Publications

Publications by The Irish Literary & Historical Society

Donald Jordan & Timothy J. O'Keefe: The Irish in San Francisco: Essays on Good Fortune $30 ISBN: 0-931180-00-7

This book presents original essays on the distinctive experience of Irish American in the American West. It contains twenty essays and shorter contributions by many recognized scholars.Click here for more information and to purchase or Click here to read a review.

John Borgonovo: Florence and Josephine O’Donoghue’s War of Independence with a foreword by J.J. Lee (2006/7) Irish Academic Press $30.00 ISBN9780716533719 

This collection of letters was written by Florence O’Donoghue, an Intelligence officer in the Irish War of Independence (1920-21) to his young wife Josephine, and includes her own later memoir of the period. Professor Lee’s foreword comments: “It is the judgment of … the editor that O’Donoghue, a farmer’s son from Kerry, was as crucial to the struggle in Cork as Michael Collins…in Dublin…”.Borgonovo’ notes add useful background to this striking record of the struggle seen through the eyes of two active participants, an account both of their personal devotion and their political resolve.

John Borgonovo: Spies, Informers, and the ‘Anti Sinn Féin Society’: the Intelligence War in Cork City, 1920-21 with a foreword by Eunan O'Halpin (2007), Irish Academic Press $30.00 ISBN 13 978 0 7165 2833 3
Based on Irish and British archival sources, this is an examination of Irish Intelligence operation in Co. Cork during the War of Independence. Reviewer’s comment: “a valuable addition to the historiography of the Irish revolution…solidly researched and up-to date.”

Daniel Cassidy: How the Irish Invented Slang: the Secret Language of the Crossroads (2007) AK Press $18.95 ISBN 978 1 90485960 4
In How the Irish Invented Slang Daniel Cassidy reveals how Irish words and phrases are scattered all across the American language. Regional and class dialects, colloquialisms, slang and specialized jargons (like gambling terms) reflect the presence of Irish speakers all across America and throughout our history. In a series of essays and in a first dictionary of Irish-American vernacular, Cassidy provides the hidden histories of so-called slang, and words with unknown origin—words that define the American language and culture: scam, slum, snazzy, sucker, swell, poker, daddy-o, fink, moolah, ballyhoo, baloney, and the hottest word of the 20th century, jazz. Daniel Cassidy is the founder and co-director of the Irish Studies Program at New College in San Francisco.

Philip A Terry: Paintings and Poems of Ireland (2006) $29.95 ISBN 0 972 17960 7
Paintings and Poems of Ireland contains one man’s enchantment with Ireland captured with his paintings and his poems as he traveled the back roads seeking clues to his ancestral past. This unique volume of 83 original paintings and corresponding poems can be obtained from Book Passage in Corte Madera, CA (1-800-999-7909) or from the author’s website: www.philipterry.com

Philip A Terry: A Small Book Of Poetry (2008) $19.95 ISBN 978-0-9721796-9-0
A Small Book Of Poetry is a selection of personal poetry with more than 180 of the author’s poems put together for family and friends and does not include poems published previously. There are more than 80 illustrations including the author’s paintings and drawings, several paintings by members of the family plus a few photos. The selection contains the author’s reflection on personal moments, the world around him as well as poetry written while traveling in Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France and other locations. This book has just been published (March 2008) and is not yet available other than through the author’s website: www.philipterry.com