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St. Patrick's Day has turned March into the unofficial Irish American history month. If a trip to Ireland doesn't fit into your budget, we have a less expensive way for you to keep the celebration going all month long. From memoir to history to fiction, there is something here for everyone in this roundup of books --- whether or not you can claim Irish roots.
MEMOIR
 After years of running away from her Irish heritage, Alice Carey went looking for it. In I'LL KNOW IT WHEN I SEE IT: A Daughter's Search for Home in Ireland, she recounts the experience of renovating a 19th-century farmhouse in County Cork (next door to actor Jeremy Irons) and weaves throughout the story of her life --- from the run-down apartment of her childhood in Queens, New York to the Upper East Side townhouse of Broadway producer Jean Dalrymple, where her mother worked as a maid, to a life as an actress and AIDS activist...and finally her return to her Irish roots.
 In THE MOUNTAIN OF THE WOMEN: Memoirs of an Irish Troubador, Liam Clancy, part of the Irish group the Clancy Brothers (who are known as the Beatles of Irish music), recalls his days in New York in the 1950s and '60s, pursuing his dream of becoming an actor --- where he played and sang with his brothers in Greenwich Village pubs and befriended then-unknown artists like Bob Dylan, Maya Angelou, Robert Redford, and Barbra Streisand.
 A group of jaded American tourists are in for a surprise with James Charles Roy as their guide. In THE BACK OF BEYOND: A Search for the Soul of Ireland, he takes them on a tour of the Emerald Isle that goes beyond conventional guidebooks. As they explore Celtic coronation sites, monasteries, and remote abbeys, Roy spins a narrative that allows them to understand and appreciate Ireland's fascinating and turbulent history --- and so will the reader.
FICTION
 Journey to an Irish village with John McGahern in his latest novel, the exquisitely rendered BY THE LAKE. With stunning descriptions of the landscape and against a backdrop of the changing seasons, McGahern chronicles a year in the lives of several of the village's residents, including Londoners seeking a quieter life; the head of the IRA who is also the auctioneer and undertaker; his wife, born and raised in the village; and the wealthiest man in town, known as "the Shah."
 Irish Times columnist Nuala O'Faolain's fiction debut exhibits the same display of honesty, poignancy, and humor that characterized her memoir ARE YOU SOMEBODY?. MY DREAM OF YOU unfolds the story of Kathleen de Burca, a writer who returns home to Ireland to research a 19th-century scandal as the basis for a book --- an affair between the wife of an English landlord and her Irish servant --- and discovers more than 200-year-old secrets.
 AT SWIM, TWO BOYS opens in the spring of 1915, as two young men from very different backgrounds make a pact to swim across a bay in Dublin the following year. Twelve months later, much has changed, as the Easter Uprising ravages Dublin and their relationship has grown from friendship to love. Ten years in the making, Jamie O'Neill's first novel is earning him comparisons to another Irish writer, James Joyce.
NONFICTION
 If parades, leprechauns, and shamrocks come to mind when you hear the word Irish, Maureen Dezell has a bone to pick with you. In IRISH AMERICA: Coming into Clover, Dezell goes beyond stereotypes and clichés to provide a clear portrait of Americans of Irish Catholic ancestry and their rich heritage that is so often overlooked.
 The expression "knock on wood" derives from ancient Celtic tradition. To summon the aid of, or thank, a fairy, Celts would rap the trunk of an oak tree. Although John Wayne was of somewhat distant, mostly Scottish Irish heritage, he was popular among Irish Americans intrigued by his mixture of machismo and patriotism.  There are 999 more fascinating facts --- from people and places to history and lore --- to be learned in 1001 THINGS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IRISH AMERICAN HISTORY by Edward T. O'Donnell. To quote Malachy McCourt, author of A MONK SWIMMING and SINGING MY HIM SONG, "What the hell are you waiting for? Get the book and get reading!" You can't argue with that.
--- Shannon McKenna
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