Four Courts Press

We knew these jerseys looked familiar …

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Check out these brilliant books on our website 👉 https://fourcourtspress.ie

RTÉ Sport FIFA World Cup Department of Culture, Communications and Sport Federación Mexicana de Fútbol New Zealand Football Japan Football Japan Football Association Svensk fotboll Seleções de Portugal

Recent publication 📙‼️

Landlords and tenants in County Carlow, 1879–1960 by Oliver Whelan is out now! Pick up a copy in any good local bookstore or from our website.

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This book chronicles the ending of landlordism in Carlow. In the depression of the late 1870s tenants were supported by town merchants in their efforts to secure rent reductions from landlords while the Irish Parliamentary Party, led by Parnell, helped by exerting pressure on the British government. In 1881, Gladstone’s government established land courts to adjudicate on rents and provided loans to tenants to buy their holdings. Under the Wyndham Act of 1903 most landlords sold to their tenants. In the 1920s the Free State compulsorily acquired the holdings of landlords who had not sold, and established the tenants as freeholders. The plight of evicted tenants and of small uneconomic farmers proved intractable. As the economy developed viable farms became bigger and most smallholders migrated to towns or emigrated. By the 1960s land division by the government was completed and only two big houses of the former landlords, Borris and Lisnavagh, remained in family hands.

Oliver Whelan is a retired director of the National Treasury Management Agency and holds a PhD in Irish history from Maynooth University.

https://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/2026/landlords-and-tenants-in-county-carlow-18791960

Carlow Heritage Office Carlow County Museum Carlow Historical and Archaeological Society Publishing Ireland

New Books Network have released not one, not two, but THREE new podcasts featuring Four Courts Press authors 💃💫

Brilliant host Dr Miranda Melcher interviewed Judith Hill, Angela Byrne and John Waddell on their latest titles.

Listen here 👇

Gothic by Judith Hill - https://newbooksnetwork.com/gothic

Finding Mary by Angela Byrne - https://newbooksnetwork.com/finding-mary

The Celtic World by John Waddell - https://newbooksnetwork.com/the-celtic-world

Happy publication day to The Medieval Castles of Ireland by David Sweetman 🎉👏

While ‘an Englishman’s home is his castle’, in Ireland virtually all castles were built for defensive purposes. The medieval castles of Ireland traces the development of the Irish medieval castle, drawing on the research and records of the Archaeological Survey of Ireland and David Sweetman’s four decades of experience in medieval archaeology. It is the most thorough and accessible book available on Irish castles with 200 original drawings and photographs. This new edition of David Sweetman’s classic monograph takes the reader from early Anglo-Norman earthworks, the great fortifications like Trim Castle, through to the ubiquitous towerhouse and, finally, the fortified houses of the Elizabethan period. This book forms a basic framework and reference from which the student and academic can progress the subject of castle studies. At the same time, its accessible contents and stunning full-colour photography provide the general reader with an understanding of the buildings that are such a distinctive and dramatic feature in the Irish landscape.

‘The last few decades have seen enormous advances in the study of castles and other defensive sites in this country. Now at last a comprehensive synthesis is available’, John Waddell, Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society.

David Sweetman (1938–2023) was head of the Archaeological Survey of Ireland and Chief Archaeologist in what is now the National Monuments Service. He was a member of the Royal Irish Academy, a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (London), and an active participant in Irish castle studies groups in Ireland, Britain and France.

Available now in all good local bookshops and on our website: https://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/2026/the-medieval-castles-of-ireland 🛍️🏃‍♂️

Due to huge popular demand, "EMERALD NIGHTINGALES - Irish Nurses in the NHS", is being repeated on RTE One again tonight.

This is a documentary which draws on the wider oral history project of the authors of one of our bestselling books Irish Nurses in the NHS: An oral history and tells the story of the many young Irish women who travelled to England in search of opportunity as nurses, forming an important chapter in Ireland’s migration history, and in the foundation and prosperity of the NHS in the United Kingdom.

For full details of the book see: https://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/2025/irish-nurses-in-the-nhs


Irish Nurses in the NHS: An oral history has now sold almost 8,000 copies …


“It is estimated that by the early 1960s. 30,000 Irish-born nurses were working across the NHS, which constituted around 12% of all nursing staff. A decade later, in the early 1970s, 30 percent of NHS nurses were Irish … These women have become known as ‘the Emerald Nightingales’ and Irish nurses have featured in programmes such as Call the Midwife, Holby City, Angels and Coronation Street. They truly became part of the fabric of life in Britain.”

A new episode of the Irish History Podcast has just gone live and we’re very excited about it …

In this episode, Pádraig Lenihan, author of Siege in Ireland 1641-53, is interviewed by podcast host Fin Dwyer. They have a fascinating chat about the brutal reality of siege warfare in 17th-century Ireland.

The podcast is available on most streaming services (Spotify, Acast and Apple), so go have a listen now! 🏃

Pádraig’s book is also available to buy from all good local bookshops and the Four Courts Press website.

"A fresh look at an elite woman who built a life on her own terms." We couldn't have said it better ourselves 🤩

You won't want to miss this launch & talk for Bernadette Cunningham's fantastic new book, English Countess, Irish Earl
The Social World of Frances, Countess of Clanricard, 1567–1632

Book launch on Frances Walsingham, wife of Richard Burke, 4th Earl of Clanricarde who built Portumna Castle 🏰✨

Spies, poets, rebels, and a romance that defied the odds... join us for an afternoon of history and intrigue!

We are thrilled to invite you to the launch and talk of English Countess, Irish Earl: The Social World of Frances, Countess of Clanricard, 1567–1632 by the esteemed Bernadette Cunningham. 📖🕊️

The Details

When: Sunday, 24th May 🕓 Time: 4:00 PM
Where: Portumna Castle Gallery

The Story

Frances Walsingham was more than just a "surviving daughter" or a wife to famous men. This is the story of her 30-year partnership with Richard Burke, Earl of Clanricard—spanning grand manor houses, blended families, and the complex politics of England and Ireland.

A fresh look at an elite woman who built a life on her own terms. ✨

The Author

Bernadette Cunningham is a retired librarian based in Dublin. She has published widely on early modern Ireland and is the author of numerous books, including The Annals of the Four Masters: Irish History, Kingship and Society in the Early Seventeenth Century (Four Courts Press, 2014). She is a former winner of the Irish Historical Research Prize awarded by the National University of Ireland.

Are we suuuure no inspiration was taken from Four Courts Press jackets for these 2026 Met Gala looks? 🤔🤭 (just kidding)