A Year of Glory and Gold: 1932 – Ireland’s Jazz Age by Kevin C. Kearns
Synopsis
The 1930s in Ireland is often remembered as a bleak period of economic stagnation and unemployment. But, 1932, hailed by the Irish Press as a ‘new era’, was an early glimmer of the modernity that Ireland would later reach, with key events including Olympic gold medals and the rise of Jack Doyle, the Eucharistic Congress, a so-called gold rush and the election of Éamon de Valera, all hinting at Ireland’s future success.The soundtrack scoring all this change was the jazz craze, loosening the conservative moral order of the time. Bringing new forms of dress, lifestyle and behaviour, it excited a younger generation for the future, while leaving an older generation wary of such rapid change.
A Year of Glory and Gold is an energetic biography of a bright year in Ireland’s history, combining deep archival research with spirited storytelling by one of Ireland’s best-loved social historians.
About the Author
Kevin C. Kearns, Ph.D., is a social historian and Professor Emeritus at the University of Northern Colorado. He has made over 40 research trips to Ireland, a number of which were funded by the National Geographic Society. Of his ten books on Dublin, five have been bestsellers, most notably Dublin Tenement Life: An Oral History which was number one on The Irish Times bestseller list for many weeks. He is the author of Dublin Voices: An Oral Folk History, Stoneybatter: Dublin’s Inner Urban Village, Ireland’s Arctic Siege: The Big Freeze of 1947 and The Bombing of Dublin’s North Strand: The Untold Story. His latest book, Lugs Branigan: Ireland's Most Famed Garda, was published in September 2014.