PhotoBooks Ireland

Clusters of white cottages huddled in a fold between hills of an unbelievably rich green . . . villages of a single street, dazzling in their array of color washes and picturesque shop and bar signs. . . . Such are the villages of Ireland, the most beautiful of which are captured in Hugh Palmer's evocative photographs and Christopher Fitz-Simon's sensitive commentaries. Beautiful though many of the villages of Ireland undoubtedly are, they are also working, living communities. The vibrancy and warmth in a village bar or local shop proclaim a culture not yet submerged under mass tourism or the rash of vacation homes that have blighted so many of Europe's prettiest villages and robbed them of traditional ways. Following the divisions of the ancient provinces--Ulster, Leinster, Connacht, and Munster--the journey is full of fascinating rural gems, some famous and others less well known. There are the coastal villages of Cork with their handsome houses of many hues sloping down to a sea that so many Irish crossed to found other communities in the United States. Roscommon and Galway are proud of their medieval churches, while Ulster villages look toward the Atlantic and seem to be girding themselves against the rigors of the northern climate. Literary and historical associations abound, as in Ardagh, site of pre-Christian settlement and the place where Oliver Goldsmith was inspired to write She Stoops to Conquer. The latest volume in the best-selling Most Beautiful Villages series, this extraordinary visual and verbal record of the Irish village is completed by a guide to the most important sites, markets, hotels, and restaurants. 258 color photographs.

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Ireland is a spectacular new addition to the series, with warm words and gorgeous photographs that perfectly capture the Emerald Isle's unique spirit.

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The first Irish photographs date from 1840. In the century that followed, Ireland was to know tragedy and triumph, bitter struggle and agonized compromise. Much of that experience, now remote, is brought to life here in images so powerful that they remind one of the miracle that photography once seemed.

Yet these images do more than tell a gripping political story. They give an insight into a people, a landscape, and a lost way of life. They capture the hard labor of rural survival: cutting peat for fuel, gathering seaweed, fishing, and tilling the soil, against the magnificence of the often-harsh Irish landscape. And they show the grandeur, elegance, and complacency of life in the Big House, home and symbol of the doomed Anglo-Irish elite. 271 photographs in color and duotone.

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A beautiful coffee table book on the links golf of Ireland featuring the landscape photography of LC Lambrecht. Every links in Ireland is featured and the text is provided by golf scribes from Ireland who really know the subject. This over sized book is a treasure for anyone who appreciates the beauty of golf course architecture.

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Documentary photography at its best--imaginative, comprehensive, confident and concerned. --'Independent Magazine'

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With its literary history and Georgian architecture, its modern art galleries and classic pubs, Dublin has become both an international tourist destination and a place for stylish, sophisticated lifestyles. This book explores a city that both embodies urban life in a previous century and represents European style in the new millennium.

Georgian Dublin, the traditional city, has been restored to its former grace and grandeur. Its elegant streets and squares and its major architectural monuments provide the old city with an infrastructure from which new, hip neighborhoods have arisen. New Dublin is represented by the rejuvenated neighborhood of Temple Bar, the city's own "Left Bank." Its eighteenth-century streets are now home to a heady mixture of art centers and galleries, bars, restaurants, clubs, and shops. Major features in the book evoke the stylish residences of the new Dublin, the lifestyles and homes of the city's social, artistic, and commercial elite—from opulent, traditional Georgian to spare modernist and the very latest in urban loft conversions. Dublin's social tradition is represented in the hotels and parks, shops, bars, and racetracks—all alive with the resurgent excitement of the city. And the book explores the city's special relationship with the literary life, from Jonathan Swift to Roddy Doyle—not to mention Shaw, Yeats, Wilde, Joyce, O'Casey, and Beckett—whose impact never fades. Living in Dublin is a visual delight, completed by listings of places to stay and eat and a guide to the sights of the city. 250 color illustrations.

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People around the world who become sentimental recalling the rolling, green hills of Ireland, will want to glimpse the unique perspective of the Emerald Isle in Cyril and Renee Reilly's An Irish Blessing, a photographic interpretation illuminating the classic Irish Blessing. Full-color photographs adorn each phrase of this treasure of Irish wisdom, lovingly decorating its pages with breathtaking images of the country and its people.

A warmly photographed gift book for any occasion, An Irish Blessing gleams like a gem in the eyes of anyone who feels a connection to the Emerald Isle.

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Ingram: "Sandwiched among Kathleen Jo Ryan's photographs of green countryside and luminous children, stately homes and horse shows, contributions by some of the country's best writers treat well-nigh every aspect of this inexhaustible land."--Travel & Leisure. 122 full-color photographs.

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The Irish way of life-- its music, food, beer, and literature-- has become a familiar export around the world in recent years. But as this delightful book shows nothing can replace the experience of real Irish landscapes discovered. The stunning scenery, elegant town houses, and variety of country manors all contribute to an Irish identity which has survived centuries of foreign influence.

Drawing on over twenty-five years spent living in Ireland, the photographer Walter Pfeiffer has created a unique collection of images which illuminate the many moods of the island. From Donegal in the north to Wexford in the south, through Connemara and the Isles of Arran, the beauty of Ireland's countryside is revealed through views of Palladian villas, misty rhododendron-filled gardens, castles, and salmon rivers. Ireland is full of secret places. Head off across the fields from any road, and you are bound to come upon unexpected landscapes. In this land of constantly changing scenery, every twist and turn in the path is likely to conceal a surprise. Romantic lakes, enchanting country houses and gardens, welcoming pubs-- in the cities as well as off the beaten track, Ireland repays the curious visitor with enchanting discoveries. Living in Ireland reveals a world full of timeless customs, and colorful traditions.

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In his quest to capture the essence of Ireland, Gerald Hoberman travelled the length and breadth of the Emerald Isle. Along the way he chronicled the breathtaking beauty of the Irish countryside, the urban charm of its cities, and the beguiling nature of its people.

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