Colin Murphy

The country's on fire! The Klan on the march again. Fascists organising - in America!And books are being burned.It’s 1933, and James Joyce’s sexually explicit Ulysses has been banned in the US for a decade. But now a hungry young publisher and an ambitious lawyer have teamed up to take on the puritans. Can they convince the judge that Ulysses is not obscene? And what will happen when Ulysses gets under their skin—and Molly Bloom gets into their heads? The United States vs Ulysses is a bawdy courtroom drama telling the true story of the New York trial that liberated James Joyce’s seminal novel from American censorship and made Joyce a cultural icon.This edition was published to coincide with the North American premiere from Once Off Productions at the Irish Arts Center, New York in May 2025.

We Irish have enriched the English language with a slew of snazzy gems. Did you know we’re the ones behind quarks, electrons and vectors, Sudocrem and Wellington boots? No surprise that we invented begrudgery, but croquet and Wunderkind were us too! So if some yahoo is getting on your nerves, don’t box him in the gob – hit him with Irishisms galore, and you’ll soon put the kibosh on his shaninagans. Y’dig? Written and illustrated by Colin Murphy and Donal O'Dea, the craggy old blokes behind the bestselling Feckin' Collection and Stuff Irish People Love.

You think this is dignified? A bunch of students playing with someone’s medical records?Why did 20th century Ireland lock up so many people? After all the scandals about Ireland’s institutions - the industrial schools, the mother and baby homes, the Magdalene laundries - why have we still barely investigated the largest institutions of them all: the psychiatric hospitals?Today, Grangegorman is home to the newly opened campus of Technological University Dublin. But for nearly 200 years, it housed a forbidding institution behind high walls.The Asylum Workshop is a new documentary play by Colin Murphy about the history of Ireland’s first public psychiatric hospital. Drawing on unique access to the hospital’s archives, it weaves together verbatim testimony from patients and families, reports from doctors and nurses, and analysis from historians and psychiatrists.This edition is published to coincide with the production by Technological University Dublin and Grangegorman Histories in the East Quad Black Box Theatre in June 2023.

As a serious study of the nuances of the English language as spoken in Ireland, this book is as useful as tits on a bull. On the other hand, if you’d like to have a baldy of understanding the various expressions you regularly hear around Ireland, you’d have to be off your face to ignore it. So stall the ball there! Whether you’re a fine bit of stuff or you have a head like a lump of wet turf, this invaluable collection of Ireland’s most treasured (and irreverent) sayings is definitely worth having a gander at!

There’s a million in the middle - and they might go either way.On May 22nd, 2015, the people of Ireland voted resoundingly for marriage equality - making Ireland the first country in the world to introduce gay marriage by popular vote.Little about Ireland’s 20th-century history suggested that the country would find itself at the vanguard of LGBT+ rights. “Homosexual conduct may lead a mildly homosexually-orientated person into a way of life from which he may never recover,” warned the Irish Supreme Court in 1982. Homosexuality remained criminalised till 1993.But a long, hard fight by determined activists, as well as the individual efforts and sacrifices of thousands of ordinary people, gradually made the case for gay rights and, eventually, marriage equality. Colin Murphy’s documentary drama, based on interviews by the journalist Charlie Bird, charts the arc of that fight - culminating in the fervour of the final campaign weeks - interwoven with the personal stories of some of those who were touched by it.This edition was published to coincide with the presentation of A Day in May at Dublin’s Pavilion Theatre in Dun Laoghaire, in October 2022.

In October 1921, a delegation of the Dáil left by boat and train for London, where they were to negotiate with the British government for peace, unity and a republic. They came back with just one of those; and that peace didn’t last long, as war with Britain was replaced by war with their own. Were the Irish outclassed or outgunned? Were they lied to? Did they lie to their own colleagues back in Dublin? Or did they achieve the best that could be achieved, an incremental step on the way to fuller sovereignty?The Treaty tells the story of what happened inside those negotiations, as Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins and colleagues faced off against one of the most formidable negotiating teams ever assembled, headed by David Lloyd George and with Winston Churchill often at his side. This edition is published to coincide with Fishamble's production in November 2021.

Contemporary Irish Documentary Theatre is the first anthology of Irish documentary drama. It features five challenging plays by Irish writers, and one by an international author, interrogating and commenting on crucial events of Irish history and of the diaspora, with introductory essays by established academics. Together these plays represent the most innovative development in contemporary Irish theatre and illuminate the social and political realities of contemporary Ireland. The first two plays, of 2010 and 2013, deal with scandals of clerical and institutional abuse, and use as source material the Ryan Report of 2009, and the documents from the 2008 Irish Bank Guarantee. The next two, of 2014 and 2013, concern interpretations of the most iconic moment of Irish history: the Easter Rising. The first of these is based on published statements of participants in the event and the second on the lived experiences of those in the contemporary Republic whose founding ideals have not been realized . The last two plays, of 2015 and 2016, widen the view to the history of the Irish in the diaspora: one retelling the history of emigration to England based on published research material; and the other tracing Roger Casement's experiences in the Amazon and his subsequent participation in the Easter Rising using extracts from his diaries and other writings.The plays included and discussed are: No Escape by Mary RafteryGuaranteed by Colin MurphyOf This Brave Time by Jimmy MurphyHistory by Grace DyasMy English Tongue, My Irish Heart by Martin LynchThe Two Deaths of Roger Casement by Domingos Nunez

Contemporary Irish Documentary Theatre is the first anthology of Irish documentary drama. It features five challenging plays by Irish writers, and one by an international author, interrogating and commenting on crucial events of Irish history and of the diaspora, with introductory essays by established academics. Together these plays represent the most innovative development in contemporary Irish theatre and illuminate the social and political realities of contemporary Ireland. The first two plays, of 2010 and 2013, deal with scandals of clerical and institutional abuse, and use as source material the Ryan Report of 2009, and the documents from the 2008 Irish Bank Guarantee. The next two, of 2014 and 2013, concern interpretations of the most iconic moment of Irish history: the Easter Rising. The first of these is based on published statements of participants in the event and the second on the lived experiences of those in the contemporary Republic whose founding ideals have not been realized . The last two plays, of 2015 and 2016, widen the view to the history of the Irish in the diaspora: one retelling the history of emigration to England based on published research material; and the other tracing Roger Casement's experiences in the Amazon and his subsequent participation in the Easter Rising using extracts from his diaries and other writings.The plays included and discussed are: No Escape by Mary RafteryGuaranteed by Colin MurphyOf This Brave Time by Jimmy MurphyHistory by Grace DyasMy English Tongue, My Irish Heart by Martin LynchThe Two Deaths of Roger Casement by Domingos Nunez

The Emerald Isle has something for everyone, from the stupendous coastline and cliffs of the Wild Atlantic Way in the west to the culture and cuisine of the Ancient East; from the castles and forts of the historic north to the famed golden beaches of the beautiful south – and not forgetting the mighty craic and decent watering holes to be found everywhere in between! Humorous information about 50 key tourist attractions in Ireland, accompanied by photographs and illustrations. A light-hearted guide of Ireland for natives and visitors alike. Featured destinations include: The Game of Thrones TourThe Giant’s Causeway Coastal RouteKilmainham GaolGlasnevin Cemetery & MuseumNewgrange, Knowth and DowthPowerscourt House & GardensKing John’s CastleIrish National Stud & GardensYeats Country

New edition of this bestselling and laugh out loud humour title. The almost incomprehensible wit and wonder of Irish slang words. Can you tell your bowsies from your gougers from your gurriers? No? Well, it's time to stop acting the maggot and find out, courtesy of this invaluable reference book that's been donkey's years in the making, (only coddin'). It's absolutely jammers with nouns, verbs and sayings that didn't quite make the Oxford Dictionary, including a few manky ones that are guaranteed to leave some oul' wans and Holy Joes completely morto.On the other hand, slappers and sleeveens will be dying for a gawk. So, feck it, you just know this is one book any self-respecting cute hoor just can't do without …

An Oxford Revision Course guide to Active Study Skills This short introduction to active study skills is built on many years of experience as a study skills coordinator and tutor. Designed with the student in mind, each chapter addresses common study skills problems and offers quick and creative solutions. Dealing with time management, setting goals, making good notes and creative techniques to improve study. With chapters on stress reduction and good exam preparation. Colin Murphy is a psychology teacher and study skills coordinator. He is passionate about finding creative solutions that will actually help students to learn in more effective manners. Many of the techniques are tried and tested with his students to find what works best for them. Colin first became interested in study skills techniques when studying Psychology in University College Dublin in the 1990's. This book was built around the suggestions of his students about the most common problems that they had in study. At the heart of this book is the belief that study can and should be interesting and that creative approaches to study, working alongside traditional methods, produces better results. Oxford Revision Course was set up to offer high quality and accessible education to as wide a group as possible, using the best tutors and running a series of courses for English-speaking and international students. Oxford Revision Course guides are designed to share the skills of these tutors to as large a group of people as we can. They also link to top quality courses that help students achieve the best results. The guides are designed to be short and affordable.

New edition of this bestselling and laugh-out-loud humour title. Hey you! Yeah, you holding this book, you with the face like a constipated greyhound. You're the sap in the family tree. Wouldn't know your langer from your thumb except for the nail. Word is if brains were taxed you'd be due a rebate. But why stand there and be insulted? With the help of this invaluable collection of Irish insults, you'll be able to tell your boss that for someone without cows he produces an awful lot of bullshit. Or your husband he's as useful as a concrete currach. Or you might observe that your wife's arse is as wide as a Leitrim hurler's shot.

A housing crisis, a hung Dáil and an unlikely alliance.Haughey|Gregory follows the deal made between Tony Gregory and Charles Haughey in 1982, when Gregory took a surprise Dáil seat - and suddenly found himself holding the balance of power. Dublin’s Inner City is devastated by unemployment and addiction – and the planners’ solution is simply to bulldoze it. But the general election results in the novice TD, Tony Gregory, holding the balance of power. Can Gregory use his vote to achieve something for his constituents? To do so, he will have to face off against the dominant personality of Irish politics - Charles J Haughey.

A humorous guide to the highlights of Dublin, for native and tourist alike. A broad selection of twenty things to see from cultural highlights to distilleries, historical sites to seats of learning, all with Murphy and O'Dea's trademark humour.

Celebrating the almost incomprehensible wit and wonder of Irish slang words. Incorporating everything from The Feckin' Book of Irish Slang and The 2nd Feckin' Book of Irish Slang, with more slang too! Feckin' brilliant

A fascinating investigation the lives of four priest hunters – Sean na Sagart, Edward Tyrrell, Barry Lowe and John Garzia. Ireland in the aftermath of Cromwell – during this period Catholicism and Irish nationalism became inexorably linked and priests were outlawed. The Priest Hunters shines a light on these men who hunted them. Sean naSagart was Irishman who was been condemned to death for horse stealing but was reprieved on condition he become a priest hunter. Edward Tyrrell was an English mercenary driven solely by greed. Barry Lowe indulged in such acts as tying a priest behind his horse and dragging him through the brush. John Garzia, who had fled the Spanish Inquisition, arrived in Ireland and evidently sought revenge hunting down priests. An incredible account of some of the most hated men in Ireland.

Boycott - a word whose meaning is known the world over. But it once belonged to a man. Two brothers, Owen and Thomas Joyce, barely survive the horror of the great famine that devastated Ireland in the 1840s. But it left a lasting effect on both of them. Three decades later they are thrown together during the Land War, when evictions and landlord cruelty reach an intolerable level. But Thomas places his trust in the gun, while Owen backs the passive resistance advocated by the Land League. Captain Charles Boycott, an English land agent in Mayo, becomes the first to suffer this new form of revolt, when he and his family are ostracised. It is a David versus Goliath situation, with Boycott supported by the military, the police, the press, the British Government. How can peasants stand against an empire? And how will the two brothers reconcile their differences and confront their troubled past? A novel of brotherly love and brotherly conflict.

Those Feckin' lads are back! Packed full of hilarious banter and craic, The Feckin' Book of Céilís, Come-all-yes, Claddagh Rings and other Blarney is stuffed with topics that the Irish are famous for, whether they like it or not! Includes… The Aran SweaterThe Full Irish BreakfastIrish StewKissing the Blarney StoneThe Bodhran and the craic to be had at Wakes.And many more