In school, we are told, the cuckoo presages the summer. In adulthood, welcome to realise the cuckoo has many ways of expressing itself. For me, I know the summer has definitely come when I am asked: "Whaddya mean my family history isn't available in paperback at less than ten dollars?".There are times when I say prayers for Arthur Hailey and his godamned roots. And there are times when I bless Arthur Hailey, because, I believe that series brought about a major change in the now constant search for family roots.

Before "Roots", Genealogy tended to denote a specific family history. Despite the popular perception, there are actually only a few family genealogies written, and most of these in a script so archaic as to be almost unreadable. This is certainly true in Ireland. Furthermore, these genealogies will only refer to the "noble" families, which, of course, means that for ninety per cent of the population, their genealogy is non-existent.

Since "Roots", Genealogy has become more local. This has been helped by increased mobility and greater ability to travel. People can now travel back to the village or townland of their ancestors and in some cases even see the cottage or wreck of a cottage from whence they had emigrated. No more are we talking of the genealogies of Kings, but of Joe Soaps. And so when we are asked for family histories now, we endeavor to identify the town, or village or townland, their people may have come from. Genealogy has become more a study of local history than of Royal genes. It is, therefore, with a great sense of relief that I noted over the last few weeks the appearance of the Revised Edition of James Ryan's "Irish Records Sources for Family and Local History". This is an invaluable tome for anybody with Irish ancestry who is beginning a family search. I appreciate that it is not cheap at IR£30.00, but the depth of the information provided within makes this a genealogical bargain.

It must also be mentioned that the search for family roots in Ireland carries with it an amount of spiritual baggage. Most who begin the search enthusiastically don't realise this until too late. I remember one client some time ago who asked for a biography of Sarsfield. I had to tell him that, at that time, there was only one biography of Sarsfield available and that was written by Alice Curtayne in the "Noted Irish Lives" series and that, unfortunately, we had none in stock. As we talked, he told me his great-grandfather, John Sarsfield, had left from the Cong area sometime in the 1850s and that this was his first time in Ireland chasing his roots. I told his we had some Griffiths Valuations for the Galway Baronies and that maybe, we had one for his area. I went to the back of the shop and found one for the Barony of Oughterard, the wrong side of the lake. A little disappointed, I thought I would show it to him anyway, to give him an idea of what I had meant and thumbed the books as I came to the front of the shop. To my great surprise, there was the Barony of Clonbur and, as I reached him standing at the counter, in the middle of the page, the name John Sarsfield. There, I said, is your great-grandfather. I had made two mistakes. I had told him the price of the book before I went looking and I had showed him the entry without warning. He went puce pale and I thought he was actually going to collapse there and then. Fortunately he recovered and, some days later, when I had found a copy of the Curtayne biography, he no longer wanted it...he had found a whole new family of cousins he never knew existed.

Personal detail can also be an important key in uncovering family roots. Another client found himself in a Mayo valley in front of a cottage with an absolute feeling that this was it. He knocked on the door and was received politely, if coldly, by the two ladies therein. He was given a cup of tea and was treated with courtesy and deference. As the conversation continued, he became more and more convinced he was in the right place. He tried everything, to no avail and then, in the course of a sentence, mentioned a major general store in Boston. The sisters looked at each other, one rose and went to the dresser, reached to the top and took down a biscuit tin full of letters with the store's address stamped on it.

After something of a lapse, the good old historical novel is back. Recently published are Carlo Gebler's "How to Murder a Man", set in nineteenth century Monaghan and based on Stuart Trench's "Realities of Irish Life". Morgan Llyelwyn's "1916", a whopper of a novel set around the Easter Rebellion. Signed Copies of both of these are available. While she was signing here Morgan told me, she had signed 1400 copies over a two day period in Chicago. Last week, we launched a new novel by Gabrielle Warnock. This is a book to get your teeth into. Called "The Silk Weaver", it is set in Dublin in 1798. Beautifully told, we come to know the silk trade and how it operated at that time. Not only is the story something to savour, but the book itself is a pleasure to hold, with its delightful dustjacket and its well laid out text. This is a wonderful summer's read.

Over the last month, the following books have been received. From the Connemara Tourism Association a delightful little brochure on walking in Connemara. There are quite a variety of walks in this and for all levels. An invaluable companion for anybody holidaying in the area. All the way from Australia comes the "Irish Kennedys The Story of the Rebellious O'Kennedys". Written by Brian Patrick Kennedy, this is a personal family history and throws light on various branches of the O'Kennedys. From the Dedalaus Press we have new collections from Tony Curtis "3 Songs of Home", Colm Brennan "Pitchcap and Pike", and Enda Wyley "Socrates in the Garden" Signed copies of all these collections will be available. From the Lilliput Press we have the '98 Reader. The book is a steal, with all the relevant speeches and documents up to Emmet's Speech in the Dock. I love the clever way the first four chapters are titled:

1. Early, early all in the Spring.
2. The Birds did whistle and did sweetly sing.
3. Changing their notes from tree to tree.
4. And the song they sang was 'Old Ireland Free'.

I am delighted to see them reprint Asenath Nicholson's "Annals of the Famine in Ireland" This is an extremely important contemporary account of the Famine in the West and, more particularly in Mayo. Also from the same Press is the Lenox-Conyngham anthology of the Diaries of Ireland and the reprint of Wolfe Tone novel "Belmont Castle".

Finally, I am taking a booth at the Stonehill Irish Festival outside Boston this month and would love to see any of my friends there. The show opens on Friday the 12th and carries through the week-end.