SOME BOOKS. OF THE WEEK.
[Under this heading les notice such Books of the week as hare not been reserved for review, in- other-formsj Murray's Handbook for Travellers in Ireland. Eighth edition.
Edited by John Cooke. (Edward Stanford. uet.)--This new edition of Murray's-Ireland is a considerable advance on the last, which was published in 1906. Since that date Ireland has under- gone considerable changes. Much excellent work has been done by the Board of Public Works and the- Georgian Society, whose recent antiquarian reports and journals are largely drawn upon in the present volume. There has also been a-marked improvement in hotel accommodation and a great increase in the number of golf courses, both factors which indicate, and have doubtless contributed to, an increase of tourist trade. The sportsman will find that the introductory section on angling has been rewritten and greatly improved, while golf is given much more prominence in the volume generally. The anti- quarian side of the book was certain, in the hands of Mr. Cooke, to secure adequate treatment, and in this connexion one may call attention to two very important observations in his pre- face. Ho pleads with great force for a proper survey of Irish archaeological remains, such as is now being carried on in England and Wales, and points out that in Ireland the universal change in land ownership throughout the country is adding largely to the dangers with which such monuments are always threatened; and, secondly, he calls attention to the great damage which public neg- lect is inflicting on Irish fisheries. This neglect is evidenced 'both by the inadequacy of restrictive legislation and the laxity in enforcing the laws which already exist. The recent actions _at law over the eel-fisheries in the river Bann are instructive reading in this connexion, and although one would be adverse to any excessive bolstering up of private claims, a strengthening of the general restrictions on excessive user is evidently much needed. Mr. Cooke has done a real service by calling attention to 'these two dangers in a volume which will, it is to be hoped, find its way into the hands of many who are interested in Ireland. The book itself is, as has been said, a marked improvement on its prede- cessors. In one or two places one would have welcomed a- little more elaboration. Thus the Abbey Theatre and the Dublin Municipal Gallery are worth more than the bare mention which they receive, and there is no mention at all of The Miter Literary Theatre, which has done such excellent work in Belfitet. Too much stress should not, :however, lid laid on these omissions from an otherwise excellent compilation.
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