BY TIM PAT COOGAN
THE TROUBLES - Ireland's Ordeal 1966 -1996 and the Search for Peace ** Probably the Best Overview of the Present Conflict
THE IRA - A History
MICHAEL COLLINS - The Man Who Made Ireland
ON THE BLANKET - The Inside Story of the IRA Prisoners' Dirty Protest

BY GERRY ADAMS - president of Sinn Fein
AN IRISH VOICE - The Quest for Peace
FREE IRELAND - Towards a Lasting Peace
FALLS MEMORIES - A Belfast Life
CAGE ELEVEN -- Writings from Prison
THE STREET AND OTHER STORIES

ON HISTORY
THE STORY OF THE IRISH RACE by Seamus MacManus, 1921. Superior to the next book, but stops at 1921; combine w/ Tim Pat Coogan & you have it all.
THE COURSE OF IRISH HISTORY ed. by T.W. Moody & F.X. Martin A good basic history book, but seek better texts for the period after 1916.
HOW THE IRISH SAVED CIVILIZATION by Tom Cahill (widely available) A very readable historic account of Ireland's contributions to world scholarship.
THE YEAR OF LIBERTY: The History of the Great Irish Rebellion of 1798 by Thomas Pakenham The United Irishmen's rebellion.
THE EASTER REBELLION - Dublin 1916 by Max Caulfield
THE ILLUSTRATED LIFE OF MICHAEL COLLINS by Colm Connolly
GUERRILLA DAYS IN IRELAND -A Personal Account of the Anglo-Irish War, by Tom Barry The War of Independence of the early 1920s.
THE SAN PATRICIOS by Michael Hogan, (1997) The best book on the Irishmen who fought for Mexico - but hard to find. ** A new book on the San Patricios by Trisha Ziff will be published soon**
SHAMROCK AND SWORD - The Saint Patrick's Battalion in the US-Mexican War, by Robert Ryal Miller, 1989 Univ. of Oaklahoma Press - not the best!
A DISUNITED KINGDOM? - England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, 1800-1949, by Dr. Christine Kinealy, 1999, Cambridge University Press (800) 872-7423
FANATIC HEART: A Life of John Boyle O'Reilley by A. G. Evans, Northeastern Univ. Press. A life dedicated to the struggle.
THE HISTORY OF THE IRISH WORKING CLASS by Peter Beresford-Ellis
AN GORTA MOR - The Great Hunger:
PADDY'S LAMENT - an easier read than Kinealy and very good.
THIS GREAT CALAMITY - The Irish Famine 1845-52, by Dr. Christine Kinealy (RR) The definitive and scholarly work by a brilliant academic.

ON THE FENIAN MOVEMENT
THE BANISHED CHILDREN OF EVE by Peter Quinn - an excellent account of the Irish in America!
IRISH REBEL - THE LIFE OF JOHN DEVOY by Terry Golway A founder of Clan na Gael, DeVoy was a main player in the Catalpa rescue of Irish political prisoners in Australia.

ON WOMEN
THE PRICE OF MY SOUL, by Bernadette Devlin (1969) A moving personal account of the late 1960s student movement and civil rights movement in the North, through to her election as the youngest member of the British parliament. (was out of print, but has been republished)
THE WOMEN OF 1916 by Ruth Taillon, Foreword by Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, 1996, Beyond the Pale Publications, Belfast
MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE by Anne Maguire - One of the Maguire Seven falsely imprisoned for 14 years, as featured in the movie "In the Name of the Father."
AMBUSHED (1997) by Judith Ward - a chilling true account by the woman who spent 18 years in British prisons for an "IRA bomb" before her total innocence was acknowledged.
HARD TIME IN ARMAGH GOAL by Republican women political prisoners.
UNMANAGEABLE REVOLUTIONARIES (about same as above)

ON LABOUR
LABOUR, NATIONALITY AND RELIGION by James Connolly T
HE BIOGRAPHY OF JAMES CONNOLLY

OTHER EXCELLENT BOOKS
NOTHING BUT THE SAME OLD STORY: The Roots of Anti-Irish Racism by Liz Curtis. An excellent compilation of historic material/ draws parallels between the bigotry toward Africans and Native Americans - and the Irish.
BLACK AND GREEN, The Fight for Civil Rights in Northern Ireland and Black America by Brian Dooley, Pluto Press, Available from Homefront Library/ Ph: (800) - IRELAND. Compares the many links, going back to the early 1800s, between the two Civil Rights movements - an eye opener!
IRISH HUNGER - Personal Reflections on the Legacy of the Famine, Edited by (former California State Senator) Tom Hayden, 1997, Highly recommended - on the long term psychological impact of the oppression of the Irish on generations.
IRISH ON THE INSIDE by Tom Hayden, 2001, soon to be published - a meticulously researched psychological/political study of what it means to be an Irish Amercian
ALL SOULS - A Family Story from Southie by Michael Patrick MacDonald (1999) a powerful and moving account of a down-at-the-bottom Irish-American family in Boston during the forced bussing of African-Americans into the working class neighborhoods - highly recommended.
THE BELFAST DIARY by John Conway
ON THE VERGE OF WANT by James Morrissey. A unique insight into the living conditions along Irelands Western seaboard in the late 19th century. Documents the appalling living conditions of the people of Ireland.
TO HELL OR BARBADOS: The Ethnic Cleansing of Ireland. by Sean O'Callaghan. This is the shocking, previously untold story of over 50,000 Irish men, women and children who were transported to Barbados and Virginia between 1652 and 1659.
MAPPING IRELAND: From Kingdoms to Country. by Sean Connors A unique and attractive book of early Irish maps, county by county, beautifully reproduced in full color with an accompanying history. Contains some of the earliest maps of Ireland.
MILESTONES IN IRISH HISTORY. edited by Liam de Paor. Succinct and readable, this collection of essays consists of thirteen lectures from the Thomas Davies series, by different contributing scholars, mostly historians. Topics range from the Boyne tombs, built 2500 years before Christ to the European Economic Community.
TANS, TERRORS AND TROUBLES: Kerry's Real Fighting Story. by T. Ryle Dwyer. A major re-evaluation, by a leading historian, of the events and personalities of the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War in county Kerry, Ireland.
FOLKTALES FROM THE IRISH COUNTRYSIDE by Kevin Danaher. A great folklorist retells forty classic stories told around firesides long ago here.
THE BIG HOUSE IN IRELAND: An Illustrated Anthology. by Valeric Pakenham, Photographs by Thomas Pakenham. This attractive book attempts to recreate the world of the "Big House" from the words of those who lived there. It follows the splendor and decline of these estates and how they became a lightening rod for resentment for alien power and control.
OLIVER CROMWELL: An Illustrated history. by Helen Litton. Oliver Cromwell spent less than ten months in Ireland, but the blood of his vicious military campaign soaks the pages of Irish history still, in legend and reality. This concise and fascinating book goes below the surface to deal with an extremely complex period in the interlinked history of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.
GARVAGHY: A Community Under Siege. by Garvaghy Residents. This book tells of the fear and anxiety of the residents of the Garvaghy road, hemmed in by the Orange order and ringed by units of British soldiers for weeks each summer, during the marching season.
BOBBY SANDS: Writings from Prison. foreword by Gerry Adams. With dry humor, these writings chart in prose and poetry a man's attempt to preserve his identity against freezing cold, filth, appalling heatings and numbing boredom.
THE FAR SIDE OF REVENGE: Making Peace in Northern Ireland. by Deaglain de Breadun. A comprehensive, compelling description of the determined efforts of George Mitchell, Gerry Adams, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Bertie Ahern, and others toward the Good Friday agreement. This is a behind the scenes account of Irish politics and an account of the Irish peace process by the former head of the Belfast bureau of the Irish Times newspaper.
MISTER, ARE YOU A PRIEST? by Edward Daly. Edward Daly was Bishop of Derry from 1974 to 1993. Before then, he had been a curate in the Bogside during the most turbulent and dramatic years of the Northern Troubles and was an eye witness to the Bloody Sunday massacre of January 30 1972 This book is a fascinating and moving account of those years and the personal impact the events had on him.
REPUBLICAN INTERNMENT & THE PRISON SHIP ARGENTA 1922. by Denis Kleinrichert. This story of internment of 700 nationalists on board the prison ship "Argenta" in 1922 has never, until now, been told in its entirety. This is a remarkable piece of research into an episode important to both the creation of the partition and to the experience of nationalists in the North during the critical formative period of 1922-1925.
THE SCATTERING: Images of Emigrants from an Irish County. Anne Jones, ed., text by Ray Conway Six of Ireland's top photographers traveled the globe to photograph and visit 68 emigrants from County Clare, Ireland. The final selection of photographs was made from over 20/000 exposures! A fascinating insight into the lives of the Irish abroad.
THE EASTERN RISING 1999 SUTTON PUB By Michael Foy and Brian Barton. Dublin Tenament Life- An Oral History. Robert Kee Keven C. Kearns 1994, Penguin Books
DUBLIN TENAMENT LIFE- AN ORAL HISTORY By Kevin C Kerns. 1994, Penguin Books
THE GREEN FLAG A history of Irish Nationalism/1972.
THE LAUREL AND THE IVY- A HISTORY OF CHARLES STUART PARNELL
TRIAL AND ERROR- MAGUIRE 7 AND GUILFORD 4
HIDDEN TRUTHS: BLOODY SUNDAY 1972 1999 Edited by Trsha Ziff. Published by Smart Art Press. Santa Monica/ California. Phone: (310) 264-4678. Web: www.trackl6.com. Distributed by RAM Publication, Santa Monica, CA. Phone: (310) 453-0043. Email: rampub@gte.net
THE ULSTER CRISIS: RESISTANCE TO HOME RULE (1912-1214) By A.T.Q. Stewart, 1967. Blackstaff Press
ULSTER'S WHITE NEGROES- FROM CIVIL RIGHTS TO INSERECTION By Fionnbarra 0' Dochartaigh Foreword by former independent party MP ( member parliament) Bernadette Derlin McAliskey. AK Press, 1994.

ANOTHER SOURCE for books on this list:
Irish Books and Media 1433 Franklin Ave. East,
Minneapolis, MN 55404-2135 PH:
(800) 229-3505. www.Irishbook.com. Fax:
612-871-3358 Attn: Ardus

FILMS

DOCUMENTARIES:
THE COMMITTEE (1991) by Sean McPhilemy Banned for 7 years, alleges collusion between British security forces (mainly the RUC), prominent Unionists, and Loyalist death squads. • Very difficult to obtain, Contact Global Exchange. 2017 Mission St., #303, San Francisco, CA 94110 (800) 497-1994 **Book of same name now readily available
THE HIDDEN HAND The Forgotten Massacre (1994) 30 min. TV Documentary by Yorkshire Television, England, Channel 4. • Purchase from Global Exchange $20.00 A documentary on the worst case of political violence in Ireland in the past 25 years of conflict, the May 17,1974 simultaneous bombings in Dublin and Monaghan which killed 33 civilians in the Republic! Traces responsibility from Loyalist death squads right through to British military intelligence, and exposes the blatant cover-up by the RUC, with complicity from Dublin.
UNCENSORED VOICES (1995) by Dr. Daniel Cassidy, Dramatic presentation of the 30-year conflict w/ key interviews and dynamic music. New College Irish Studies Dept. • Avail. (415) 626-1694 ext. 714
SUPPLEMENTARY JUSTICE - The Jimmy Smyth Story (1996) Smyth is one of the "H-Block 4" of California, 4 of the 38 men who escaped from maximum security Long Kesh Prison in N.I. in 1983 & settled in San Francisco, only to be arrested by the FBI and extradited back to prison in 1996. Three of the men remain here. • Avail. (415) 469-9625

FROM CELTIC VIDEO: •(800)992-3584
MOTHER IRELAND - Women in the Irish struggle, interviews include Bemadette Devlin McAliskey and many others.
OFF OUR KNEES - Commissioned by a civil rights organization.
PACK UP THE TROUBLES
WHEN IRELAND STARVED - An Gorta Mor (The Great Hunger)
MICHAEL COLLINS - About the controvercial leader who negotiated the 1921 treaty and partition.
A HISTORY OF IRELAND A good overall summary.
BEHIND THE MASK - THE IRA A surprisingly good film
ALL FROM IRISH VISIONS USA: • (800) 474-7480
THE PENAL DAYS - The draconian anti-Catholic penal laws of post-Cromwellian Ireland (late 1600s on).
1641 THE CURSE OF CROMWELL - Massacres and repression of the indigenous Irish population.
GROSSE ILE - Gateway and Graveyard - Famine immigrants to Canada
CURIOUS JOURNEY -The Fight for Irish Freedom (1972) - Interviews with veterans of the 1916 Rising!
HANG UP YOUR BRIGHTEST COLORS The Life and Death of Michael Collins (1972) - A lively account, one of the best.
ORIGINS - The Two Cultures, a modem-day dialogue between Catholic and Protestant teenagers
THE DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY, History of Ireland from the 1920s through the '50s
CELTIC MONASTERIES, The Irish legacy to the Western World.
EMERALD ISLE, Cultural history from 8,000 BCE to modem times

FEATURE FILMS: (available in most good video stores)
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER - Dir. Jim Sheridan with Daniel Day Lewis and Emma Thompson. Excellent account of the real-life railroading of 11 innocent people -- the Guilford Four and the Maguire Seven - falsely accused of a London pub bombing.
THE BOXER - Dir. Jim Sheridan with Daniel Day Lewis and Emily Watson. Deals with the complexities and contradictions of a former Republican prisoner's return to his Nationalist neighborhood in Belfast. Very good.
MICHAEL COLLINS - Recent popular feature with Liam Neeson. Good over-all, especially coverage of pre-treaty civil war - forget the romance w/ Julia Roberts!
HIDDEN AGENDA "When a Government Seeks Revenge, Nobody Is Safe," 108 min. Feature Film (fiction) 1991 Dir. by Ken Loach, with Francis McDormand & Brian Cox
THIS IS THE SEA - (1998) Good portrayal of sectarian bigotry in everyday life.
SOME MOTHER'S SON - Dir. Jim Sheridan with Helen Miren and Finnula Flanagan. Covers the period of the 1981 Hunger Strike when 10 young men died for political prisoner status. Very conditional recommendation (pretty superficial and incomplete analysis).
MY BROTHER'S WAR -- an ex-IRA man deals with the conflict between his ideals and his IRA brother's deadly actions.
ONE MAN'S HERO (1999) - A semi-successful attempt at telling the story of the San Patricio Batallion, the Irish who fought for Mexico in the 1846-8 Mexican-American War. With Tom Berringer.
H - 3 - (2001) The definitive film on the 1981 Hunger Strike, written by former prisoners Brian Campbell and Laurence McKeown (editors of "Nor Meekly Serve My Time - The H-Block Struggle 1976-1981"). European release August, 2001 - look for it in the US in early 2002.

AMERICAN CLASSICS:
THE INFORMER - Starring Victor McLaughlin about the infamous Black and Tans during the War of Independence from Britain.
THE QUIET MAN - Starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara takes place during the political turmoil of the post-partition Civil War.

FEATURE FILMS FROM ENGLAND: (the soldiers who are sent to fight in the north of Ireland are drawn from a huge pool of largely unemployed and alienated British youth)
BRASSED OFF (1997) - The harsh realities of the British economy's impact on the working class, with the same actor who portrayed the "father" in IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER. Excellent.
THE FULL MONTY (1997) - Delivers a sober message on British unemployment through a hilarious plot. Available everywhere!! The incomparable British director Ken Loach (RAINING STONES, LADYBIRD, MY NAME IS JOE) shows us the impact of unemployment, drugs, alcohol and crime on the lives of the British working class.