IRISH STRUGGLE, IRISH ELOQUENCE, AND THE IRISH BAR

With St. Patrick's Day in mind, this week we browsed the shelves for books with green covers. We found lots of them; too many, in fact, to include in a weekly posting. So then we browsed for books with Irish in the title and found three that we recommend for your reading as you celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

If you're into Ireland's struggle for home rule, The Honorable T.P. O'Connor's Gladstone-Parnell, and the Great Irish Struggle (Chicago, G. L. Howe, c 1886) will give you a complete and thrilling history of Ireland's 19th century political/governmental issues and of the two influential men in that struggle: Charles Stewart Parnell and William Ewart Gladstone.

Or, perhaps you would prefer to read facts and anecdotes about Irish trials. Then Richard Lalor Sheil's two volume set, Sketches of the Irish Bar (New York: W. J. Widdleton, 1861), may be your Irish cup of tea.

But if it's Irish oration that you're after, we suggest you read Irish Eloquence: The Speeches of the Celebrated Irish Orators Philips, Curran, and Grattan: to which is added the powerful appeal of Robert Emmett, at the close of this trial for high treason (Boston: Patrick Donahoe, 1857). The book ends with the latter appeal which was delivered at the Session House, Dublin. (Sadly, in spite of Robert Emmett's eloquence, he was found guilty by the Crown and the execution sentence carried out the following day, September 20, 1803.)

If we haven't convinced you to try one of these works, then we invite you to stop by the Bullis Room next week and let us show you all of the collection's green-covered books. And plan to stay a while and enjoy one of them.