What Ireland Can Teach the World About Music – and other essays
Toner Quinn | February 2024 | ISBN 9781739577407 | €19.99 + P&P | Buy here

Reviews
‘A formidable collection… a richly textured, all‑embracing compendium … Collecting so many well-argued pieces in one place underscores the heft of Quinn’s writing.’ – Siobhán Long, The Irish Times

‘… an engrossing appraisal of the magical power of musicians to soundtrack our lives and times and a powerful compendium of necessary ideas. … Quinn and the Journal of Music have made a precious contribution to documenting Irish music for future generations.’ – Eamon Sweeney, The Irish Times

‘A significant, almost historic, yet living read. A rich well of intellectual observations, ideas and positive motivations, while starkly exposing shortcomings in officialdom.’ – David Agnew, Sound Post Magazine

‘If you think you know a lot about Irish music, I recommend you read What Ireland Can Teach the World About Music. Your eyes will be opened to a breadth of music you’ve not considered before, you’ll discover more about the Irish music you already enjoy, and you’ll learn a lot.’ – Sherry Ladig, Irish Arts Minnesota

‘The book offers a unique retrospective on a tumultuous period in Irish music history: a thoughtful, critical, wide-ranging exploration that will serve both as a primary source for future historians and, hopefully, as a starting point for further discussion.’ – Kara Shea O’Brien, Ethnomusicology Ireland

‘There needs to be a voice within a music that holds everybody to account… Séamus Ennis or Breandán Breathnach or Tony MacMahon … We’ve had those voices and, unfortunately, many of those authoritative voices have passed, and I would say that Toner Quinn is one of those people that’s occupying that space now, and I say that with the utmost respect to those previous musicians I just mentioned. So it’s from that point of view that I think this book is incredibly important.’ – Martin Hayes, speaking at the launch of What Ireland Can Teach the World About Music

‘A clever, instructive and stimulating book.’ – Gabriele Haefs, Folker magazine

About the book
How do we create a deeper public discussion around music? What can folk music tell us about our society? How do we support music in our villages, towns and cities? And what can Ireland teach the world about music?

For over two decades, Toner Quinn has been writing about these questions and more in the multi‑faceted world of Irish music. In this book, he gathers together a selection of his essays and articles.

From Martin Hayes to Jennifer Walshe, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin to Sinéad O’Connor, and from the impact of the economic crash to the fallout from the pandemic, this collection provides a unique insight into Irish music in the twenty-first century.

Rich in ideas, What Ireland Can Teach the World About Music explores what makes this culture unique, and the challenges it faces into the future. 

€19.99 + P&P | Buy here

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Count Me Out: Selected Writings of Filmmaker Bob Quinn
Edited by Toner Quinn | February 2025 | ISBN 9781739577421 | €19.99 + P&P | Buy here

Reviews
‘This is a book to be read as one continuous whole or one to be frequently dipped into – or both. Every chapter is an engrossing piece in its own right.’ – Mick Jordan, Film Ireland

‘For anyone interested in film or broadcasting in Ireland, [Bob] Quinn is a superb writer and these articles are perfect for getting a taste of his stubbornly independent mind. You may not agree with everything he says, but we should be grateful that he has been around so long to say it. – Brian Reddin, RTÉ Culture

‘When Bob Quinn’s Irish-language film Poitín (1978) first aired on RTÉ, one viewer rang up to suggest they “burn the film and don’t let it out of the country”. Thankfully, they didn’t get their way and it’s still his best-known film outside Ireland. But there’s so much more to Quinn’s 60-year career. Count Me Out, a collection of the director’s writing edited by his son Toner, is a crash course in his maverick state of mind. It covers Quinn’s public falling-out with RTÉ, a dicey meeting with Gaddafi, and his long fight against the commercialisation of Irish broadcasting. Among the candid grievances are accounts of Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoire (1975), his film inspired by the great Irish poem ‘The Lament for Arthur O’Leary’, and a beautiful tribute to Poitín star Donal McCann.’ – Katie McCabe, Sight and Sound

… [Bob Quinn’s] views still deserve serious consideration in media and political circles. The general reader will find the real nuggets in the personal stories of this important film-maker.’ – Kevin Rafter, The Irish Times

About the book
In 1969, Bob Quinn walked out of RTÉ, published a damning critique of the broadcaster, made a controversial appearance on the Late Late Show, and took refuge in the Conamara Gaeltacht.

After three years trialing various careers, he returned to filmmaking as a result of the Gaeltacht Civil Rights Movement and founded the company Cinegael. What followed was a series of groundbreaking works that changed the course of Irish film, including the first Irish-language feature film, Poitín.

In subsequent decades he continued to challenge convention, from the Atlantean films, which linked Ireland to North Africa, to his role in the activism that led to TG4, and from his bracing analysis of RTÉ in the book Maverick to his outspoken views on the societal impact of television advertising.

Now, in a landmark collection, Bob Quinn’s son, writer and musician Toner Quinn, brings together a selection of his father’s essays, articles and book extracts that trace the artist’s work and thinking over seven decades. Combining wit, irreverence and vision, Count Me Out – Selected Writings of Filmmaker Bob Quinn is an inspiring collection by one of Ireland’s most iconoclastic voices.

€19.99 + P&P | Buy here

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The Radical Thinking of Desmond Fennell
Edited by Toner Quinn and Jerry White | June 2025 | ISBN 9781739577445 | €19.99 + P&P | Buy here

Reviews
‘It’s Fennell’s waspish, provocative but never glib commentaries on specifically Irish affairs that, as President Michael D Higgins noted after his death, “will endure and continue to inspire”.’ – Andrew Lynch, The Irish Times

‘This book is an interesting collection of important work, and it will hopefully assist in an ongoing intellectual revival relating to the author and the country he loved so well.’ – James Bradshaw, Position Papers

About the book
How can we create a more vibrant public discourse in Ireland? How do we organise Irish society so that it prospers socially, culturally and economically? Why is a national identity important? How can we ensure the future of the Gaeltacht? And where is the Western world heading?

These are just some of the questions that Desmond Fennell (1929–2021) applied himself to in a lifetime of thinking and writing. Fennell was one of Ireland’s great independent thinkers. A writer, essayist and public intellectual, he brought a fresh perspective to debates on Irish identity, language, media, politics, and the wider world.

In this curated collection, editors Toner Quinn and Jerry White bring together some of his most important writings – from his classic essay on the Irish language, ‘Revival or Not?’, to his analysis of the media in
Ireland, ‘Getting to Know Dublin 4’, and from his probing exploration of Irish cultural and intellectual life, ‘Intellect and National Welfare’, to his prescient analysis of the Western world, ‘The Postwestern Condition’.

The Radical Thinking of Desmond Fennell is a vital collection for anyone seeking a fresh perspective on Ireland and the world today.

€19.99 + P&P | Buy here

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For stockists for all books, see here.