The Oxford educated Harris lives with his wife and son in Worcester, England.
Harris explains how Ireland's climate and culture have combined to create the distinctive Irish identity. From the island's past which includes Early Stone Age settlements to the coming of Christianity, and through numerous invasions and rebellions one sees the mold that has shaped contemporary Irish life. In the book's 224 pages, Harris examines the Celtic world, the age of monasticism, the Irish at war, the Ascendancy, Home Rule, the Easter Rising and partition, the life of the Traveller, farming, industry, sport and music. Readers will also learn about Irish art, the place of the church in Irish life, Georgian Dublin, the Big House, castles and strongholds, the Literary Revival, and James Joyce.
A chapter devoted to myth and magic explains the life and death of Cuchulainn from the cattle Raid of Cooley, one of the best known stories from the Ulster Cycle. Shown is the bronze statue of the mythic hero which now stands in the General Post Office in Dublin's O'Connell Street.
In Dublin's Fair City, the reader may enjoy a vicarious tour through the Georgian City with stops at Royal Kilmainham, now an art gallery; the library at Trinity College, home of the Book of Kells and which, along with the British library, receives a copy of every book published in the British Isles; and the James Gandon designed Custom House and Four Courts.
Celtic and Christian art in the form of incised stones, beehive huts, high crosses, chalices, torcs, brooches, and illuminated manuscripts fill the pages and provide insight into Ireland's cultural past and the unbroken continuity that extends to the present day.
Heritage of Ireland is skillfully written; Ireland is brought vividly to life on every page of this fascinating volume and is sure to make you want to hop on the next plane to Dublin to see for yourself.
Reviewed by Suzanne Barrett