Tag: Irish History
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The Immortal Irishman by Timothy Egan
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Immortal Irishman: This guy packed a lot into 44 years. Quick synopsis: The story of Thomas Francis Meagher who was an Irish Nationalist and American Civil War general. Fact for Non-History People: Meagher was actually sentenced to death by the British. His sentence was commuted to life in Tasmania. Yeah,…
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Four Shots in the Night by Henry Hemming
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Four Shots in the Night: If you were lucky, you only got stitches. Quick synopsis: The story of a murder in Northern Ireland. Fact for Non-History People: 3,720 people were killed, while 47,571 were injured, and about 10,000 people were imprisoned during the Troubles. Fact for History Nerds: Almost 50%…
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Plentiful Country by Tyler Anbinder
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Plentiful Country: Irish need apply. Quick synopsis: A look at how Irish immigrants fleeing the Irish Potato Famine prospered once they reached the U.S. Fact for Non-History People: England did not stop exporting food out of Ireland during the famine. Fact for History Nerds: Approximately 1 million Irish died during…
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Ambush at Central Park by Mark Bulik
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Ambush at Central Park: Snitches get….shot in a totally different country. Quick synopsis: The story of the only IRA sanctioned assassination on U.S. soil. Fun Fact for Non-History People: In Cork, Ireland, a favorite activity was called “road bowling” and it involved cannonballs and public streets. Fun Fact for History Nerds:…
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There Will Be Fire by Rory Carroll
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for There Will Be Fire: They didn’t get lucky even once. Quick synopsis: The story of the near miss assassination attempt on Margaret Thatcher by the Irish Republican Army in 1984. Fact for Non-History People: The tagline refers to the message from the IRA after the bombing: “Today we were unlucky, but…
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Brendan by Morgan Llywelyn
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Brendan: I hate this book so much. Quick synopsis: A biography of Brendan of Clonfert and his legendary voyage. I guess. Not sure I can really tell for reasons outlined below. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: St. Brendan discovered America. No, I will not entertain arguments and facts to the…