Wild Irish Roses: Tales of Brigits, Kathleens, and Warrior Queens

by Trina Robbins

Forget the myth of the sweet Irish Colleen. Real Irish women were no creampuff debs. From the ancient warrior queens Marrigan, Macha, and Badbh to the labormovement maven Mother Jones, Irish women have backbones of steel. Wild Irish Roses is a fascinating look at wild Irish women throughout history/ serious information imparted in Trina Robbins' trademark style, with verve and humor. The women in Wild Irish Roses are not always nice girls or even good girls, but they are women who know how to get things done, whether on the battlefield or in the bedroom. These are women who preserved and handed down the old stories. They are women who fought in revolutions with either gun or pen, wrote books, starred in books others wrote, and stormed heaven itself. Author Trina Robbins is an impeccable researcher whose knack for telling stories and embellishing them with engaging illustrations and photos, brings each of these Wild Irish Roses to life,
Wild Irish Roses is a celebration of tough, independent, beautiful Irish women from myth to modernity. It's a book that is sure to entertain, inform, and inspire readers of every background to find the Irish rose in themselvesto discover what they want and have the courage to go out and get it.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Mythology, Ireland

215 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2004

About the author

Trina Robbins is an American comics artist and writer. She was an early and influential participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the few female artists in underground comix when she started. Her first comics were printed in the East Village Other. She later joined the staff of a feminist underground newspaper It Ain't Me, Babe, with whom she produced the first all-woman comic book titled It Ain't Me Babe. She became increasingly involved in creating outlets for and promoting female comics artists, through projects such as the comics anthology Wimmen's Comix. She was also the penciller on Wonder Woman for a time in the '80s.

Trina has worked on an adaptation of Sax Rohmer's Dope for Eclipse Comics and GoGirl with artist Anne Timmons for Image Comics.

Trina designed Vampirella's costume for Forrest Ackerman and Jim Warren.

In addition to her comics work, Robbins is an author of non-fiction books, including several with an emphasis on the history of women in cartooning.

She is the first of the three "Ladies of the Canyon" in Joni Mitchell's classic song from the album of the same name.

Trina Robbins won a Special Achievement Award from the San Diego Comic Con in 1989 for her work on Strip AIDS U.S.A., a benefit book that she co-edited with Bill Sienkiewicz and Robert Triptow.

Reviews

[Maddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're looking for an unbiased collection of tales about Irish women, this is not the book for you. Riddled with obvious bias and unnecessary personal commentary, "Wild Irish Roses" skews the original myth and folklore by comparing the texts to modern concepts rather than explaining the historical context of each story. However, it's not just the myth that is misrepresented. The stories of the Irish and Irish-American women are blatantly aimed to align themselves with modern topics of interest rather than being presented as they should be in a historical and cultural sense. I'd suggest reading the source texts rather than reading this collection. Having read many of them myself, I can honestly say that the reader will gain much more by reading Irish myth and literature than perusing this book.

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book and learning all about the history of influential Irish women and Irish mythology. I had never even heard about some of the topics such as Kathleen Ni Houlihan and Queen Maeve. As someone who is close to obsessed with any Irish literature, I was happy with my experience reading this book even though it was more on the light side of reading. I am interested in now further looking into more literature on the topic of the history of Irish women.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quick read book. To students of Irish mythology and history, the book will seem simplistic and lacking in details. However, if you just want a quick, bare bones primer on Wild Irish Roses this is a good book for you. It is entertaining and informative. Robbins tells ancient tales of strong women in short snipets using modern, everyday language.

[Cecilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

My mommy gave this to me.

This is definitely the trashiest book I've read in a while, but a really nice light fun easy read. Exactly what I was looking for, with a couple good and interesting stories in it.

[Annie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very casual writing style got old by the third chapter. I also got bored when we entered the 'Who's who of Catholic Saints' part so I didn't bother finishing.