Hugh Brody began his studies of the isolation and decline of a small parish in Western Ireland in the 1960s, published this book in 1973, and updated it with a this second edition in 1983. From the blurb: a combination of social science and art; a study of the agonizing decline in virtually every aspect of life; a reflection in a continuous sub-text of quotes and references of the way peasant life in Ireland has found expression in myth, fiction, and social surveys. Chapters: Seasonal Reversal; Historical Background; Inishkillane; Family Life; Community and Cooperation; Bar, hop, and Church; The New Entrepreneur. Figures; Tables; Map; Introduction; Bibliography. This is Ireland before its recent economic boom and crash and this may be Ireland again after the crash. 226 pp. From Faber & Faber Limited, London.

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