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4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 Amazingly Detailed Story of 1830-50 Irish Life! Jan 02, 2007
As a voracious reader of 1800s Irish History, I was thrilled with the detail evidenced in this book, which was gathered from so many original sources never before used. What a joy to be able to read so many new resources! The Harshaw Diaries as well as the Newry, Co. Down newspapers which Mrs. Robie used provide amazingly detailed and captivating stories in this book. I had an extremely difficult time putting the book down to go to work! Other books of this era have a tendency to be scholarly and dry or they falsely put the majority of the blame for the Irish Famine on the Irish people themselves. This book clearly outlines the political and social upheavals from the perspective of a local tenant farmer caused by the Act of Union with Great Britain in early 1800 and mucked up by the British Parliament, as well as the divisions they caused among the Irish people themselves. This resulted in the huge death toll in Ireland from the famine - a famine which also hit England, France and Belgium but where the death toll was insignificant. By using original, localized sources, she captures our attention from the first page until the end magnificiently. I've read about the Young Irelanders in many other books, but this one clearly shows that one man in particular was the "Patrick Henry" of Ireland. Perhaps if the Irish had united then behind John Martin and his peaceful and positive approach to solving the Irish famine problems, fewer would have died. I'm glad to see a book that so brilliantly portrays his peaceful efforts instead of dwelling on the other, more famous Young Irelanders who advocated violence. I look forward to "the rest of the story", which hopefully will show that John Martin was the original father of the current Good Friday Agreement. If politicians in the 1870s had paid attention to him then, many lives would have been spared the tragedy of the Troubles of the late 1900s. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to fully understand what happened to their own Irish ancestors during this time period.
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Another step in understanding Ulster leading up to the famine Dec 28, 2006
Historians and genealogists will find "Dwelling Place of Dragons" a rich resource for understanding the 1830-1850 era in Irish history. Marjorie Robie's access to the Harshaw Diaries and the Newry Telegraph archives allowed her to vividly describe the day to day life of and the politics that affected the ordinary people of Ulster. Mrs. Robies attempts a fair handed description of all of the Irish groups, but she has little tolerance for the English politicians' utter disregard for Irish lives. Most of the book is fascinating but in some parts I felt I was slogging through too much political information .
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Think you know your Irish history? Nov 14, 2006
Marjorie Robie's Dwelling Place of Dragons is a fascinating and eye-opening look at the Irish "problem" from the mid-1800s. Told through the eyes of real people of the day, including a newspaper editor, a farmer, and various politicians, readers get a real peek into the tumultuous days when Ireland was in the throws of civil strife, with Irish Catholics pushing for separation and independence from British rule, and the Orangemen trying to hold them back. Robie takes us through the grueling years of the Irish potato famine, which I had always thought meant that during this time the Irish were starving because they could not feed themselves. But this is not the real truth. Pick up a copy and read for yourself why the starvation of the Irish was a British concoction...or maybe a reality brought on by incompetent and careless rule of the Irish subjects. The tension throughout this book between the Catholics and Protestants is palpable. Never have I found history come alive for my own Irish roots as it does here. This book is well written and well organized, and is only the beginning. There will be other books from Marjorie Robie in the coming months.
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