit the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland was central to the organisation's capacity to wage its 'Long War' over a quarter of a century. This book is the first to look at the role of the border in sustaining the Provisionals and its central role in Anglo-Irish relations throughout the Troubles.