hidden europe 69

Ireland's coasts

by hidden europe

Summary

We are quietly in awe of how the editors and publishers ever managed to bring The Coastal Atlas of Ireland to print. This is a magnificent volume, one that draws on geography, geology and cultural studies to present an encyclopaedic account of Ireland’s coastline.

It’s not like us to miss a trick when it comes to new books on islands. We somehow overlooked the publication in late 2021 of The Coastal Atlas of Ireland . That omission was happily remedied when we received this magnificent book as a gift last Christmas. In the foreword to the multi-authored volume, it is noted that “Ireland is the quintessential island.” That certainly made us pause for thought, because we often forget that Ireland is an island. Walk through the centre of Dublin and you find all the creative energy of a great European mainland city.

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The warm shadow of Isabelle Eberhardt

Many years ago, I spent a long hot summer in and around a sleepy ksar on the edge of the Sahara. I read many books that summer, but it was 'Dans l’ombre chaude de l’Islam' that tugged and tugged again, urging me to return to its pages. That book was my introduction to Isabelle Eberhardt, a writer who — perhaps more than any other — has influenced my life and my thinking. This summer, so far from the desert and in a country where the most charming of all oases is my garden, I turned to Sharon Bangert’s English translation of 'Dans l’ombre chaude de l’Islam'. It appears under the Peter Owen imprint in a pocket-sized paperback.

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Liturgical adventures during Coronavirus times

Across much of Europe, church services and other faith gatherings were very limited or non-existent at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. In many countries, churches remained open for private prayer, but there were some countries where churches were locked. For me, as perhaps for many others in these difficult times, the online services streamed by various congregations have been an unexpected blessing.