Relentless tells the story of the rise of Cork ladies football between 2005 and 2016. Having never won a senior title in the sport in 2004, by 2016 the team had won ten All-Ireland titles in eleven years. Mary White takes the reader behind the scenes and shows what made the Cork ladies footballers one of the most successful teams ever in the history of Irish sport.
The book was shortlisted for the 2015 Setanta Ireland Sports Book of the Year. This edition contains a new afterword from the author, bringing the story up to the present day.
‘It would have been disastrous if the best team in Irish sport had passed into history without their story being told. Luckily for them and for us, Mary White was there taking notes right from the beginning and can give an outsider’s view with an insider’s knowledge. It’s not often that happens. A great insight into a truly great team.’ – Malachy Clerkin, The Irish Times
It’s April 2016. Stephen Bradley has just spent a very hectic year and a half promoting his latest film, Noble, as it was released across the world from Los Angeles to Cannes to New Zealand. What he doesn’t know, until now, is that during the same period he was also developing a Stage IV cancer that has now spread to vital organs.
Shooting and Cutting: A Survivor's Guide to Filmmaking and Other Diseases alternates between the journey of Stephen’s life-changing treatment, his renewed sense of purpose in current work projects and war-stories from twenty years of filmmaking. The style is honest, humorous and, most of all, entertaining. The narratives intertwine with pace, twists, turns and as many cliffhangers as possible. As an account of life on the edge, the book is full of unexpected detail and emotional nuance.
The guidelines cover the need for good preparation - from selecting the best mortgage, through to the application, how to structure the deposit, how overpaying can work for you and the essential need to review your mortgage regularly. The bonus is that this book is written with refreshing clarity. Joey Sheahan has the interests of the buyer at heart and puts emphasis on prioritising the long-term benefit rather than the short-term gain. The reader gets the benefit of decades of experience through practical steps, guidance through typical problem areas, with tips and workarounds to get them on the road to mortgage success.
‘A tale of arson, loot and murder’ was how one source described the events that would befall Cork city on the night of 11–12 December 1920. In a scene of almost unprecedented destruction, members of the British forces bent on revenge for the ambushes at Kilmichael and Dillon’s Cross set fire to both the commercial and the civic heart of the city. One side of Patrick Street and the area surrounding it were razed to the ground, while City Hall and the neighbouring Carnegie Library were gutted as Auxiliaries and Black and Tans shot at Cork’s firemen and cut their hoses in an effort to ensure maximum damage. Then, to add insult to injury, as the smoke cleared the British government tried to blame Cork’s own citizens for the devastation. Using eyewitness accounts and contemporary sources, and illustrated with exceptional images from the period, Cork Burning tells the story of the events before, during and after that infamous night.
It covers such topics as Cork City before December 1920, the Black and Tans, Auxiliaries and K Company, Republican Cork, a timeline of events before the burning of Cork City, early fires and arson by crown forces in Cork, the Kilmichael Ambush, the Dillon’s Cross Ambush, premises destroyed, official investigations into the causes, compensation and rebuilding.
When Clooney Coyle promises Vonnie Gallagher they’ll be friends for life, he has no idea what he’s letting himself in for. The lonely and eccentric Vonnie quickly becomes obsessed with the kind-hearted but insecure actor, and her misguided crush soon develops into something much more sinister, which leaves Clooney’s career in tatters.
But when fate takes a strange turn and elevates the pair into an overnight celebrity couple, Clooney must decide whether to embrace the fame he has longed for since childhood or end the ridiculous charade before Vonnie’s jealous – and murderous – inclinations spiral out of control.
‘My parents were now dabbling with drugs and Southern Comfort, even going so far as to put a selection of hallucinogens into my bottle to witness the effects for their own amusement. I only know this because my mum made no attempt to hide it, often speaking openly about their experiments with my milk supply. Her only regret being the time she added a small amount of speed to my formula to see how long it would take me to fall asleep.’
Set in the UK and Ireland in the late 1970s and early 1980s, You Shot My Dog and I Love You, is a harrowing story of horrific physical and mental abuse inflicted on the author at the hands of his parents. In addition, the author's parents demanded that he assist them in their life of crime, go on the run in Europe to evade the law, and hide out in a caravan from the local police force. This is just some of the trauma that the author writes about. The story is intertwined with darkly comic elements to provide relief from the disturbing events of a tumultuous childhood.
Due to the nature of the content You Shot My Dog and I Love You is written anonymously.
Hot on the heels of Killing at its Very Extreme, Dublin: October 1917 – November 1920, Someone Has to Die for This, Dublin: November 1920 – July 1921 wrenches the reader into of the final frenetic months of Dublin’s War of Independence, in uncompromising, unflinching, and unprecedented detail. The reader will follow in the footsteps of IRA assassination units on Bloody Sunday, witness the hellish conditions in Croke Park, taste the gripping tension that stalked the city as intelligence services battled it out over the winter, while equally clandestine peace feelers were set in play.
The pressure ratchets up in 1921 as surging IRA Active Service Units take the fight to the Auxiliaries, police and military in Dublin. Swathes of the country erupt into violent attacks and barbarous reprisals. Killings escalate in daily ambushes. Prison escapes are vividly detailed, as are the Mountjoy hangings. Shuttle diplomacy intensifies as settlement is desperately sought; but fault lines develop among the Republican leadership.
Street-battles paralyse the city with civilians bearing a brutal burden; the IRA relentlessly presses on. The devastating Custom House attack precedes the war’s ferocious final weeks, culminating in a near bloodbath that almost scuppered the truce.Experience these breathtaking events through the eyes of their participants. This is an unforgettable story, its style providing long-overdue justice.
The authors' unprecedented access lays bare many myths about key players from both sides. The tempo escalates with deployment of the notorious Black and Tans and Auxiliaries, as well as a host of cunning political and propaganda ploys. Desperate plights and horrific reprisals are portrayed, the effects of mass sectarian pogroms and killings. Tthe sacking of Balbriggan, the killing of Seán Treacy, the death of Terence MacSwiney, and the capture and execution of teenager Kevin Barry. As in the authors' previous works the pulsating tension, elation, fear, desperation, hunger, the mercy and the enmity leap from the pages. The harrowing circumstances suffered by those whose sacrifices laid the bedrock for modern Ireland, and whose own words form the book’s primary sources, are recounted in unflinching detail.
We believe in the importance of Irish heritage, we are proud of the contribution our business has made to Irish cultural life, and strive to offer an alternative voice to authors, readers and scholars.
MERCIER PRESS needs Javascript to work.
Need to know how to enable it? Go here.