The Collins Press imprint: 150 books

In April 1916, the Easter Rising broke out in Dublin. History remembers it as Irish rebel against English soldier, but the truth is more complicated. Thousands of British army soldiers in the Rising were Irishmen, including Second-Lieutenant Robert Barton from Glendalough, who later became a Sinn...

‘Blackpool to the Front!’ was a rallying cry first heard at the Battle of Étreux in August 1914 when the Royal Munster Fusiliers halted an entire German Army Corps. The experience of the hundreds who enlisted from the industrial Cork suburb of Blackpool mirrors the experience of the 200,000 Irishmen...

IN JANUARY 1919, AT SOLOHEADBEG IN COUNTY TIPPERARY, two members of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) were killed by the IRA. In the four bloody years that followed, nearly 500 RIC men were killed and hundreds more wounded. In Tipperary alone, 46 policemen were killed, making it one of most violent...

Between 1923 and 1954 the Irish state executed twenty-nine people convicted of murder. Almost all executions were carried out in the hanghouse of Mountjoy Prison by members of the Pierrepoint family. The often shocking and fascinating stories of these men and one woman have been largely forgotten....

The name the Romans gave to Ireland was Hibernia, which means ‘Land of Winter’, and cold feet may have been a factor in their decision to leave the Irish to their own devices. The weather is our main topic of conversation and has done its bit in shaping our character. This lively overview shines...

‘Well, I’ve helped to wind up the clock – I might as well hear it strike.’ Michael Joseph O’Rahilly. The Easter Rising of 1916 was a seminal moment in Ireland’s turbulent history. For the combatants it was a no-holds-barred clash: the professional army of an empire against a highly motivated,...

‘Forsake all 21st-century Celtic superhighways in favour of boreens.’ So says Paul Clements as he sets off to visit the highest point in each of the 32 counties of Ireland. Travelling on the GMRs (Great Mountain Roads), Paul spends time with the eccentric and quaint, who teach him...

This is the story of Mayo men and women active during the War of Independence and the Civil War, a story largely untold or forgotten. Throughout, there is an attempt at real insight into the lives of participants. The establishment and acceptance of the Garda Síochána and how Mayo adapted to peace...

This handy guide to Dublin’s architecture is filled with easy-to-follow walks through the city, with clear maps, expert architectural insights and fascinating historical detail. Dublin’s long history has had a visible impact on its architecture: waves of invaders and the attempts by Dubliners...

* ‘The Loneliest Boy in the World – he has only seagulls as playmates.’ 1949 newspaper article * Gearóid Cheaist Ó Catháin had a unique childhood – he was the last child brought up on the Blasket Islands of Ireland’s southwest coast. The nearest in age was his uncle who was thirty years...

When John Cuffe entered Mountjoy as a young prison officer in May 1978, he stepped back into Victorian times. He knew nothing about jails, apart from what he had seen in black-and-white films on RTE: 'good' sheriffs and 'bad' hombres. He quickly learned that behind bars there is no black and white:...

Following the spirit of the world’s longest coastal driving route, Paul Clements sets out to discover the real west of Ireland. Along the way he encounters memorable characters living on the Atlantic edge and presents a unique portrait of their lives. We meet the last man standing on a remote Galway...

The Kerry Way is Ireland’s longest waymarked trail and one of the most popular. Looping around the Iveragh Peninsula, it follows narrow country roads, forest paths, abandoned coach roads and mass paths, national park land and farmland. This clear and lively guide gives the prospective wayfarer enough...

The British criminal justice system is not dedicated to the truth. It is concerned only with reasonable doubt. During the British Army campaign in Northern Ireland (1969–2007), security forces often dispensed with judge and jury, selected candidates for assassination, extracted false evidence from...