Linda Connolly is the Director of the Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century and a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at University College Cork (UCC). Her research interests and publications are in the arenas of Irish society, Irish Studies, feminist theory, family, gender, migration and social movements, and she has collaborated on a number of research projects in these fields, nationally and internationally. Her previous books include The Irish Women¿s Movement: From Revolution to Devolution (Macmillan Palgrave, 2003; Lilliput, 2003); Documenting Irish Feminisms (Woodfield Press, 2005); and she is co-editor of Social Movements and Ireland (Manchester University Press, 2006). She has also served as the Managing Editor of the Irish Journal of Sociology (2008-14), published by Manchester University Press. Her next monograph (forthcoming) will focus on the relationship between Irish studies and the social sciences.

The 'Irish' Family is an innovative new text, which both aims to fill a substantial gap in the market for course material on Ireland and to contribute to wider debates about 'the family' in the arena of family studies and research. The collection will address a range of important topics within a number of disciplines, including sociology, social policy, history, women's studies, Irish studies and politics. It is unique in that it will be the first integrated 'Sociology of the Family' text in relation to Ireland.

Introduction 1. Locating 'the Irish Family': Towards a Plurality of Family Forms? 2. Marriage, Fertility and Social Class in 20th Century Ireland 3. The Family in Ireland in the New Millennium 4. Family and the Meaning of Life in Contemporary Ireland 5. A Premature Farewell to Gender? Young People 'Doing Boy/Girl' 6. Non-sectarian Mothering in Belfast: the Emotional Quality of Normative Change 7. 'One of the best members of the family': Continuity and Change in Young Children's Relationships with their Grandparents 8. Children, Cousins and Clans: the Role of Extended Family and Kinship in the Lives of Children in Returning Irish Migrant Families 9. 'Going home' To Where the Heart Is: Mixed International Families in the Republic of Ireland 10. Staying Connected: Irish Lesbian and Gay Narratives of Family 11. Untangling the Wired Family