The club members meet monthly at Ireland's Four Provinces Restaurant, 105 W. Broad Street, (Route 7, corner of Route 29,) in Falls Church City, VA 22046, usually on the first Thursday of the month.
2009 Selections
- January 8th , Fools of Fortune, William Trevor.
- February 5th , War in an Irish Town, Eamonn McCann
- March 5th, Yeats is Dead, By 15 Irish Writers writing serial chapters. A hilarious spoof on the struggle by assorted near do wells to find an unpublished manuscript by James Joyce.
- April 2nd, The Borstal Boy, Brendan Behan, The autobiography of a misguided junior IRA figure who is captured and sent to a youth correctional facility in England. The writing and characterizations are excellent
- May 7th, The Case of the Missing Books, Ian Sampson. Israel Armstrong prepares to drive a mobile library around a small Irish, damp town. Just one problem – the books have gone missing! Who would steal them? Why? Isreal’s job is on the line! Lots of unforgettable characters and situations, lots of laughs, and a very Irish solution to the mystery.
- June 4th, The Black and Tans, Richard Bennett. The author is representative of some of the British ruling class’ attitude toward the Irish. Although he is clumsy in attempts at whitewashing the Black & Tan paramilitary police, I found Bennett's attitude vastly illuminating. If one grasps this attitude, should it prove widely applicable, it does wonders to explain the lack of communication that existed between the British and the Irish until relatively recent times. Think of it as a time capsule.”
- July 2nd, Devoted Ladies, M.J. Farrell (Molly Keane). A novel of the famed ascendancy writer who wrote about the post independence experiences of the ascendancy. In this novel George Playfair meets Jane and entices her to Ireland. Not your usual romance.
August 6th, Making of Peace, George Mitchell – 1999. A report of Mitchel’s work which lead to the Good Friday agreement.
- September 3rd, Ladies Night at Finbar’s Hotel, Dermot Bolger. A formerly down at the heels Dublin hotel has been renovated by its new rock star owner and is now an ultra-chic gathering spot.
- October 1st, Mother of all the Brehans. Autobiography of Kathleen Brehan as told to Brian Brehan.
- January 7th, 2010 Irish Rebel, Terry Golway. The life of John Devoy, a founding member of the Irish republican Clan Na Gael, the American side of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. An unbelievable story of idealism and self sacrifice.
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