Books published by Four Courts Press Ltd

Educated at the Bar Convent, York, Teresa Ball became a pioneer of girls' education when she returned to Ireland in 1821 and opened Loreto Abbey convent and boarding school in 1822. The Dublin convent quickly attracted the daughters of the Irish elite, not only as pupils but also as postulants and novices. The expansion of Loreto convents in Ireland saw the nuns extend academic education to the daughters of the rising Catholic middle class. Teresa Ball also established free schools for the poor, which were attached to each convent. The convents provided a supply of nuns who established a network of Loreto foundations in nineteenth-century India, Mauritius, Gibraltar, Canada, England, Spain and Australia. How did these Irish women make foundations in parts of the British empire, and what kind of distinctive 'Loreto education' did they bring with them? The book draws on extensive archival research to answer these questions, while providing a new and important account of girls' schooling. The book also provides an original study of the Balls and their social world in Dublin at the start of the nineteenth century. Their network included members of the Catholic Committee, members of the Catholic church hierarchy and wealthy Catholic merchants. The book gives new insight into how women operated in the margins of this Catholic world. It also shows how the education of the Ball children, at York and Stonyhurst, positioned them for success in Catholic society, at a time when the confidence of their church was growing in Ireland.--OCLC OLUC.

On 21 June 1798, 20,000 men, women, and children found themselves trapped on a hill outside Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, facing a Crown force of some 15,000 troops led by no less than four generals and 16 general officers. It was the dying days of a rebellion that had shaken British rule in Ireland to its core. The army that now surrounded the hill was determined that none should escape. Now a multi-disciplinary research programme involving archaeologists, historians, folklorists, architectural historians, and military specialists provides startling new insight into what actually happened at Vinegar Hill on that fateful day in June 1798. Using cutting-edge technology and traditional research, the sequence of the battle jumps sharply into focus, beginning with the 'shock-and awe' bombardment at dawn, the attack on Enniscorthy and the hill, and the critical defence of the bridge across the Slaney that allowed so many of the defenders on the hill to escape.

The publication of this book in 1999 provided the first detailed examination of the many Irish men and women, all volunteers, who served in the Second World War. It led the way for further study and the author has continued to research the subject, especially the numbers of Irish who served. In this updated edition, new sources and careful examination show the numbers of Irish in the UK forces--at over 133,000--to be higher than hitherto believed. That figure includes over 66,000 personnel from Éire and some 64,000 from Northern Ireland. They served in every service and every theatre of war as their stories show. Irish soldiers fought in France and Norway in 1940, in the Middle East and Burma, in Italy and in the campaign to liberate Europe. Irish sailors hunted the Graf Spee and Bismarck and protected convoys from U-boats while Irish airmen protected the UK in 1940 and took the war to the skies over Europe, the Middle East, and Far East. Irish women served in roles critical to the success of the fighting services. Richard Doherty tells their stories using a wide array of sources including personal interviews, contemporary documents, citations for gallantry awards (among them the Victoria Cross), published accounts, and memoirs. The first edition of Irish Men and Women in the Second World War was the first of three volumes on the subject by the author. Eighty years on from the early days of the war, the book is again available with its most important elements updated.

Formed in 1795, the Orange Order had grown into a formidable popular organisation in its first forty years of existence. However, against a background of major social, political, and economic change, the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland made the forced decision to disband the Order in 1836 in the face of mounting government pressure. In spite of this, the extremely widespread Protestant association could not simply disappear and continued to thrive at local level. By 1845 it had been officially revived amidst fears of renewed Catholic agitation. Within the next four years the Order eventually returned to its previous popular standing. This journey was far from straightforward and many obstacles needed negotiation. This book will explore many factors such as the failed Young Ireland Rebellion of 1848 and the notorious and fatal clash with Catholics at Dolly's Brae in 1849, and trace the uneven and difficult path undertaken by Orangemen through this pivotal time in Irish history.

The Gaelic Finn tradition encompasses literature and lore centered on the figure of Finn Mac Cumaill. The essays in this volume cover, as with those in the earlier volume, The Gaelic Finn tradition (2012), numerous aspects of this tradition, including texts both medieval and modern, collectors and collections of oral Finn material, the landscapes of Finn Mac Cumaill, and the reception of the Finn Cycle outside the Gaelic world.