"The Adventures of Paddy M'Quillan" is the first of three volumes in the series Robin's Readings (originally "Humorous Readings") by W. G. Lyttle. First published in book form in 1879, it is a collection of stories based on humorous monologues that the author gave around the country in the guise of Robin, a County Down farmer, who spoke in what is widely known today as 'Ulster-Scots'. It is now approximately one hundred years since the book was last in print. This new edition, with reset text, includes an introduction, footnotes and an extensive glossary of words to help place the work in...

"The Adventures of Robin Gordon" is the second of three volumes in the series "Robin's Readings" (originally Humorous Readings) by W. G. Lyttle. First published in book form in 1880, it is a collection of stories based on humorous monologues that the author gave around the country in the guise of Robin, a County Down farmer, who spoke in what is widely known today as 'Ulster-Scots'. It is now approximately one hundred years since the book was last in print. This new edition, with reset text, includes an introduction, footnotes and an extensive glossary of words to help place the work in...

Based on actual events in mid-Nineteenth Century County Down, "Sons of the Sod" tells the story of how a young man from the Carrowdore area is falsely accused of the attempted murder of a local squire. First published in 1886, the book proved an instant success locally as it dealt with affairs still within living memory and referred to many colourful characters and families of the neighbourhood. The importance of the work today is not least because it provides possibly the best account of what life and the language of the ordinary folk, or "Sons of the Sod," was like at that period. An...

First published in 1868, "Confederates of '48" tells the story of the Young Irelanders' failed attempt at rebellion against the British which culminated in the 'Battle of Ballingarry' (or 'Battle of Widow McCormack's Cabbage Patch') in July 1848. The author, Rev. Philip Fitzgerald was a local priest who was reluctantly persuaded to negotiate between the insurgents and the beseiged police officers inside Widow McCormack's house. He was later accused of being in league with the rebels, a charge that he strongly denies in his account.The text has been reset for this new edition and a number of...

As the 1798 Rebellion in Ireland began to peter out and the insurgent cause was clearly lost, Michael Dwyer and a band of loyal followers took to the Wicklow Mountains from where they continued to conduct a campaign of resistance and defiance against British authority. John T. Campion's novel, based on historical and eyewitness accounts, tells the story of Dwyer's daring exploits in the face of great personal danger, and of his ingenuity in evading capture. It also contains a reminiscence of Dwyer's niece, Anne Devlin, who was housekeeper to Robert Emmet and who, in face of death, refused to...

On January 19th, 1863, when the spectre of the Great Famine still loomed over the land, Alexander Irvine was born into dire poverty in the town of Antrim. His parents had broken with convention and had done the unthinkable in Ireland - they had entered into a 'mixed' marriage. Anna, his mother, was a Catholic, and Jamie, his father, was an illiterate Protestant shoemaker. The social stigma of the relationship forced them to leave their native village of Crumlin to seek a more anonymous existence, away from their respective families and from the people among whom they had been raised. Their...