Irish Emigrant Book Review, No. 33 (April 1998)

Anne Chambers
Pat Conaghan
Paul Connell
Denis A. Cronin
Catherine Dunne
Melosina Lenox-Conyngham
Morgan Llywelyn

Brid Mahon
Harry McHugh
Brian O Dalaigh
Iseult O’Doherty
Michel Peillon
Eamon Slater
Glenys Spray
Alice Taylor
George Thompson

In The Beginning by Catherine Dunne
- ”In The Beginning” is a remarkable first novel which examines minutely the stages through which a deserted wife goes in her efforts to put her life back together. Rose has been married to Ben for 20 years when he suddenly announces one morning that he is leaving her and their three children, after telling her that he no longer loves her. The description of Rose’s efforts to endure the next few hours under a veneer of normality, and her retreat to the safety of her home, bring us directly to the heart of her suffering. The movement of the action back and forth from the days of their courtship and marriage, through the beginnings of Ben’s affair with his work colleague, Caroline, to the traumas experienced by Rose and her children in the weeks following his flight works well in that it provides an understanding of what has led to the present crisis. Through the device we learn more about the characters involved and the stages through which their relationship has passed, with particular attention being paid to the loss of their second child, Michael, who was stillborn. Despite having such an unhappy theme, Ms Dunne manages to inject a good deal of humour into the narrative, in the way Rose deals with her situation; in one episode Rose and her friend Jane drive out to Dublin Airport and move Ben’s car to a far corner of the parking lot so that he’ll be unable to find it when he returns from Spain, then head off, giggling, for a celebratory lunch in Malahide. The author also emphasises Rose’s very positive attitude and her sudden realisation that she is capable of taking charge of her life, of dealing with the difficulties experienced by Damien, Brian and Lisa, who react to their father’s absence in very different ways. This is a book which compels one to continue reading and offers a remarkable insight into the anatomy of a modern marriage.

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”Diaries of Ireland, an Anthology, 1590-1987”, Edited by Melosina Lenox-Conyngham
- ”Diaries of Ireland, an Anthology, 1590-1987”, is a wonderful selection of eye-witness accounts of events both historic and domestic in Ireland from the pens of young girls, politicians, soldiers and writers. A number are particularly topical in describing the unrest in Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare during the 1798 rising, while we are also given firsthand accounts of the Siege of Limerick Castle in 1642 and the battles of 1690. The extracts from John Wesley’s diary show him to have been indefatigable in his journeying and include an interesting comment on the people of Galway where he found 20,000 Papists and five hundred Protestants:
“ but which of them are Christians, have the mind that was in Christ, and walk as he walked? And without this, how little does it avail whether they are called Protestants of Papists?”
The diaries of lesser-known people are particularly entertaining in the light they throw on day-to-day living. In the early 19th century the two Ponsonby girls, Frances and Emily, described for their siblings a visit they paid to a house in Donegal where they encountered the formidable Miss McNeill who sent them into paroxysms of suppressed laughter. Dubliner Joseph Holloway in 1904 declared of John McCormack, that “what might have been a remarkable voice, if trained properly, will fizzle out into a cracked robust tenor of the pot-house order of merit”. He had rather more complimentary things to say about the light tenor voice of Mr James A. Joyce.
Beginning with the visit of Ludolf von Munchhausen to Ireland in 1580 and ending with extracts from the diaries of Gemma Hussey in 1987, Ms Lenox-Conyngham’s collection is both informative and entertaining, and each diarist is given a comprehensive biography by way of introduction.

1916, A Novel of the Irish Rebellion by Morgan Llywelyn
- ”1916, A Novel of the Irish Rebellion”, brings to life the characters and events of Easter 1916 as does no other work with which I am familiar. Ms Llywelyn’s drawing of the passion that drove Padraic Pearse and his companions to take on the might of the British Empire gives us a knowledge and understanding of the times through which they lived. Pearse’s school, St Enda’s in Rathfarnham, is introduced with the arrival there of Ned O’Halloran from Clare, survivor of the Titanic and protege of Lord Inchiquin. The school serves as a calm and peaceful contrast to the chaos of the city centre, and it is to this refuge that Ned finally returns. Through his eyes, and his work as a messenger, the reader is drawn into the gradual unfolding of the revolutionaries’ schemes, the failures and successes in gathering arms, the confusion and conflicting orders in the days prior to the Rising, and the reaction of those in Dublin Castle responsible for keeping law and order.
The hopelessness of the situation offset by the determination, idealism and singlemindedness of the protagonists, is beautifully portrayed. It would be hard to forget the strength and integrity of the physically frail Joseph Plunkett, the unswerving doggedness of Thomas Clarke, the vision and sense of purpose of the Pearse brothers. And all of this is balanced by the fictional story of Ned and Sile, the Clare girl who came to Dublin and became a prostitute, and their concern and care for Precious, the child left motherless after the Bachelors Walk attack by the British Army. The comprehensive list of notes, chapter by chapter, included at the end of the book, is testament to Morgan Llywelyn’s attention to detail which, allied with her gift for storytelling, makes “1916” a reading experience to be savoured.

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Granuaile - The Life and Times of Grace O’Malley c.1530-1603 by Anne Chambers
Anne Chambers has used additional material gleaned from the archives in Westport House, and a number of public institutions, to delve more deeply into the life of this powerful 16th century woman. Quoting freely from, and reproducing much of this material, Ms Chambers presents us with a formidable figure who became dominant on both land and sea and won acceptance and respect from friends and enemies. Grace O’Malley’s two marriages, her changing relationships with her sons in the political climate of the times, and the final days of the old Gaelic order are included in this portrait of one whom the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir Philip Sidney, described as “a notorious woman in all the coasts of Ireland”.
Of particular interest are the two intertwined strands of her rivalry with Sir Richard Bingham and her visits to the English court where she was granted an audience with that other formidable and powerful woman, Queen Elizabeth 1. The meeting of the two leaders has become legendary, but the author dispels the myth with the no less compelling factual details of the meeting. Such were Granuaile’s powers of persuasion that she returned to her native Mayo with instructions from the English queen for Bingham to provide for her out of her sons’ estates, and to offer the family his protection. The inclusion of a number of appendices giving the actual texts of important relevant documents, a genealogical chart of the O’Malley clan, and a number of poems and songs dedicated to Grace O’Malley, contribute to the overall quality of this new study of the Mayo seafarer and her family. It is ironic that one of her attested descendants, Nicholas Brabourne, died with his grandfather Lord Mountbatten in the very waters which were once the territory of his fourteenth great grandmother.

The Village by Alice Taylor
- In “The Village”, one of the first publications by the new Brandon Press, Alice Taylor has left childhood behind and brings us through her first job in Killarney to her meeting with her future husband at a dance in Innishannon. We are introduced to the place which was to be her married home with a chapter giving a short history of the village and the people who lived there, including the many craftsmen whose craft had died with them in an age of mass-production. The author’s entry into Innishannon coincided with Ireland’s entry into the modern world of supermarkets and mass-produced furniture, and she and Gabriel, her husband, opened the first supermarket in the village when they converted the grocery-cum-post office which had been in Gabriel’s family for five generations. The pair also responded to the upswing in tourism in the 1960s and converted an old house into a guest house and we are treated to pen-portraits of a number of intriguing guests.
While Alice Taylor seems to have been entirely resourceful and able to cope with anything which came her way, the whole business of pregnancy and motherhood caused her to question her own competency. The horrors of morning sickness, the pain of childbirth and the difficulty of managing a small baby caused her to question her “suitability for the call of motherhood”. As she saw it, “All in all he knew nothing about routine or how to behave as a baby”, and she was convinced she would be “the first woman ever whose baby died because his mother lacked the capabilities that every normal mother possessed”. As so often happens, Ms Taylor found her confidence restored when her second son was born.
“The Village” reveals all aspects of Innishannon and Alice Taylor’s intimate style allows us into the heart of the place. The final chapter is devoted to a description of the beauties of nature to be found there in all seasons and one sentence, I think, best conveys the feelings she has for her home:
“In Innishannon we are surrounded by woods on both sides of the river and to drive along the road in the autumn from Bandon to Innishannon and on to Kinsale must surely be one of the most glorious journeys in the country.”

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Blood, Sweat and Tears by Glenys Spray
-Glenys Spray has examined in detail the Hepatitis C scandal which has affected some 1,600 men and women, in Ireland, focusing in particular on the case of Mrs Bridget McCole, who died from the condition. Ms Spray provides a chronological outline of the events leading to the issuing of letters to those involved in 1994, the apparent mismanagement of the case by the BTSB and the Tribunal which followed. She questions the way in which State institutions function, and the fact that no one held to be responsible for the scandal has been brought before the courts.

Stolen Childhood by by Iseult O’Doherty
- ”Stolen Childhood”, in which a number of survivors describe the nature of the abuse to which they were subjected, and explain how they have been helped to come to terms with it, is not for the fainthearted. Each account has its own horror, whether the abuse be sexual, physical or both, and what comes across most forcibly is that those who were in a position to help or to end the situation failed to do so. The book, by Iseult O’Doherty, is the result of two programmes made for RTE’s religious programme, “Would You Believe?” and the case studies included represent only a small percentage of the numbers of survivors who made contact following a letter in the Irish Times from the makers of the programme. The final section is devoted to a list of addresses, telephone numbers, both in Ireland and in the UK, which will be of assistance to anyone who finds him/herself in a similar situation.

Studies in Local History, Irish Townlands”, edited by Brian O Dalaigh, Denis A. Cronin and Paul Connell.
- A study of individual townlands in nine counties comprises “Studies in Local History, Irish Townlands”, edited by Brian O Dalaigh, Denis A. Cronin and Paul Connell. Nine writers have chosen townlands from different parts of the country, reflecting differing topographical and social aspects, and have studied them in respect of their development as a response to historical and sociological changes. Each essay gives a plethora of interesting detail gleaned from, among a number of sources, the Tithe Applotment Books and Griffith’s Valuation, the interest being intensified should the reader have personal knowledge of the area. Townlands covered include Drumcavan in Co. Clare, Dysart in Co. Westmeath, Ballynahalisk & Sweet Rockmills in Co. Cork, Kilmacud in Co. Dublin, Cloonfush in Co. Galway, Eskerbaun in Co. Roscommon, Cloncurry in Co. Kildare, Lacken in Co. Wicklow and Kildoney in Co. Donegal.

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Island Home - The Blasket Heritage by George Thompson
- George Thompson’s work on the Blasket Islands, “Island Home - The Blasket Heritage”, has been reissued in an amended and enlarged edition, with a memoir of the author written by Tim Enright. Thompson, a noted Greek scholar, was fascinated by the Homeric character of the island storytelling and was instrumental in persuading Muiris O Suilleabhain to record his growing-up on Blasket in “Twenty Years A_Growing”. In this work he examines the evolution and gradual decline of the storytelling tradition, while a second section is devoted to photographs of island people and a series of drawings by Muiris O Suilleabhain.

Land of Milk and Honey by Brid Mahon
- Brid Mahon, who worked for many years with the Irish Folklore Commission, has compiled an entertaining history of the traditional food and drink of Ireland. Using as her sources both legend and historical document, Ms Mahon gives us a comprehensive view of the way in which our ancestors sustained life and celebrated noteworthy occasions. Moving from the different types of drink to fish, meat and vegetables, we are given the various methods of preparing the food and drink, the special occasions on which each was consumed, and the effects of historical events, notably the Great Famine, on the nation’s eating habits. In a final chapter the author takes us through the year, festival by festival, explaining how each was celebrated through the ages and the foodstuffs associated with each. Altogether this is an immensely entertaining book which will leave the reader anxious to sample the many dishes mentioned.

The Great Famine in South-West Donegal 1845-1850 by Pat Conaghan
- The Great Famine in South-West Donegal 1845-1850 contains a wealth of detail which, though it deals specifically with one small section of the country, in truth depicts life in Ireland during the Famine years, both for those suffering severe deprivation and those whose job it was to alleviate it. The specific areas covered are Ardara and Inniskeel, Kilcar and Glencolumbkille, Donegal town and Glenties, and Mr Conaghan provides statistics even to the amount of food allowed each day to those on indoor or outdoor relief. He also addresses the question as to why an island people were unable to avail of the stocks of fish available so close to hand, and includes a chapter on the emigrant ships which left the west of Ireland for America and Canada. His painstaking research has provided the reader with a vivid picture of life in Donegal during those difficult years, while he accepts that South Donegal was by no means the hardest hit area. It would have been helpful, I think, if a map of the area concerned had been included, especially for those readers who might not be familiar with the geography of Ireland.

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The Road to Vinegar Hill - A 1798 Love Story by Harry McHugh
- “The Road to Vinegar Hill - A 1798 Love Story”, draws together the twin threads of the French Revolution and the Rising in Ireland, through the character of Conal O’Carran. Forced to leave his school in France he returns to the family home in the North and comes into contact with Nuala Grogan, whose family have also fallen on hard times. The story follows their separate paths to Wexford and culminates in the famous battle of Vinegar Hill, bringing the history of the period vividly to life.

Encounters with Modern Ireland edited by Michel Peillon and Eamon Slater
- ”Encounters with Modern Ireland” is a series of essays edited by Michel Peillon and Eamon Slater which sets out to provide an understanding of the sociology of modern Ireland. A number of academics were asked to choose a particular subject and look at its development in the years 1995-1996. Among topics covered are the development of the Temple Bar area of Dublin, the introduction of professionalism to Irish rugby, the question of national waste disposal and the twin problems of New Age Travellers and attitudes towards the Travelling community in Ireland.

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