23 NOVEMBER 1918, Page 17

SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

[Haim in this column does not necessarily preclude subsequent review.] The Departure of Dermot. By Standish O'Grady. (Dublin : Talbot Press. ls.)—This attractive prose fancy might be called "The Departure for England of the Irish Difficulty." It describes with much realistic detail how Dermot, King of Leinster, defeated by a league of enemies, set sail in 1166 for Bristol to seek help from his English friends. Mr. O'Grady thus reminds us with quiet irony that the English first went to Ireland at an Irishman's invitation to expel the Danes and to establish some sort of order in the distracted country. The Irish clergy were the chief supporters of Henry IL's protectorate, as we may call it, under Strongbow.