This lavishly illustrated volume is a compendium of all things Irish. It explores the history of the Irish from their Celtic origins to today's vibrant society divided among a republic and a kingdom, and embracing immigrant communities in the United States, the Commonwealth and elsewhere. It displays this history's living legacy ina landscape of farms and historic buildings such as the General Post Office in Dublin and the two cathedrals of Armagh. The origins and meanings of common surnames are described, and the individual coats of arms displayed, in a section on Irish families.