Colum Kenny : BOOKS
| i. Moments that changed us. Dublin. Gill & Macmillan. 2005. 319pp. | ||
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Examines cultural, economic, political and social changes in Ireland since the 1960s.
The author “has his finger firmly on the pulse when it comes to changes
in Irish society.... There is restraint and objectivity in the comments
and interpretations offered by Colum Kenny in this fine publication.... ”
(The Irish Book Review, i, no. 3 (Winter, 2005)). |
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| ii. Fearing Sellafield. Dublin. Gill & Macmillan. 2003. 274pp. | ||
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“This is the first comprehensive book in non-technical language on Sellafield
as a reprocessing plant and nuclear dump....
This book is an important contribution to the emotional Sellafield debate
as well as being a thoroughly scientific study....
While the subject is emotive the treatment here is non-sensational, rational,
fair-handed and readable.”
(Contemporary Review, Jan. 2004). “A clear and insightful guide to the workings of the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant, having taken the time to listen to all sides” (Engineers Journal, June 2003). “Unlike much newspaper coverage of this subject in recent years, Kenny’s book steers clear of scare-mongering and sensationalism in favour of a doggedly even-handed account of Sellafield’s operations” (Books Ireland, Summer 2003). ‘Hacks fearlessly through a forest of obscure scientific acronyms to find out what’s really going on in the nuclear industry’ (Irish Times, 14 June). ‘Lucidly written, highly informative’ (Sunday Tribune, 27 April 2003). |
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iii. King’s Inns and the battle of the books:
cultural controversy at a Dublin library. Dublin. Four Courts Press, 2002. 192pp. | ||
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“This admirable work is both a history of King’s Inns library
and a measured critique of the sale by the Benchers of thousands of volumes
of non-legal works at Sotheby’s in 1972”
(Frank Callanan SC in Bar Review, vii, no.7 (Dec. 2002). “The reader will be anticipating excellence having regard to the previous extraordinary output of Dr Kenny in relation to the history of King’s Inns. His definitive history of King’s Inns from its early beginnings in 1541 up until 1800 was published in 1992, and that was followed in 1996 by a fascinating account of Irish legal training in the mid-nineteenth century entitled Tristram Kennedy and the Revival of Irish Legal Training, 1835-1885. This third volume is a worthy successor” (Judge Hugh Geoghegan of the Supreme Court, July, 2002). |
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| iv. Molaise, abbot of Leighlin and hermit of holy island: the life and legacy of St Laisren in Ireland and Scotland. Morrigan Books. 1998. Reprinted 1999. 140pp. | ||
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A study exploring the relationship between Ireland and Scotland
and the creation of a cultural ‘imaginary’.
It raises contemporary questions about western and eastern thought
in the light of current developments at the Interfaith Centre on Holy Island, Scotland.
Described at its launch by President Mary McAleese as
‘scholarly... readable.. fascinating’, and by the
Glasgow Herald as
‘a rewarding book that will amply repay all who read it’.
(to see the JPEG image of the Glasgow Herald review,
click here) |
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v. Tristram Kennedy and the revival of Irish legal training,
1835-1885. Dublin. Irish Academic Press. 1996. 269pp. | ||
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This work is, it is believed, the first Irish study of the process of
professionalisation. It has a particular political hue because Kennedy was a radical
(London)Derry Protestant who helped Irish Catholics and the poor. |
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vi. Kilmainham: the history of a settlement older than Dublin. Dublin. Four Courts Press. 1995. 128pp. | ||
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Described by the Irish Times as
‘scholarly but readable’, with ‘plenty of fascinating detail’
and ‘many useful footnotes’, this is a study of popular culture
against a background of official policy and ideology. |
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vii. King’s Inns and the Kingdom of Ireland:
the Irish ‘inn of court’ 1541-1800. Dublin. Irish Academic Press. 1992. 352pp. | ||
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Positive reviews appeared in the American Journal of Legal History,
(Cambridge) Historical Journal, Books Ireland, The Irish Literary Review
and The Irish Times amongst other places.
In the American Journal of Legal History,
Gerard Gawalt of the Library of Congress described this work as
‘a valuable addition’ to historical research’,
while in the Historical Journal
Wilfrid Prest of the University of Adelaide predicted that
‘it will doubtless become a standard work of reference,
and should have the beneficial effect of encouraging further research’. |
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Peace studies
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viii.
The role of believing communities in building peace in Ireland. Editor, Colum Kenny for Glencree Centre for Reconciliation. 1998. 200pp. | ||
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This report arose from my position as a council member of the Glencree Centre
for Reconciliation. It addresses questions of identity and communication. The report was based on extensive meetings and research with church representatives and others in Northern Ireland and in the Republic. |
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 Colum Kenny welcoming Prince Charles at Glencree Centre for Reconciliation, February 2002. | |
Literary work
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ix. Standing on Bray Head: hoping it might be so
(Poetry and historical notes). Bray. Kestrel Books. 1995. 158pp. | |
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Welcomed by Séamus Heaney as ‘a big collection with a big appetite’ and by Paul Durcan as being ‘surely what all poetry is ultimately about - pietas; dindsenchas; koan; recollection and dream’, this work was described by one critic as ‘a very considerable collection... exploring (unfettered by fashionable restrictions and interested in what typography can do) both the capabilities of poetry and the relationship of the local to the universal’. |
Prof. Colum Kenny, School of Communications, Glasnevin, Dublin 9.
email: colum.kenny@dcu.ie. Phone/Voicemail: +353.1.7005235.
email: colum.kenny@dcu.ie. Phone/Voicemail: +353.1.7005235.