By Aengus O Snodaigh

Every picture tells a story, goes the saying and as a believer in that little gem of truth I was heartened by the new glossy Atlas of Irish History edited by Seán Duffy of Trinity College Dublin. He is definitely not in the Roy Foster mould.

The style of writing by the various contributors, the layout and the use of colour maps, tables and graphs, photographs and sketches to illustrate the various chapters (each about 500 words long) of Irish history make this a lot more accessible than Ruth Dudley Edwards' book of the same title.

With 49 chapters this is no lightweight book. The chapters, usually only two pages long, include: nine on Ireland before the English invasion; seven on the invasion and the Late Middle Ages; eight on the Reformation to Restoration; ten from the Penal Laws to the Famine; and sixteen on topics since then to the present day. A four-page chronology is provided and a two-page further reading list.

While this is no republican interpretation of Irish history, it is not bad. Where it is deficient is in the chapters dealing with modern history after 1950.

The authors (Maynooth, UCC, St Pat's Drumcondra and Bristol University lecturers) should be congratulated for succeeding in such few words, with the aid of the wonderful maps, to narrate to the reader the intricacies of our history without complicating it further.

A worthwhile buy for a visitor or a beginner.





Belfast's newest publishing house, An Clochan, has provided an outlet for a joint anthology from up and coming poets Frank Sewell and Francis O'Hare.

This first collection from the two, Belfast born Sewell and Newry born O'Hare, is full of clear and fresh imagery reflecting their urban and rural perspectives and backgrounds.

O'Hare's poetry is rich in language and thick, weaving rhyme. Often celebratory: the love affair, his heritage and his ``Da'', the heroes of man - both large and small, are cherished. The warmth and charm of people, places, time and all things of nature and people's nature are his tools as he takes us through the fields, homes and people of his youth. In `Cure' he wields his prose around a family encounter with ``the realm of Niamh and Laban and Fand.'' While in `My father's sins' and `A dying breed' he talks with a gentle voice, of time and men, falling, at peace and still. In `Figure in Tapestry', `The grocery shop' and `Alone', O'Hare echoes the solitude that can inflict and enwrap us all.

Sewell's poetry is brighter, almost lighter in its lyricism. In `One thing you can be sure of' he uses the word ``nothing'' as a jumping off point, to challenge our assumptions of normal word use.

Nothing never changes.

Nothing stays the same.

Nothing's what it's cracked up to be.

Nothing cut and dry.

His sense of syntax, coming from his Gaelic, shines through the English and Sewell's deft eye, sharply political at times are a real treasure. All in all An Clochan must be congratulated for providing the opportunity for these two newcomers to take the stage of Irish poetry.

By Ned Kelly