In an extraordinary attempt to recreate St Brendan’s journey to America, Tim Severin and his crew embarked on an epic voyage across the vast North Atlantic. Brilliantly written, this is their story.

It has been described as the greatest epic voyage in modern Irish history.
Tim Severin and his companions built a boat using only techniques and materials available in the sixth-century A.D., when St Brendan was supposed to have sailed to America. The vessel comprised forty-nine ox hides stitched together in a patchwork and stretched over a wooden frame. This leather skin was only a quarter of an inch thick. Yet Severin and his crew sailed Brendan from Brandon Creek in Dingle to Newfoundland, surviving storms and a puncture from pack ice. The Brendan Voyage is Tim Severin’s dramatic account of their journey. This new edition of a book already translated into twenty-seven languages introduces a new generation of readers to an enduring classic.

by Michael Harrington

The Munster Republic follows the course of the Civil War in North Cork, the crucible of events in ‘the Munster Republic’

The fall of Limerick and the Free State victory during the pitched battle at Kilmallock started a new phase of the Civil War.

Although the towns of North Cork were occupied by Free State troops, the IRA brigades under officers like Liam Deasy, Tom Barry and Liam Lynch were still active until 15 May 1923 when HQ Cork No. 4 Brigade issued orders warning all officers who failed to obey the ceasefire order that they would face court-martial.

by Barry Duggan

Limerick's gangland war has a reputation that truly precedes itself. The infamous 'Stab City' has been a constant item on the news, even gaining itself the highest murder rate in Europe. This beautiful and modern city has been overshadowed in recent years by drug wars, arms dealing, abduction and murder.

Published by Gill & Macmillan June 5th 2009.

The recent report by the Commission to Inquire into Child abuse, instigated by Bertie Ahern in 1999, caused a furore in the Irish media and made headlines all over the world. Set in place as a reconciliation procedure for those who suffered at the hands of the notorious Irish industrial school system, it was chaired by Judge Sean Ryan. The Irish Gulag challenges the motive, purpose and direction of this supposed State process of reconciliation and it’s been creating quite a stir in the Irish media:

The Irish Gulag shows that, far from being for the abused victims, the commission was aimed at self-protection by the State. It involved a conspiracy between Church and State, demonstrated by the so-called ‘Secret Deal’ between the two. This was aimed at lessening the cost of independent legal action by victims and confining it within an imposed redress system that was made statutorily secretive.