Irish Emigrant Book Review, No. 39 (Oct 1998)

Tara Road by Maeve Binchy
- Tara Road displays all the sharpness and wit Maeve Binchy’s legion of fans have come to expect.
In Ria, the busy housewife and mother who has so filled her days with incidentals that she at first fails to recognise what is happening to her “perfect” life, the author has created a character of strength whose certainty about her own feelings is neatly and wittily expressed in her conversations with her husband, Danny. Their son Brian’s capacity for asking the most inappropriate questions enlivens the narrative and lightens the atmosphere in some of the tenser situations, while the sparring with his older sister, Annie, will be very familiar to any parent. Ria’s slightly eccentric mother, Nora, wanders in and out of the story giving her point of view on any and every subject, and her sister Hilary’s outlook on life is in marked contrast to her own determined optimism.
Ria’s spur of the moment decision to do a house-swap with Marilyn, a woman from Connecticut, brings radical changes to both their lives as each has to come to terms with a reality they would prefer not to face. The effects of their altered state radiate out to include their extended families and colleagues in an intriguing and thoroughly entertaining tale which, though following the Lynch family to the US, is centred on the Victorian house in Dublin’s Tara Road. There is no doubt that the house itself has a dominant role, perceived as a welcoming home by Ria; by her husband Danny as a place where it is impossible to find peace and quiet; and by her troubled friend Gertie as a place to earn a few extra pounds. The eventual fate of the house is inextricably entwined with the fate of all who spend time in it and it becomes a symbol for the inevitability of change, the need to move on to whatever the future may hold.

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Bennett & Company by J.M. O’Neil
- In this novel, set in the late 1920s, it is the fanaticism of the confraternities which forms the basis of an examination of the emergence of a Catholic middle class after the turbulent years of rebellion and civil war. The Protestant Bennett family, traders in Limerick for more than a century, decide to remain when many of their brethren have fled North or to England, but find they have become the target of those citizens who believe that the new State must dispense with the old order. The Bennett family, businessman Arnold, Dr Thaddeus, their sister Lillian and her Catholic husband Edward Burke, and their parents living in retirement, are subject to burnings, beatings and attempted arson, and overcome these attacks with a determination to stay and become part of the new Ireland. It is possible that the tragedy already present in their private lives gives them the strength to resist the sectarian attacks, led by the evil Carmody. Edward comes from a family tainted with incest, Thaddeus’ wife is dying slowly from tuberculosis throughout the narrative, while Arnold’s son, Harry, is in the final stages of syphilis, contracted during his teenage years.
Whatever misgivings the reader may have about the content of this novel, J.M. O’Neill has beautifully captured the atmosphere of a time of political and social change; the mixture of horse-drawn vehicles and motor cars in the streets of Limerick, the gradual replacement of colonial names and statues with those more appropriate to the new State, the scourge of epidemic and the solace of faith in poverty. His portrayal of the clergy in the characters of Fr Cafferey and the Bishop gives a chilling picture of manipulation and power, while the character of Mulvey, the ex-colonial whose pursuit of Carmody has a personal edge when he discovers the stevedore’s part in his parents’ deaths in a fire, is perhaps the most interesting of all. This is a story full of atmosphere though perhaps a little overloaded with incident.

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Duggan’s Destiny by Seamus Martin
- The eponymous Duggan was manservant to Daniel O’Connell and on the Liberator’s final journey he kept a diary on which Seamus Martin has based his novel, “Duggan’s Destiny”. For the most part we see O’Connell as a broken man, both physically and mentally, as his doctors and Duggan attend to his needs and protect his reputation when he gives way to periodic bouts of insanity. It is a depressing picture of a once great man suffering a loss of dignity through infirmity, a loss which is exacerbated by the invasive treatments prescribed by 19th century medical practice. It is astonishing now to credit that the 72-year-old O’Connell embarked on a journey which was to take some months, given the state of his health. Trains were available only as far as Orleans in France and after that it was necessary travel by horse-drawn vehicle or boat. The narrative becomes a mixture of sordid details of the troubles experienced by Duggan in looking after his master, and the adulation accorded to O’Connell in Paris, Lyons and Marseilles.
Interspersed with Duggan’s recollections are three testimonies which give differing views on the character of O’Connell. The first, written by Ellen Courtenay, accuses him of rape and the subsequent disowning of their son; this is followed by a defence of her father written by Nell FitzSimon, O’Connell’s eldest daughter in which she refutes the legend that he had fathered a large number of illegitimate children. His supposed greed for money is highlighted in the a chapter entitled “O’Connell’s Knavery”, in which Alexander Raphael, the Member of Parliament for St Albans, talks bitterly of the way he was treated when making his first bid for a seat at Westminster. In this way the author contrives to bring all shades of the great man’s character to our attention, though I felt that the way in which this was achieved, the sudden switch from one narrator to another, rather interrupted the natural flow. However the author has, from what is described as a “sparse” journal, produced a novel which reflects the contrasts of life in the first half of the 19th century, from the slums of Dublin to the glories of Rome.

Hope by Marie Campion
- Marie Campion sets out a guide for those suffering from eating disorders and those who have to live with them. Herself a bulimic for a number of years, she includes extracts from a diary in which she confided her fears, since she was unable to talk about her illness to anyone who might have helped her. Steps are set out for those with anorexia, bulimia or compulsive eating syndrome by which they can gradually overcome their illness, and guidelines are also given for family members, especially mothers, in the best ways to cope. The title of the book is chosen specifically to assure those affected that a cure is possible, since Ms Campion herself was told at an early stage that this was not so, and that she would have to learn to live with the problem.

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Dev, Lady Chatterly and Me by Maeve Flanagan
- a lively account of a childhood spent growing up in Stillorgan in the 1960s. Beginning with a hilarious account of games devised by author Maeve Flanagan with her sisters, including one in which she, playing the part of Dev, was led around the garden laying imaginary wreaths during 1966, she goes on to tell of her embarrassment at having a retarded older sister in the class ahead of her at school. The impact of the rise of women’s liberation in Ireland on both herself and her mother is graphically described, as is the problem of leaving home when you’re already living in the capital city. In looking at both the highs and the lows of a ’60s childhood Ms Flanagan has produced a very entertaining book which I read at one sitting.

Snakes and Ladders by Fergus Finlay
- Fergus Finlay is well known as an adviser to Dick Spring. He resigned after the 1997 General Election in which the Labour Party suffered a severe defeat, losing a large number of seats. One of his functions was to write speeches and position papers and on reading his book, “Snakes and Ladders”, it is obvious why he was asked to contribute in that way. His writing is refreshing. It is exceptionally clear, direct and, dare one say it, simple. The sentences are wonderfully short. Yet that very simplicity indicates a wordsmith of great skill who has taken pains to ensure that his book is attractive and will be read and understood.
The story he tells is a very interesting, albeit a partisan, view of the main political issues of the 15 years which he covers, from 1982 until 1997. As anyone who has lived in Ireland well knows, those particular 15 years were dramatic and even traumatic. Finlay touches on all the main players including Haughey, Reynolds, Bruton and O’Malley. Naturally the fondest mention is reserved for Dick Spring, who was his leader in those years. Allowing for the natural personal bias towards Spring, Finlay tells his story exceptionally well and with considerable effort to avoid bias. On occasion, however, although never directly, he shows his real attitude towards some of the people he mentions. A case in point is the Labour T.D. Emmet Stagg; obviously not one of those whom Finlay most admires. He can also be amusing, as when he describes negotiations in Brussels and refers to the Irish Commissioner, Padraig Flynn, sweeping out of the room “like Anew McMaster on a bad night”. He also indicates with humour and delicacy his response to an English tabloid who wanted to obtain the address of the unfortunate child in the X case. He is obviously a man of integrity and vision (although this reviewer smiled a little at Finlay’s rationalisation of his adoption of the change of policy towards Sinn Fein).
In summary, Finlay’s book is a pleasure to read and gives a genuine insight, from a specific perspective, into some of the main political action in the period.

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Home to Roost by Liz Kavanagh
- Mary Lynch, writing under the pen name Liz Kavanagh which she has used for nearly 20 years in the Farmers Journal, was about to celebrate the publication of her first book when she fell and broke her back. Her second volume, “Home to Roost”, was written while she was in recovery from that accident and a number of the articles touch on the reaction of family and friends to her plight, and the limitations imposed by her immobility. This serves to highlight her philosophical approach to whatever life throws at her and, as in “Country Living”, the author gives an entertaining account of working beside her husband on a Co. Cork farm while rearing five sons. “Home to Roost” comprises a number of articles which span the years, though they follow the pattern of the farming year, so that one minute Ms Kavanagh may be telling us about a fancy-dress party that took place in the early ’60s, while in the next we are celebrating with the family when their herd is tested clear for brucellosis. Both the hilarity and the tragedy of family life are represented in a varied and entertaining collection.

Ireland from the Sea by Andrew Phelan
- Andrew Phelan takes the reader round the coast of Ireland on board a yacht, while the author discourses on the historical, geological and social aspects of the many places he and his crew visit. As the Sarakiniko rounds the coast at Dingle we hear of the fate of a number of ships of the Spanish Armada, of the sinking of the Santa Maria de la Rosa and the subsequent recovery of some artefacts from the vessel in the 1960s. Phelan writes extensively on the various islands around the coast, praising the work of Fr Diarmuid O Peicin who was instrumental in ensuring the continuation of Tory as a community in the 1980s. He also mentions the coming of electricity to Rathlin Island in 1993, a development welcomed by both Fr O Peicin and the Rev. Ian Paisley. “Ireland from the Sea” contains plenty of sailing details for the enthusiast as well as providing an interesting and unusual view of the country for the non-sailor.

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Ireland’s Master Storyteller by Eamon Kelly
- actor, writer and seanchai Eamon Kelly has brought together in one volume his six previous collections of stories which were based on his one-man shows in the Abbey Theatre. Here you will find tales of The Goban Saor, Fr MacGillacuddy who “sported a silk hat over a flowing beard”, and poet Eoghan Rua O Suilleabhain. Kelly’s memories of a way of life that is almost gone include the station Masses, visits to holy wells, the hiring fairs and American wakes. His inimitable style conveys the mixture of sadness and humour which pervaded the lives of country people in Ireland in our parents’ and grandparents’ day, and for those of us less familiar with the words and phrases common over the last century Kelly includes both a Glossary of Irish words and phrases and a Glossary of Irish sentences.

Lament in the Wind by Hazel McIntyre
- In her third book, Donegal writer Hazel McIntyre takes as her subject the Famine, with the life of Cassie O’Connor being revealed through a diary read by Cassie’s great-granddaughter, Mary Simpson, during a trans-Atlantic flight. In a tale which encompasses hunger, eviction and forced emigration, the evils of landlordism are nicely balanced by the compassion and kindness of the local rector and his daughter, Marcia. Through shared suffering the lives of Cassie and Marcia become entwined and from this develops the relationship that leads to Cassie’s eventual happiness. Ms McIntyre has successfully conveyed the interdependence necessary for survival in such troubled times, with a credible and interesting cast of characters and a story set on both sides of the Atlantic. There is a possibility that readers will be distracted by a rather idiosyncratic use of punctuation, though this in no way mars the enjoyment of “Lament in the Wind”.

Lessons in Irish Sexuality by Tom Inglis
- Acknowledging that the place of sex in Irish life has now achieved a much higher profile than was previously the case, Inglis follows the gradual change from Church domination to state policy resulting, among other things, in the Stay Safe and Relationships and Sexuality Programmes being introduced to our schools. He also looks at the gradual liberalisation of the media in Ireland with regard to sexual content and examines the different perspectives on sex resulting from the Catholic Church relinquishing its monopoly on sex education.

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Joan Denise Moriarty edited by Ruth Fleischmann
- A total of 95 friends and colleagues have contributed to “Joan Denise Moriarty”, edited by Ruth Fleischmann, which explores the Cork-born ballerina’s remarkable achievement in bringing ballet to Ireland in the 1950s. A major contributor is Aloys Fleischmann, musician and composer, who deals with the development of the Irish National Ballet Company until Ms Moriarty’s resignation as director in 1985. Members of her company, professional associates such as singer Bernadette Greevy, and appreciative followers of ballet all have something to offer, including Anne, Countess of Rosse who persuaded Ms Moriarty to bring her company to the Vintage Week in Birr. Not only a dancer, but a prolific choreographer, Joan Denise Moriarty fulfilled her ambition “to share with as many people as possible of all age-groups in the wonderful art of movement and dance”.

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