Welcome to Litsy!

Recent acquisition:

📖 Sun Dancing: A Vision of Medieval Ireland by Geoffrey Moorhouse

★★★☆☆
I have a problem with the fact that the Irish were barely mentioned before page 70, that the author's main point didn't emerge until page 183 (this in a book of only 250 pages), and that the final 50 pages of core subject matter felt rushed. Also, the Irish didn't save civilisation in general as the title seems to say - they played a critical role in preserving Greek and Roman writings.

Cahill finally getting to his thesis on page 183:

'While Rome and its ancient empire faded from memory and a new, illiterate Europe rose on its ruins, a vibrant, literary culture was blooming in secret along its Celtic fringe.'

p. 108: 'So Patrick was really a first - the first missionary to barbarians beyond the reach of Roman law. The step he took was in its way as bold as Columbus's, and a thousand times more humane.'

★★★★★

? Through Irish Eyes: A Visual Companion to Angela McCourt"s Ireland by David Pritchard, forward by Malachy McCourt

Started

📖 How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe by Thomas Cahill

Almost the entire Irish village of Baltimore was taken captive by pirates in the early 1600s and sold as slaves in #Algeria. With little records about their lives as slaves, the author relies on a number of accounts by other slaves to try to describe what their lives could have been like. The author also posits a hypothesis that the taking was an elaborate plan of an evil mastermind who wanted to rid the coastal town of its inhabitants for his ⬇️

Random book from our home library:

📖 On an Irish Island by Robert Kanigel

I‘ve long wanted to read about the Irish taken into slavery in the Islamic world. So this book is perfect for #Ireland #foodandlit @Catsandbooks

Catching up on #DaysDevotedTo #days5to9
Dolours & Marian Price, both #redheads were active with the IRA & committed untold acts of violence including bombings,assassinations & “disappearing” #people.
You‘ve Change -#healthylifestyle ; Fellowship Point a saga of #familystories ; The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak & Magic #tea ; Sienna #artmusem- we are seeing this exhibit sometime soon at the NYC MET.