This hefty tome of about 300 pages, the basis of which is a thesis for a Masters degree, is a high-quality publication on a unique subject, the first book in Ireland to deal with the 1642 siege of Limerick Castle, known nowadays as King John's Castle to the many visitors who go there. Heavily annotated and drawing on the author's own findings as an archaeologist working on the excavation of the castle, the book fully achieves the dual aim of the recording of valuable historical and archaeological data and the promotion of interest and pride in a remarkable piece of heritage. Essentially the findings tell the story of the siege of the castle after the taking of Limerick in 1642 by the Munster Irish army, with particular attention being paid to the activities of miners on both sides and their techniques as they tried to outwit each other underground. Primarily this is a book for archaeologists and historians, though there is considerable material for the general reader too - there is, for example, a particularly pithy summary of the origins of the 1641 rebellion and there are also lists of the besiegers and the besieged and an appendix on the membership of the Irish army council. The book is lavishly illustrated, with 21 plates in full colour.
The undisputed contribution of Thomas Johnson Westropp to our knowledge of the folklore of Clare and Limerick should never be underestimated; neither should it be forgotten. In this, the eleventh major publication from Clasp Press, an adjunct of the Clare Local Studies Project in co-operation with FAS , due cognisance is taken of that work through the reprinting of Westropp's original articles on Clare folklore which, ironically, were first published in the journal of the English Folklore Society between 1910 and 1913. The Folklore Society of Ireland was not founded until 1927 and the next tranche of collected folklore of Clare did not emerge until Seamas O Duilearga began working between 1930 and 1943. O Duilearga himself paid tribute to Westropp, "a great man in his own way", but a collector who was handicapped in his lack of knowledge of the Irish language. Nevertheless, Westropp's collection of folk-tales and myths (about subjects as diverse as fairies, magical rite and the Red Branch heroes) still exerts a fascination and an authority deservedly honoured in this attractive volume.
Athlone: History and Settlement to 1800. By Harman Murtagh. Old Athlone Society; no price given
It was inevitable that Dr Harman Murtagh, whose family has lived in Athlone for five generations and who himself is a noted historian and writer, would sooner rather than later produce a study of his native place, which has a longer and more eventful history than most Irish inland towns. This he has now done, in a wide-ranging work that takes us from the locality's pre-historic settlement, through its development as a town which was at the centre of national events, to the end of the I8th century. What the author himself calls the book's "factual density" is partly accounted for by its genesis as a doctoral dissertation but every one of its 250 or so pages holds something of interest not merely to locals but also to the general reader. The six lengthy chapters, arranged chronologically, deal with other aspects of the town's story besides its urban history - the medieval church, the townsmen and their neighbours, communications, politics, architecture, to name but a few. In there also is an authoritative account of the event for which Athlone is probably best known - the "breaking" of the bridge by Sergeant Custume and his men during the Jacobite war. This is a splendid book, copiously illustrated, beautifully produced - in short, a work that entitles Dr Murtagh, because of its prodigious scope, to include himself among the "few prodigies" which the town has produced.
From Bruree to Corcomohide. By Mainchin Seoighe. Bruree/ Rockhill Development Association. £20
This exhaustive history (of more than 500 pages) must surely rank as a major labour of love for the author, a native of Bruree and already noted as an historian of Bruree, Dromin, Athlacca, Kilmallock and Limerick. It is the most detailed chronicle of a parish that this reviewer has yet read - a parish, it must be said, that enjoys a richer and more colourful history than most.
This is the ancient territory of the MacEnirys, the Bruree of the Kings, of the O'Donovans, of the de Lacys and, of course, of de Valera, and Dr Seoighe has produced a record which, for its comprehensiveness and detail, sets an example that few other similar areas can match.
As the author himself acknowledges, it might be described as two books in one, for it deals with two distinct but adjoining districts in south Co Limerick. It tells the story of the districts from prehistoric times to 1999, when President McAleese launched a Bruree website, and covers every aspect imaginable.
So detailed is the history, in fact, that there may be a danger that only the dedicated local reader will absorb the entire contents. But that should not put others off buying - and reading - this commendable authoritative record of a special place and its people.
Richard Roche is a local historian, author and journalist