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South Dublin Libraries have published a range of books that are available for sale.
Many of the titles are about the history of the South Dublin area and part for being a source of local interest, they make excellent presents for people who may have grown up in the area and now live elsewhere. 

To purchase any of the titles, please contact the Local Studies section by email with details of the books required, the quantity required for each title and an address to send them to. Email: localstudies@sdubincoco.ie

A member of the local studies team will contact you in regard to availability of titles, amount due and a dispatch date.

pictorial_hstory

Author: Members of the Four Districts Day Care Committee and local residents
ISBN: 0954766075 

This pictorial history of the villages of Brittas, Saggart, Newcastle and Rathcoole is the result of a reminiscence project undertaken by the Four Districts Day Care Centre in Rathcoole. It features the memories of the senior citizens who attend the centre as well as valuable photographs which bring the story of the social and working life of the four villages to life so evocatively. 

€10.00 

all_roads_lead_to_tallaght_0

Author: Patrick Healy
ISBN: 0954766008

Patrick (Paddy) Healy who died on 11th December 2000 was a well noted field archaeologist whose name was and is well known to everyone interested in the history and antiquities of Dublin and its hinterland. South Dublin County Council through the Local Studies Section of the County Library is extremely grateful to have been granted access in 2003, by Patrick’s brother Peter to many of his unpublished manuscript local histories of the greater Dublin area. They contain the insightful comments of a meticulous archaeologist who had meticulously researched the areas, walked the routes and observed the sites about which he wrote. All Roads lead to Tallaght, Rathfarnham Roads and Glenasmole Roads are published by South Dublin Libraries, taken from the manuscripts of Patrick Healy. They are written in an informal style, illustrated with many of Paddy’s photographs, taking the reader on a journey along the roads around Tallaght, Rathfarnham and Glenasmole and their neighbourhoods.

€5.00 

allegiances_compromised

Author: Michael Whelan
ISBN: 9780955379888

From 1914-1918, 200,000 Irishmen from all religions and backgrounds went to war in Europe and beyond. Tens of thousands of them did not return home. Those who did were not only mentally and physically scarred, but they were often ostracised by their fellow Irishmen for their perceived disloyalty. Although their skills and expertise were needed and utilised in the subsequent Irish War of Independence, the narrative of ex-British soldiers in the Irish Army has largely been ignored in Irish history. This book seeks to tell their story. Michael Whelan, a native of Tallaght, has been a serving member of the Irish Defence Forces for 16 years. He served with the United Nations peacekeeping forces in South Lebanon (U.N.I.F.I.L.) and Kosovo (K.F.O.R.) He works at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel where he looks after the Air Corps Museum and Heritage Project.

€5.00 

bumps_in_the_fields

Author: Hermann Geissel
ISBN: 9780955379833

From abbeys to wedge tombs, the long and varied history of Ireland has left us with an abundance of archaeological monuments. This book is an indispensable companion for the local enthusiast engages in practical fieldwork, whether for his or her own enjoyment or with a view to improving a knowledge and understanding of the archaeological landscape and local heritage. It provides students, Sunday walkers, local historians, and budding amateur archaeologists with the opportunity to acquaint themselves with the history of the landscape around us. A glossary of archaeological terms, a guide to Irish place names, a time line, overviews of disciplines of local studies and a list of types of archaeological monuments provide the broader perspective. Distribution diagrams of selected monuments and a simple key for the identification of field monuments are also included.  

 €10.00 

capuchincover2_1

The Capuchin Annual was published in Dublin by the Irish Province of the Capuchin Franciscan Order between the years 1930 and 1977. The subject matter of the publication was eclectic. Many of the articles dealt with matters of ecclesiastical and church interest. However, the Annual also contained short stories, poetry, articles about current affairs, photographic content, art (regularly printing works in full colour), and historically-themed subject matter.

The most collectable Capuchin Annual is the 1966 edition which included an extended section marking the fiftieth anniversary of the 1916 Rising containing rarely-seen images and previously unpublished accounts of events in various parts of Dublin, Enniscorthy, Limerick, Kerry, Belfast, Cork and Galway. Most of these accounts were written by eyewitnesses including some which were published anonymously.

Of particular interest is the memoir by Fr. Aloysius Travers OFM Cap. (1870-1957), a Capuchin Friar. This day-by-day memoir provides a narrative account of his movements throughout Dublin from the outbreak of fighting on Easter Monday (24 May) to the execution of James Connolly on 12 May. His account includes poignant descriptions of many of the executed leaders’ last hours.

South Dublin Libraries, by kind permission of the Capuchin Franciscan Order and with the generous assistance of Eneclann, are proud to present this reprint of the 1916 commemorative pages of this iconic publication as part of South Dublin Libraries’ Decade of Centenaries 1913-1923.

€5 of the cover price of this book will be donated to the Capuchin Day Centre run by Br. Kevin Crowley OFM Cap. For over forty years Br. Kevin has worked tirelessly serving the homeless and poor of Dublin.

€10.00 

Corkagh1650-1960

Author: Turtle Bunbury
ISBN: 0993537782

A history of Corkagh House, Clondalkin, Dublin 22 which tells the story of the Chaigneau, Finlay and Colley families who lived there between 1650 and 1960.

€10.00 

county_lines

Author: Edited by Dermot Bolger
ISBN: 1905494300

County Lines is a unique miscellany of voices telling their own life stories and, by extension, the lives of the new communities that have grown up in South Dublin County. This book is uniquely about South Dublin County – Lucan and Tallaght, Clondalkin and Palmerstown, Newcastle and Firhouse, Templeogue and Rathfarnham. But more than that, it is a snapshot of a changing Ireland and of a city constantly renewing itself.

€10.00 

DublinFireBrigade

Author: Las Fallon
ISBN: 9780956580481

This explores the history of Dublin’s Fire Brigades from their origins in the ‘parish pump’ brigades, through to the insurance brigades and the Dublin Fire Brigade’s involvement in the 1916 Rising, War of Independence and Civil War. The book features fantastic photographs and documents from the personal collection of the author Las Fallon, fireman and former curator of the Dublin Fire Brigade Museum. 

€7.50 

glenasmole_roads

Author: Patrick Healy
ISBN: 0954766091

Patrick (Paddy) Healy who died on 11th December 2000 was a well noted field archaeologist whose name was and is well known to everyone interested in the history and antiquities of Dublin and its hinterland. South Dublin County Council through the Local Studies Section of the County Library is extremely grateful to have been granted access in 2003, by Patrick’s brother Peter to many of his unpublished manuscript local histories of the greater Dublin area. They contain the insightful comments of a meticulous archaeologist who had meticulously researched the areas, walked the routes and observed the sites about which he wrote. All Roads lead to Tallaght, Rathfarnham Roads and Glenasmole Roads are published by South Dublin Libraries, taken from the manuscripts of Patrick Healy. They are written in an informal style, illustrated with many of Paddy’s photographs, taking the reader on a journey along the roads around Tallaght, Rathfarnham and Glenasmole and their neighbourhoods. 

€5.00 

hell_fire_hill_cover

Author:  Michael Fewer
ISBN:  9780993537738

Michael Fewer is an architect, environmentalist and writer. He has published work over the last twenty-five years on subjects varying from architectural history and travel to walking and nature guides. 

€8.00 

if_those_trees_could_speak

Author: Frank Tracy
ISBN: 9780955379826

South Dublin County is fortunate to have the wonderful natural resource that is Lord Massy’s Woods in Killakee, within its boundaries. It’s a popular place for a Sunday afternoon walk, but most will not know of the sad tale of the “penniless peer” and of the descent of the ascendency family associated with Killakee. For the Sunday woodland walker or the serious historian, this book tells the story of the rise and decline of an ascendancy family. Frank Tracy has thoroughly researched the Massy family and tells their story in a lively, sympathetic way. Photographs of a former age, drawn mainly from the Guinness family collection enhance the telling of the story.

€5.00 

IrishTravellersTheUnsettledLife

Author:  Sharon Bohn Gmelch and George Gmelch
ISBN: 978-0-253-01453-5

Anthropologists George and Sharon Gmelch have been studying the itinerant people known as Travellers since their fieldwork in the early 1970s, when they lived among Travellers and went on the road in their own horse-drawn wagon. In 2011 they returned to seek out families they had known decades before—shadowed by a film crew and taking with them hundreds of old photographs showing the Travellers' former way of life. Many of these images are included in this book, alongside more recent photos and compelling personal narratives that reveal how Traveller lives have changed now that they have left nomadism behind.

€29.99

blessington_lakeside

Author: Blessington-Lakeside Heritage Group
ISBN: 9781908559906

A collection of interesting articles on the history and heritage of the Blessington-Lakeside area.

€10.00 

night_and_day

Author: Devised and edited by Dermot Bolger
ISBN: 9781848400276

This book is a kaleidoscopic glimpse into a day in the life of contemporary Dublin, a patchwork quilt of illustrated poems that become snapshots taken on the run amid the flow of buy lives across the suburbs that necklace Ireland’s capital.

€10.00 

once_upon_a_time_in_tallaght

Author: Mervyn Ennis and Alen MacWeeney
ISBN: 9780956580443

Mervyn Ennis was born in Tallaght in 1950 and now lives in Saggart. He has a long record of working with and supporting Travellers and it is to them that this book is in tribute. Theses stories of Traveller life in the 1960s and 70s are crafted as fiction but yet they ring true. They are appropriately illustrated by Alen MacWeeney’s evocative black and white photos.

€15.00 

palmerstown_an_ancient_place

Author: Nessa O’Connor
ISBN: 0952719878

This book, with its historical detail and pictorial references, is a fascinating record of the history of Palmerstown and its surrounding areas.

€10.00 

pre-norman_grave-slabs

Author: Patrick Healy
ISBN: 9780955379819

Patrick Healy, a noted archaeologist was an expert on Early Christian grave-slabs and cross-inscribed stones. In addition to his studies and writings in the Dublin area, he had studied and written about monuments at Glendalough for the OPW and the crosses and slabs at St. Berrihert’s Kyle in the Glen of Aherlow. He is probably best known for his work on the Rathdown group of slabs. Examples of Rathdown Slabs have been found in Rathfarnham and at Whitechurch.

€10.00 

RebellionRevolutionDublin

Author:  Edited by Marnie Hay and Daire Keogh
ISBN: 978-0-9575115-9-0

€15.00 

selfiesAndPortraits

Author: Library After Dark Writers' Group
ISBN: 978-0-9935377-5-2

Selfies and Portraits : Snapshots from the Library After Dark Writers' Café at Clondalkin Library captures a moment in the journey of this writers' group and is a celebration of the hard work, dedication and talent of the writers and all those who have mentored and supported them. 

€10.00 

st_mochua_and_the_round_tower

Author: Joe Williams
ISBN: 0954766059

This book tells the history of the early monastic settlement at Clondalkin, of St Mochua and of Clondalkin Round Tower. Clondalkin was a very important monastic settlement and its influence spread not just through the Clondalkin area but also through North Kildare where there are a number of monastic settlements attributed to St. Mochua. The coming of Christianity to Ireland and its spread by missionaries such as St. Kevin, St. Ciaran and St Mochua are explored. Clondalkin Round Tower is the foremost National Monument in the Clondalkin area and is a well-known sight to all visitors to the area and for many years the Round Tower has featured on postcards of the area. This book helps to explain its origin and functions. The author, Joe Williams, is a well-known local historian in the Clondalkin area and is an active member of Clondalkin History Society. 

€5.00 

tallaght_soundings

Author: Virginia House Creative Writers, edited by Maria Wallace
ISBN: 978190548787141

“It is fascinating to read the tales of those who come to Tallaght from other places. Tales of black rats in inner-city Dublin; the terror of bogholes in the West that swallow you up forever; the Catalan house-painter in San Feliu who whistled Beethoven’s Fifth as he worked; the motherly old chair that took a whole generation to its bosom and wrapped it in its arms…”

€5.00 

tallaght_soundings_2_cover

Author: Virginia House Creative Writers, edited by Maria Wallace
ISBN: 9780957511521

Within Tallaght Soundings 2 are the thoughts, ideas, musings, word-creations and word life of a dedicated handful of people. Ireland has an enviable record when it comes to writing, and South Dublin County is an enviable contributor to that tradition.

€10.00 

DublinAndBlessingtonSteamTram

Author: Aidan Cruise
ISBN: 9780955379871

The arrival of the Luas to Tallaght in 2004 continued a long tradition of trams in South Dublin County. Between 1888 and 1932 Tallaght and South Dublin County was served by the Dublin to Blessington Steam Tram. In this book Aidan Cruise details the importance of the tram to the commercial and social life of the county.

€10.00 

monastery_of_mount_saint_joseph

Author: Joe Williams
ISBN: 9780956580405

The history of Mount St. Joseph Monastery in Clondalkin. The author, Joe Williams, is a well-known local historian in the Clondalkin area and is an active member of Clondalkin History Society. 

€5.00 

TheStoryOfSwiftBrookPapermill

Author: Mervyn Ennis
ISBN: 978-0-9935377-7-6

A history of Swiftbook Paper Mill by local historian Mervyn Ennis. 72pp. pbk. 

€5.00 

tj_byrne_nation_builder_0

Author: John Byrne and Michael Fewer
ISBN: 9780956580443

Thomas Joseph Byrne FRIAI RIBA MICEI was an architect whose work, vision and quiet influence had far-reaching results in a broad range of aspects of Irish life in the first half of the 20th century. During a busy career in South Dublin Rural District Council, the Local Government Board, the Local Government Department and the Office of Public Woks, his achievements included close involvement in the improvement of standards and design of local authority housing, the reconstruction of important buildings after the War of Independence and the Civil War and the ushering of Irish architecture into the age of aviation and radio communications.

€12.99

twenty_years

Author: Maria Wallace
ISBN: 9780993537769

€10.00