Local history rarely gets the attention it deserves, and this is particularly true in Ireland, where grand, heroic and romantic themes and figures often dominate. "Ireland's Banner County: Clare from the fall of Parnell to the Great War, 1890-1918" by Daniel McCarthy manages to tell a significant story on this admittedly small stage. Events in Clare at this time were nearly as turbulent as they were nationally and abroad. How locals reacted to Parnell and "The Great War" leading up to the Easter Rising is explored by McCarthy, who recently curated an award-winning Clare County Museum exhibit entitled "Riches of Clare." McCarthy argues that Clare's distinct environment has favored what he calls "strong man" leaders since the time of Brian Boru. The men who, at the time covered by McCarthy, emerged from Clare - Michael Cusack, Willie Redmond, Colonel Martin Meaney, and even Eamon de Valera - seem to bear that out. Clare was described by one local observer as "the most Roman Catholic county in Ireland and the most disloyal and disaffected towards the English connection." Yet Clare also lost a disproportionate number of men during World War I. How this all came about is probed sure-handedly by McCarthy. (Go to www.clarehistory.com for publishing details.)