The 1930s in Ireland is often remembered as a bleak period of economic stagnation and unemployment. But, 1932, hailed by the Irish Press as a ‘new era’, was an early glimmer of the modernity that Ireland would later reach, with key events including Olympic gold medals and the rise of Jack Doyle, the Eucharistic Congress, a so-called gold rush and the election of Éamon de Valera, all hinting at Ireland’s future success.   The soundtrack scoring all this change was the jazz craze, loosening the conservative moral order of the time. Bringing new forms of dress, lifestyle and behaviour, it excited a younger generation for the future, while leaving an older generation wary of such rapid change.   A Year of Glory and Gold is an energetic biography of a bright year in Ireland’s history, combining deep archival research with spirited storytelling by one of Ireland’s best-loved social historians.

For over fifty years, Kevin C. Kearns trekked the rough-and-tumble streets of the heart of Dublin, hoping to record and preserve the city's vanishing oral history. Armed only with a Sony tape recorder, the ordinary people he encountered - street traders, dockers, factory workers, tram drivers, housewives and midwives, children and grandparents - shared private stories of hardship, joy, sorrow, suffering, survival and triumph. In Our Day is the culmination of a life's work - a treasure trove bursting with whispers from the past - 450 vignettes, memories and recollections gathered to present an evocative, poignant portrait of a forgotten Dublin. 'Without Kevin, the lives of ordinary decent Dubliners would be forgotten. This book is a celebration of them.' Joe Duffy

This book is totally unique. It is based on the original and wholly authentic testimonies of survivors of the old Dublin tenements. For nearly 150 years, the wretched, squalid tenements of Dublin were widely judged to be the worst slums in all of Europe. By the 1930's, 6400 tenements were occupied by almost 112,000 tenants. Some districts had up to 800 people to the acre, up to 100 occupants in one building and twenty family members crammed into a single tiny room. It was a hard world of hunger, disease, high mortality, unemployment, heavy drinking, prostitution and gang warfare. But despite their hardship, the tenement poor enjoyed an incredibly close knit community life in which they found great security and indeed, happiness. As one policeman recalls from over half a century ago, they were 'extraordinarily happy for people who were so savagely poor'.

In Working Class Heroines acclaimed historian Kevin C. Kearns brings us the voices of the forgotten women of Dublin's tenements. If it weren't for his work the lives of these everyday heroines would be lost forever. Based on 30 years of research spent interviewing and recording the life stories of the working-class women of Dublin, it covers the squalid tenement days of the early 1900s, through the mid-century decades of 'slumland' block flats, and into the 1970s when deadly drugs infiltrated poor neighbourhoods, terrifying mothers and stealing away their children. What emerges is an intimate and poignant celebration of the mammies and grannies who held the fabric of family life in an environment of hardship and, often, cruelty. Through vivid tales of how they coped with grinding poverty, huge families, pitiless landlords, the oppressive Church, dictatorial priests, feckless and often abusive husbands, these remarkable women shine with astonishing dignity, wit, pride and a resilient spirit, despite their struggles. Working Class Heroines gives voice and pays tribute to the long silent, unsung heroines who were the indispensable caretakers of both family and community, and remains one of the most important Irish feminist documents of our times. "The ordinary woman has long been absent from our national narrative. I think we should be grateful that Working Class Heroines exists, and we can benefit now from listening to these voices.' Ellen Coyne, The Sunday Times "Those of us who know and love Dublin owe Kearns a huge debt". Roddy Doyle Praise for Kevin Kearns' other unique oral histories of Dublin The Legendary "Lugs" Branigan: Ireland's Most Famed Garda 'A revealing portrait not just of a passionate and dedicated public figure, but also of a society undergoing great and constant change.' The Irish Independent Ireland's Arctic Siege: The Big Freeze of 1947 This story might have come from some Polar Expedition. It is almost unbelievable that such conditions could exist in Ireland.' The Irish Times The Bombing of Dublin's North Strand, 1941: The Untold Story 'What shines through is the courage and goodness of ordinary people, untrained for such catastrophe, in their attempts to save and help their fellow Dubliners.' The Irish Times Dublin Tenement Life: An Oral History 'Among the finest books ever written about Dublin.' The Sunday Tribune 'This is truly an admirable book, capturing echoes of a vanished world. It is only by reading this book that I was enabled to re-imagine the society which the respondents recalled to Kevin Kearns during what must have been many hundreds of hours of patient interviewing.' The Irish Times 'This book will long stand as the definitive social history of Ireland's gulags, where the poor were herded together in conditions worse than animals and will hopefully serve as further inspiration to those who still campaign for decent housing for all our citizens.' Joe Duffy 'Those of us who know and love Dublin owe Kearns a huge debt.' Roddy Doyle Dublin Voices: An Oral Folk History 'This book is a goldmine of tiny details. The narrative voices that speak from every page of this book do so in an unfiltered language entirely their own.' The Sunday Times

On a gloriously starry night four bombs fell, the last and most devastating at precisely 2:05 a.m. on 31 May. There was a thunderous explosion and the earth quaked. Tremors were felt as far away as Enniskerry and Mullingar. Panic and pandemonium reigned in a "city seized with fear."

Destruction was astonishing--homes and shops in the North Strand were largely demolished, 2,250 buildings in the city suffered some bomb damage, over forty people were killed, about 100 seriously injured, many more wounded. Hospitals and morgues filled within hours. Almost 2,000 people were rendered homeless refugees. It would later be determined that in terms of destructive performance a monstrous "perfect bomb" had done the deed.

For two-thirds of a century, no book was written on what the Evening Herald proclaimed a "Night of Horror." Later called a "seismic event" in Dublin's history. Finally, near the end of the century both the Irish Military Archive and Dublin City Archive declassified their documents on the bombing -- some stamped "Secret" for sixty years. At last, the theories and myths long surrounding the mysterious incident could be examined in the light of real evidence.

But the heart of a book on so human a tragedy is the oral historical testimony of survivors, rescuers and observers who provide graphic eye-witness accounts. This is a narrative social history of immense human drama. An on-the-scene account of calamity, terror, heroism and survival. And a mystery lingering long thereafter.

This is the untold tale of a great historical event and human tragedy that has long needed telling.