On August 28, 1922, the martyred Irish patriot Michael Collins was buried. Businesses across Dublin closed as thousands came out to pay their respects. On the same day, Michael Lyons, a cooper from the Guinness factory, drowned in Dublin's Royal Canal. This peculiar confluence is Mark Anthony Jarman's starting point for a meditation on the intertwined history of a nation and his family. Jarman's pursuit of the circumstances of his grandfather's drowning leads him through a modern Ireland that teems with ghosts from the past. Thwarted by family gossip, aunts who can't drive a stick shift, cousins more interested in pubs than lore, and his own fascination with the many Irelands that have been, Jarman finds what he's seeking despite, or perhaps because of, the antics and the unreliable histories. What he reconfigures is a revelation, and an enchanting and engrossing read.

A tragic death, a murder trial and a 170-year-old mystery – but what really happened? Shortly after Maria Kirwan died in a lonely inlet on Ireland's Eye, it was decided that she had drowned accidentally during a day spent with her husband on the picturesque island. This inquest verdict appeared to conclude the melancholy events that consumed the fishing village of Howth, Co Dublin, in September 1852. But not long afterwards, suspicion fell upon Maria's husband, William Burke Kirwan, as whispers of unspeakable cruelty, an evil character and a secret life rattled through the streets of Dublin. Investigations led to William's arrest and trial for murder. The story swelled into one of the most bitterly divisive chapters in the dark annals of Irish criminal history. Yet questions remain: Does the evidence stand up? What role did the heavy hand of Victorian moral outrage play? Was William really guilty of murder, or did the ever-present 'moral facts' fill in gaps where hard proof was absent? Now, this compelling modern analysis revisits the key evidence, asking sober questions about the facts, half-facts and fantasies buried within the yellowed pages of the Ireland's Eye case files.

On a fine calm morning in September 1852, a strikingly handsome man and his beautiful wife stepped onto a hired boat in Howth Harbour, Dublin, to set out on a day trip. The destination was Ireland’s Eye, a small uninhabited island less than a mile to the north of the harbour. He was an artist, she a keen and adventurous swimmer. By sunset, when the boat returned to fetch them, she would be dead. Despite certain gruesome features, the inquest ruled that it was a drowning, and Maria Kirwan was laid to rest. Then a startling secret emerged about the private life of her husband, the artist William Burke Kirwan. After an exhumation, he was arrested for her murder. The case caused a sensation, the public fascinated by its extraordinary elements. Added to this and almost eclipsing the murder was the scandal: a sexual triangle that aroused the full force of Victorian moral outrage. The trial was destined to become steeped in controversy and a veil of mystery has hung over the death of Maria Kirwan for the last 160 years. But now, at last, a forgotten medical paper has thrown light on what really happened on that fateful day.

The first installment in the award-winning Dylan Maples series.

Including detailed guidance to exploring the countryside and historic sites, this fully revised guide offers a complete picture of the beautiful island of Ireland, north and south. of color photos.

The author presents a collection of travel and adventure stories, including a chronicle of a whitewater rafting trip in Idaho's Selway River and mountaineering in Washington State and Borneo.