It’s not like us to miss a trick when it comes to new books on islands. We somehow overlooked the publication in late 2021 of The Coastal Atlas of Ireland. That omission was happily remedied when we received this magnificent book as a gift last Christmas. In the foreword to the multi-authored volume, it is noted that “Ireland is the quintessential island.” That certainly made us pause for thought, because we often forget that Ireland is an island. Walk through the centre of Dublin and you find all the creative energy of a great European mainland city.