Irish Life and Traditions surveys, analyses, celebrates, and criticizes the forces which shape life in contemporary Ireland. The book is divided into four sections. ?The Physical Setting? opens with the essay ?Land and Sea,? in which geographer Antony Orme outlines the natural forces that have shaped and continue to shape Ireland’s landscape. Naturalist Oscar Merne discusses Ireland’s animal and plant life. In ?From Earliest Times,? archeologist Joseph Raferty examines Ireland’s prehistory, and, finally, the character, development, and problems of Ireland’s major cities are discussed by architect and town planner Patrick Shaffrey. The section ?Growing up in Ireland? shows the human side of Irish life in four very different settings. Funny, sad, and surprising accounts of growing up in rural Clare during the 1890s and 1900s, in a Donegal border town in the 1920s, on the isolated Aran Islands during the 1930s, and in troubled Derry City in the 1950s and 60s are provided, respectively, by historian Edward MacLysaght, former Archibishop George Otto Simms, writer Breandán Ó hEithir, and journalist Nell McCafferty. In ?The People and Their Traditions,? the ancient and still popular traditions of country fair and religious pilgrimage are discussed by anthropologist Sharon Gmelch. The pervasive role of sport in Irish society is examined by sports commentator Garry Redmond. The Irish fascination with words, whether written, spoken, or sung, is examined by broadcaster and Irish-speaker Sean Mac Reamoinn. Writer and humorist Maeve Binchy takes a lighthearted and personal look at the many festivals that dot the social year. Finally, in ?Looking Forward,? one of Ireland’s leading statesmen, Sean MacBride, discusses Ireland in the modern world. What should its priorities be? What mistakes can it avoid? How does its political history continue to influence its present? Irish Life and Traditions is lavishly illustrated with original photographs and maps and has an extensive index. It provides a comprehensive and lively view of Ireland today, from the landscape to the people and their customs.