An introduction to the architectural heritage of County Cavan

The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage was established to identify, record and evaluate the architectural heritage of Ireland in a systematic and uniform manner. Each county inventory is published in a full-colour, attractively illustrated booklet introducing the architectural highlights of the area, with descriptive text and photographs, and relevant mapping. 

Pick up a copy of County Cavan's Inventory in our libraries now!

Click on the Book image to reserve a copy on our Catalogue

January Reads: Cavan Library Reading Group

The Mermaids Singing by Lisa Carey

Somewhere off the west coast of Ireland lies Inis Murúch-the Island of the Mermaids-a world where myth is more powerful that truth and where the sea sings with the healing and haunting voices of women. It is here that Lisa Carey sets her lyrical first novel, weaving together the voices and lives of three generations of Irish and Irish-American women. Years ago, Clíona-strong, proud, and practical-sailed for Boston, determined to one day come home. But when the time came to return to Inis Murúch, her daughter Grace-fierce, beautiful, and brazenly sexual-resented her mother's isolated, unfamiliar world. Though entranced by the sea and its healing powers, Grace became desperate to escape the confines of the island, one day stealing away with her small daughter Graínne. Now Graínne-motherless at fifteen after Grace's death-is about to be taken back across the ocean by Clíona, repeating the journey her mother was forced to make years before. She goes to meet a father she has never known, her heart pulled between a life where she no longer belongs and a family she cannot remember. On the rocky shore of Inis Murúch, she waits for her father and begins to discover her own sexual identity even as she struggles to understand the forces that have torn her family apart.

Shem Creek by Dorothea Benton Frank

Meet Linda Breland, single parent of two teenage daughters-one of whom is headed off to college. Between that and the married men, the cold New Jersey's winters, her pinched wallet, and her ex-husband who marries a beautiful, successful woman ten years younger than she is-let's just say Linda has seen enough to fill a thousand pages. Now, she's bound for Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, the magical landscape of her ancestors. Welcomed by the help of her advice-dispensing sister and an intriguing ex-investment banker turned restaurant owner, Linda slowly begins to find her way and realise that she too is entitled to a second chance....

January Read: Cootehill Reading Group

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

'What are you thinking, Amy? The question I've asked most often during our marriage, if not out loud, if not to the person who could answer. I suppose these questions storm cloud over every marriage: What are you thinking? How are you feeling? Who are you? What have we done to each other? What will we do?' Just how well can you ever know the person you love? This is the question that Nick Dunne must ask himself on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, when his wife Amy suddenly disappears.The police immediately suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn't true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches.He says they aren't his. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone. So what did really did happen to Nick's beautiful wife? And what was left in that half-wrapped box left so casually on their marital bed? In this novel, marriage truly is the art of war...

January Read - Bailieborough Reading Group

Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa 

Palestine, 1948. A mother clutches her six-month old son as Israeli soldiers march through the village of Ein Hod. In a split second, her son is snatched from her arms and the fate of the Abulheja family is changed forever. Forced into a refugee camp in Jenin and exiled from the ancient village that is their lifeblood, the family struggles to rebuild their world.

Some Cracking Christmas Reads available now on our Catalogue

An Irish Country Christmas by Patrick Taylor

Barry Laverty, M.B., is looking forward to his first Christmas in the village of Ballybucklebo, at least until he learns that his sweetheart, Patricia, might not be coming home for the holidays. That unhappy prospect dampens his spirits somewhat, but Barry has little time to dwell on his romantic disappointments. Christmas may be drawing nigh, but there is little peace to be found on earth, especially for a young doctor plying his trade in the emerald glens of rural Ireland. 

Christmas Magic by Cathy Kelly

From Dolores and Genevieve, two spinster sisters who must break free from their mother’s powerful personality, to Alice, who is facing having to open her home and her heart to the one visitor that she does not want this Christmas, from a captivating family story triggered by a letter to Lily’s disastrous arrival at her best friend’s wedding, these are stories to make you laugh, cry and nod in recognition.

Dickens at Christmas by Charles Dickens

This elegant collection gathers together not only Dickens' Christmas Books but also stories that Dickens wrote for the special seasonal editions of his periodicals “All the Year Round” and “Household Words”, and the hilarious festive episodes from “The Pickwick Papers”.

Driving Home For Christmas by Emma Hannigan

Christmas at Huntersbrook House is a family tradition and this year it's even more important as, with mounting debts and insufficient income from the livery yard, it looks like the Craig family might have to sell their beloved family home. Pippa, Joey and Lainey are the three grown up Craig children who, caught up with their own lives in Dublin, are, as yet, unaware of the problems facing Huntsersbrook. As the Christmas season approaches, the Craig family need to do some soul-searching and what better place than around the fire at Huntersbrook House.

Merry Christmas, Alex Cross by James Patterson

It's Christmas Eve, and Detective Alex Cross has been called out to catch someone who's robbing his church's collection box. That mission behind him, Alex returns home to celebrate with Bree, Nana, and the children. The tree-decorating is barely under way before his phone rings again - a horrific hostage situation is quickly spiralling out of control. Away from his own family on the most precious of days, Alex calls upon every ounce of his training, creativity, and daring to save another family. He risks everything - and he may not make it back alive for Christmas dinner.

With Love at Christmas by Carole Matthews

Juliet Joyce adores Christmas. She loves the presents, the tree, the turkey, the tinsel, everything. Already the festive spirit is upon her, which is just as well as this Christmas things are starting to get out of hand. Her son Tom is out of work and bringing home a slew of unsuitable partners; pregnant daughter Chloe and her little boy have moved back in; Juliet's father, Frank, is getting over a heartbreak of his own and Rita, her eccentric mother, is behaving more erratically each day. And has the chaos got too much for Juliet's husband Rick?

Christmas with Gordan by Gordan Ramsey

Gordan’s menus are built around a choice of 5 main course centrepieces - turkey, goose, beef, ham or sea bass - and include starters, accompaniments and desserts for each. To take the stress out of Christmas, Gordon offers masses of advice on ordering, shopping, preparation and timing. Also included is a great chapter on Party Food, and inspired recipes for Breakfast & Brunch, Lunches & Suppers, and Sweet Treats. Gordon's favourite Christmas ingredients, including stilton, smoked salmon, turkey and ham, are highlighted with suggestions for creative ways to use them over the Christmas period. Advice on wines and party drinks, cheese and other festive ingredients complete this invaluable guide to the perfect Christmas.

“All I Want for Christmas” is a collection of heart warming short stories written by some of Ireland’s bestselling authors, all of whom are donating their royalties to Barnardos.

Some of Ireland’s top women fiction writers come together in this collection of humourous, witty, sad, charming and poignant stories to ensure there is a great read for everyone. 

December's Reads - Cavan Library Reading Group

This month we are also reading some of the titles from E.M Forster's body of work. Click on any of the Book Images below to reserve a title on our Catalogue.
Read along and leave your comments here...

E.M. Forster or Morgan Forster was born on the 1^st January 1879 and died on the 7^th June 1970.  He was a British novelist, essayist, and social and literary critic. His fame rests largely on his novels The Longest Journey (1907), Howards End (1910) and A Passage to India (1924).

Longest Journey

An introspective novel of manners at once comic and tragic, it tells of a sensitive and intelligent young man with an intense imagination and a certain amount of literary talent. He sets out full of hope to become a writer, but gives up his aspirations for those of the conventional world, gradually sinking into a life of petty conformity and bitter disappointments.

Maurice

Set in the elegant Edwardian world of Cambridge undergraduate life, this story by a master novelist introduces us to Maurice Hall when he is fourteen. We follow him through public school and Cambridge, and on into his father's firm, Hill and Hall, Stock Brokers. In a highly structured society, Maurice is a conventional young man in almost every way, "stepping into the niche that England had prepared for him": except that his is homosexual.

Passage to India

Before deciding whether to marry Chandrapore's local magistrate, Adela Quested wants to discover the "real India" for herself. Newly arrived from England, she agrees to see the Marabar Caves with the charming Dr Aziz.

Room with a view

This is the story of a young English middle-class girl, Lucy Honeychurch. While vacationing in Italy, Lucy meets and is wooed by two gentlemen, George Emerson and Cecil Vyse. After turning down Cecil Vyse's marriage proposals twice Lucy finally accepts. Upon hearing of the engagement George protests and confesses his true love for Lucy. Lucy is torn between the choice of marrying Cecil, who is a more socially acceptable mate, and George who she knows will bring her true happiness. 

December's Reads - Cavan Library Reading Group

We are  reading some of the titles from Yasmina Khadra. Click on any of the images below to reserve a title from the Catalogue.

Make sure you read along and don't forget to leave your comments/reviews here...

About  Yasmina Khadra

Yasmina Khadra is the pseudonym of the Algerian writer Mohammed Moulessehoul, born in 1956. A high ranking officer in the Algerian army, he went into exile in France in 2000, where he now lives in seclusion. In his several writings on the civil war in Algeria, Khadra exposes the current regime and the fundamentalist opposition as the joint guilty parties in the Algerian Tragedy.  

The Attack

Dr. Amin Jaafari, an Arab-Israeli citizen, is a surgeon at a hospital in Tel Aviv. Dedicated to his work, respected and admired by his colleagues and community, he represents integration at its most successful. He has learned to live with the violence and chaos that plague his city, and on the night of a deadly bombing in a local restaurant, he works tirelessly to help the shocked and shattered patients brought to the emergency room. But this night of turmoil and death takes a horrifyingly personal turn. His wife’s body is found among the dead, with massive injuries, the police coldly announce, typical of those found on the bodies of fundamentalist suicide bombers. As evidence mounts that his wife, Sihem, was responsible for the catastrophic bombing, Dr. Jaafari is torn between cherished memories of their years together and the inescapable realization that the beautiful, intelligent, thoroughly modern woman he loved had a life far removed from the comfortable, assimilated existence they shared.

The Swallows of Kabul

Since the ascendancy of the Taliban the lives of Mosheen and his beautiful wife, Zunaira, have been gradually destroyed. Mosheen's dream of becoming a diplomat has been shattered and Zunaira can no longer even appear on the streets of Kabul unveiled. Atiq is a jailer who guards those who have been condemned to death; the darkness of prison and the wretchedness of his job have seeped into his soul. Atiq's wife, Musarrat, is suffering from an illness no doctor can cure. Yet, the lives of these four people are about to become inexplicably intertwined, through death and imprisonment to passion and extraordinary self-sacrifice.

The Sirens of Baghdad

A young Iraqi student, unable to attend college because of the war, sees American soldiers leave a trail of humiliation and grief in his small village. Bent on revenge, he flees to the chaotic streets of Baghdad where insurgents soon realize they can make use of his anger. Eventually he is groomed for a secret terrorist mission meant to dwarf the attacks of September 11th, only to find himself struggling with moral qualms.