Competition: Win a copy of The Origins of the Irish by J.P Mallory

We have a nice book giveaway for you thanks to Thames & Hudson.

About 80 million people today can trace their descent back to the occupants of Ireland. But where did these occupants themselves come from - and what do we even mean by 'Irish' in the first place? Irish monks and later scholars have puzzled over the riddle of Irish origins for over a thousand years, but without any clear resolution. The medieval Irish created an elaborate narrative of their origins that has haunted generations of archaeologists, linguists and even modern geneticists.

The Origins of the Irish is the first major attempt in nearly eighty years to deal with the core issues of how the Irish people came into being. Written as an engrossing detective story and illustrated with informative drawings and maps, this is essential reading for anyone who is interested in Ireland and the Irish.

This authoritative and brilliantly argued book emphasizes that the Irish did not have a single origin, but are a product of multiple influences that can only be tracked by employing archaeology, genetics, geology, linguistics and mythology.

Beginning with the geological collision that fused the two halves of Ireland, the author traces Ireland’s long journey to become an island. He examines the sources of Ireland’s earliest colonists and why they might have sought out one of the most impoverished places of Europe to settle.

The origins of the first farmers and their impact on the island are followed by an exploration of how metallurgists in copper, bronze and iron brought Ireland into wider orbits of European culture. Traditional explanations of Irish prehistory are assessed in the light of the very latest genetic research into the origins of the Irish. The author also tackles the vexed question of the Celts and the sources of the Irish language.

Author J. P. Mallory is a world expert on the interconnection of archaeology and linguistics and is the author of the standard work In Search of the Indo-Europeans and The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European. He has co-authored The Archaeology of Ulster and The Tarim Mummies and published numerous other works. He is Emeritus Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology at Queen’s University Belfast and a member of the Royal Irish Academy.

WorldIrish have three copies of this beautiful publication to give away.

To be in with a chance of winning, please comment below.

You must have a profile photo to be in with a chance. Winners will be announced on Wednesday February 20 and notified via their WorldIrish PM Inbox. The book will be posted to you from Dublin, Ireland.

The paperback book is 23.4 x 15.6 cm and its ISBN is ISBN 9780500051757. You can see the publishers website here.