Tony Gray: Ireland This Century [1996] paperback

This work is a chronological account of the events and inviduals that have helped shape Ireland. It provides a review of Ireland's experience of this troubled century, juxtoposing impressions of day-to-day life with a more general assessment of the country's development - whether social, cultural, political or historical. It includes all the things that dominated Irish thinking between 1900 and the present: the Irish Hospitals Sweep (the biggest lottery in the world in its day); Downey's pub strike, which went on for so long that one generation of picketers was replaced by the next; the cultural glories of the Irish theatre; the price of a pint of Guinness or a dozen oysters; and the trade of Kerrygold butter for Russian oil. Arguably these reflect the nature of the Irish people far more accurately than many of the main political events. It also combines headlines of international import with quirky regional news stories and personal anecdotes.