Four Courts Press

02/09/2026

All are welcome to the launch of Moynagh Lough this Friday! 🌟

Details on the invitation below 👇

N.B. if you are ONLY attending the launch, you do not need to purchase a ticket for the conference taking place beforehand.

02/09/2026

The next terrific title to join the Maynooth Studies in Local History Series is Scandal, satire and the battle for reputation in Limerick’s ascendancy, 1815–20 by Brian Leahy 📕👏

This gripping account unravels the explosive feud between barrister-poet Thomas Grady, the controversial banker George Evans Bruce, and the politically ambitious Windham Henry Quin, the future earl of Dunraven and builder of Adare Manor. When Grady’s incendiary satire The Nosegay ignites a firestorm of legal battles and public outrage, reputations are shattered and alliances tested. The drama escalates to the halls of parliament, drawing in Whig reformers and captivating newspapers across Britain and Ireland. Through vivid storytelling and meticulous research into private letters, parliamentary records and newspaper archives, this book exposes how a fabricated narrative – crafted to destroy Bruce – endured unchallenged for two centuries, only now revealed as fraud. More than a tale of rivalry, this is a window into the power of words, the fragility of reputation and the making – and unmaking – of history itself.

Brian Leahy was born in Limerick and now lives with his wife Daniela and their three children in Castleconnell—the village at the heart of this book. He completed his MA in Local History in 2025, graduating alongside Daniela, and has a passion for uncovering the stories and people that shaped his locality.

Copies of this book are available to buy from all good local bookshops and from the Four Courts Press website https://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/2026/scandal-satire-and-the-battle-for-reputation-in-limericks-ascendancy-181520

01/09/2026

Now available in paperback!!🕺🏰

The hardback edition of Landscapes of Kingship in Early Medieval Ireland AD 400-1150 by Patrick Gleeson sold out at record speed, so we recommend getting your hands on the new paperback version before they sell out too.

Have a peruse of our website for more information https://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/2025/landscapes-of-kingship-in-early-medieval-ireland-ad-400-1150

31/08/2026

Next to join the Maynooth Studies in Local History series is ... 🥁

The political world of Sir Thomas Henry Grattan Esmonde of Ballynastragh, Co. Wexford, 1862–1935 by Brian Fennell

Politically active from 1885 to 1934, Thomas Henry Grattan Esmonde’s career spanned the home rule struggle, the First World War, the revolutionary decade and the early years of the Free State. Elected as the youngest MP in 1885, he aligned with Parnell and became a committed advocate of Irish self-government, promoting home rule through parliamentary work and international fundraising tours across the British empire and the United States. In Co. Wexford, he played a central role in local government as the first chairman of Wexford County Council. This study also examines his decade-long role as a Free State senator and his battle to claim compensation from the very government he served following the Civil War burning of his ancestral home, Ballynastragh, highlighting his resilience and enduring political influence.

Brian Fennell is a PhD student in the Department of History at Maynooth University. His research examines the role and influence of the aristocratic senators of the Irish Free State (1922–1937).

Copies of this book are available to buy from all good local bookshops and from the Four Courts Press website https://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/2026/the-life-and-politics-of-sir-thomas-henry-grattan-esmonde-18621935

27/08/2026

Our next book joining the Maynooth Studies in Local History Series is Lesley Whiteside's 'A miserable thing to be a woman': Mary Anne Tyrrell (1821-94) and her landed estate 🤩

At the age of 32, Mary Anne Tyrrell, having suffered the early death of her parents, husband and two children, faced multiple challenges as a landowner. Living in a dilapidated house on a rundown farm with two infant sons and a teenage daughter, she lacked the training to manage her scattered estate in neighbouring baronies in counties Kildare and Offaly. She initially felt overcome by difficulties but by the end of her life she had some sense of fulfilment, having successfully raised her children and left the estate intact. Her story provides a rare glimpse into the ideas and attitudes of a free-thinking woman in a society that was still closed to feminism and the changes that it would bring.

Lesley Whiteside is archivist at Ballinderry House, Co. Kildare, and at Monksgrange, Co. Wexford. Her works include the definitive histories of two historic Irish secondary schools, a biography of a Church of Ireland primate, George Otto Simms, and several books on ecclesiastical stained glass. She has contributed a number of articles to the Journal of the County Kildare Archaeological Society. Her most recent book is Farming and society since 1700 in the barony of Carbury, Co. Kildare (Dublin, 2024).

Copies of this book are available to buy from all good local bookshops and from the Four Courts Press website https://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/2026/mary-anne-tyrrell-182194-and-her-landed-estate

26/08/2026

The first of the wonderful new additions to the Maynooth Studies in Local History Series to be featured here is Donegal Town, 1474-1974 by Matthew Potter 🌟

Donegal town is one of the most historic places in Ireland, and has given its name to Co. Donegal. It has been a Gaelic town, a Plantation town, an estate town and a market town. Owned successively by three great families – the O’Donnells (1474-1610), the Brookes (1610–76) and the Gores (1676-c.1950s) – the most striking feature of its history is its former political prominence. Under the O’Donnells, it was for 130 years the capital of Tír Chonaill – effectively an independent state and a minor international power. Later, it suffered four sieges (1601, 1641, 1651, 1689) but was never captured, it was the principal estate town of the Gore family for 240 years, a parliamentary constituency for 187 years, the administrative centre of a poor law union for 85 years, and the archetypical Irish market town for two centuries.

Matthew Potter is a native of Donegal town but has been resident in Limerick since 1974. He is curator of Limerick Museum and an associate fellow in the School of History and Geography, University of Limerick. He has published extensively on urban history and local government history.

Copies of this book are available to buy from all good local bookshops and from the Four Courts Press website https://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/2026/donegal-town-14741974

25/08/2026

It's a great day for history book lovers 📚

Six new additions to the Maynooth Studies in Local History Series have arrived in all good bookshops‼️

The six volumes in the MSLH series for 2026 span five centuries, from the foundation of Donegal town in 1474 to the late twentieth century, and range geographically from Wexford to Donegal, Cork, Limerick, Offaly and Kildare. Together, they demonstrate the breadth and vitality of local history as a means of exploring Ireland’s past. Through studies of people, places institutions and communities, they engage with themes including politics, healthcare, religion, gender, urban development, print culture and estate management. Several concerns recur throughout the collection, notably power, reputation and responses to social, political and economic change.

Browse the collection here 👉 https://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/browse/history/maynooth-studies-in-local-history

Department of History, Maynooth University Maynooth University

24/08/2026