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The fact that Alice Milligan was a Protestant Nationalist at the height of the Home Rule era 1890-1916 is significant enough. The fact that she was also a poet who often featured Celtic lengend makes her particuarly interesting. Born in Omagh, Alice also lived in Bangor and was friends with such prominent figures as O'Donovan Rossa, Douglas Hyde and Roger Casement. Protestant Nationalists are rare in Irish history - Yeats, Parnell and Ethna Carbery being some of the few - and to find a politically active one who was a women at a time when women did not involve themselves in politics makes her life fascinating. Ms Johnston has pieced together the life of a remarkable woman, as well as a book of her poetry (see below).

One of the funniest television comedies to be filmed in Ireland ever, Father Ted was screened in the late 1990s and has been rerun ever since. Only 24 episodes were filmed before the untimely death of lead actor Dermot Morgan. Father Ted is set on remote Craggy Island, a godforsaken rock in the west of Ireland where Ted together with empty-headed Father Dougal and the perpetually-drunk Father Jack tend their flock of local farmers and families. Its particualr brand of surreal humour has made it one of the most popular comedies to be shown here. It has also been controversial, in this age of rebellion against the church in Ireland, due to its attacks on the Catholic church's hierarchy. This book is the complete scripts of the television series, a must for any Father Ted fan!

Alice Milligan (see Alice above) died in 1953. This is the first published collection of her poems since then. This personal selection from her works demonstrates her understanding of family and friendship, of solitude and love, as well as the well worn images of power and patriotism. Many of her poems are deeply rooted in Celtic mythology and many of them contain hidden messages to the people of the Ireland that are analogies for the political situation at the turn of the century. For example, the poem Till Ferdia Came contains the lines "Oh brothers! Sons of one loved land / Who to such combat armed each hand / What cause of fury and of hate / Had either?..." which is actually a plea to those involved in the conflict between the Unionists and the Home Rulers. A beautiful selection.