Ciaran Brady, ed. The Encyclopedia of Ireland. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. x + 390 pp. $39.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-19-521685-1.
Reviewed by Michael De Nie (Department of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Published on H-Albion (February, 2001)
Containing over two thousand entries, this generously illustrated encyclopedia is a useful reference on Irish history and cultural, intellectual, and public life that will appeal to a variety of readers. The volume brings together contributions from more than forty scholars, journalists, and independent writers under the editorial direction of Ciaran Brady. Rather than simply a "who's who" of Irish political history, the book includes entries on numerous artists, sports figures, playwrights, scientists, inventors, actors, film directors, and others. It also covers notable buildings, geographic features, towns and counties, art forms, mythical figures, and symbols. The entries are supplemented with photos, illustrations, maps, and over two hundred quotes on Ireland and Irishness, mostly from writers and dramatists. The encyclopedia also includes nineteen one- or two-page feature essays on a range of historical and cultural topics, including: agriculture, cinema in the 1990s, Viking and Norman invasions. The quality of these essays vary, but standouts include Niall Keegan's overview of traditional Irish music and Alan O'Day's piece on twentieth-century Northern Ireland, a model of succinct analysis.
Any attempt to create a one-volume encyclopedia of a nation, even one with a less contentious historiography than Ireland, is bound to involve many difficult choices on who and what to include or leave out. General readers who consult this book for basic information on Irish historical figures, twentieth-century art and culture, significant landmarks, or prominent writers and athletes will almost certainly be satisfied with what they find. Historians and students, however, are unlikely to use this encyclopedia as a research reference. In fairness, they are not the target audience. The book is designed rather as an accessible yet scholarly compendium on Ireland and things Irish. In this regard it certainly succeeds, as the range of entries is fairly comprehensive and the pieces themselves are generally concise and clearly written.
Some entries do seem overly long or offer more detail on architectural features than is probably necessary for most readers. Dublin, for example, commands over eight pages, four of which are concerned with notable buildings or neighborhoods. In contrast, the majority of entries contain only one or two paragraphs. Space was obviously a concern, but some readers might question why certain topics receive more attention than others. To reveal my own biases, I was puzzled that the entry on Irish glass contains four paragraphs while only two are devoted to Arthur Griffith or Douglas Hyde, and the Land War is not mentioned at all (though the Land League does receive two short paragraphs). No doubt, an art historian would find nothing wrong with this, and it fits with the general emphasis of cultural over political topics throughout the text. Another criticism is that none of the entries are attributed except for the the feature essays. Including the initials for the author of each piece would have been a useful aid without overly clogging the text.
Three additional features of the encyclopedia deserve mention. First, there are two collections of color photos which focus on scenic landscapes and daily life and include some lovely images. The second is a fairly detailed, eleven-page chronology of Ireland from 7000 BC to 2000 AD, which many readers may find useful. Finally, the encyclopedia includes a section of special interest to this list, a webliography of sites on a wide variety of Irish topics. Many of the resources listed are "official" websites that should remain stable for some time, but a fair number are personal pages that may sink into the digital sands without notice. Still, including a list of internet resources is an excellent idea in a reference work of this type and one that will hopefully be repeated in other books.
If there is additional discussion of this review, you may access it through the network, at: https://networks.h-net.org/h-albion.
Citation:
Michael De Nie. Review of Brady, Ciaran, ed., The Encyclopedia of Ireland.
H-Albion, H-Net Reviews.
February, 2001.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=4958
Copyright © 2001 by H-Net, all rights reserved. H-Net permits the redistribution and reprinting of this work for nonprofit, educational purposes, with full and accurate attribution to the author, web location, date of publication, originating list, and H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online. For any other proposed use, contact the Reviews editorial staff at hbooks@mail.h-net.org.