Family rhythms is the first textbook of its kind with an explicit focus on Ireland and Irish families. Uniquely, the book draws on original in-depth interviews with people of different ages to introduce contemporary scholarship on the family and to illustrate how Irish families have adapted and changed over time. With chapters on childhood, adolescence, parenting and grandparenthood, the book shows the resilience of families in different social and historical contexts. Each chapter includes a discussion of the challenges that face families and how social research can inform policy makers' responses. Family rhythms is a comprehensive, user-friendly textbook that offers a variety of strategies for engaging readers, including direct encounters with qualitative data through the use of classroom oriented discussion panels. Synopses of landmark Irish studies are included throughout, bringing the insights from these key studies together in a single textbook for the first time.

Jane Gray is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Maynooth University and Research Associate of the National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis

Introduction: Families in the sociological imagination
Part I: Questioning the modern family
1. The idea of the modern Family
2. Beyond the modern family. Re-visioning family change
Part II. Changing families across the life course
3. Changing childhoods
4. Early adulthood and family formation
5. Working and parenting in the middle years
6. New grandparents. Older people in the family
Conclusion: Resilient families? Continuity and change in Irish family life
Appendices
Index