February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
THE GENTLEMAN FROM NEW YORK
Daniel Patrick Moynihan,
a biography
Godfrey Hodgson
Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s political career is in its final days but there’s always room for one more book, be it about the New York senator or by him. Moynihan has, at times, been a controversial figure in Irish-American eyes but never one to ignore. This is a generally positive portrayal of the man by a writer who is currently director of the Reuters Foundation Program at Oxford University. Hodgson was also a potential defense witness in the libel case surrounding the Sean McPhilemy book "The Committee," which was ultimately settled in a Washington D.C. court. Houghton Mifflin. 452 pp. $38.
ON CELTIC TIDES
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One Man’s Journey Around
Ireland by Sea Kayak
Chris Duff
Fans of the Olympics probably noticed the IBM TV commercial about the young Irish woman who was competing in the games as a sea kayak racer. Well, she wasn’t alone on those choppy waters off Ireland’s west coast. Chris Duff, a veteran kayaker, undertook a 1,200-mile voyage around Ireland’s coastline and along the way penned a travel book with an unusual perspective – about as low to the often stormy ocean as you can be without being under it. St. Martin’s Press. 269 pp. $13.95.
RAMBLES IN CORK
CITY & COUNTY
Joe Cronin
Landlubber travelers will more readily follow in the wake of Joe Cronin, a veteran Irish trail and hillwalker who here dissects Cork by means of his walking boots. Dufour Editions, Chester Springs, PA 19425; (610)458-5005. 112 pp. $15.95.
WHITE KNIGHTS, DARK EARLS
The Rise and Fall of an
Anglo-Irish Dynasty
Bill Power
Ireland from the big house was always a singular view of the state of things. Mitchelstown Castle in County Cork was the biggest of them all until it was burned to the ground by Republican forces in 1922. The inhabitants of Mitchelstown Castle, the King family, served up down the centuries a potpourri of individuals worthy of an historical soap opera. This is their story. Dufour Editions, Chester Springs, PA 19425; (610)458-5005. 304 pp. $24.95.