Ireland and the North is an edited collection of chapters engaging with the relationship between Ireland and the Nordic countries. As a spatial and geographical point of reference for the formation of political and cultural identities in Ireland, the idea of "the North" encourages the identification of overlooked connections between Ireland and the Nordic countries, which, like Ireland, are also small nation states on the periphery of Europe. Importantly, the book employs a double conceptualisation of "the North" to include Northern Ireland. Moving beyond the nation state as a key framework for analysis of human activity, this collection engages with the transnational and transcultural in a mapping of connectivity and exchange. Relationships explored are imaginary and material exchanges, civic and personal linkages, literary adaptation and appropriation, transfers of cultural artefacts, political institutions and ideas. Chapters are drawn from a wide-ranging field of study that includes art history, literary history and theory, archaeology, antiquarianism, and media studies in addition to political analysis. With three sections on Material Culture, Political Culture and Print Culture, the book moves beyond the predominant literary paradigm in Irish Studies to make a significant contribution to expanding and developing the field.

This journal spin-off special issue publication begins by approaching the politics of memory with focus on the governance and policies of memory: its administrations. The contributions focus on transcending methodological nationalism and bringing back the state into the study of the politics of memory. The chapters treat the administrations of memory both in terms of the processes of dispensing or aiding memory and as the state bodies that are authorized and expected to manage memory. This text appeals to researchers and students working in and at the intersection of memory studies and political science. Previously published in International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society Volume 32, issue 2, June 2019 Chapters Administrations of Memory and modes of Remembering: Some Comments on the Special Issue and Stretching selves Through Empathy: the Role of Collective and Official Memories are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.