Irish Emigrant Book Review, No. 41 (Dec 1998)

Fire on the Hill by Gretta Curran Browne
- On first delving into Ms Curran Browne’s novel “Fire on the Hill”, based on the life of Wicklow rebel Michael Dwyer, I began to suspect that I was suffering from 1978 overload. The first few chapters were a struggle, but gradually the story of the rebel leader’s life, evading capture by the redcoats and militia in the mountains of his native county, caught my interest. The author has woven fact and fiction into a riveting account of a life on the run, punctuated by short periods of family life. All the principal players are here, Lord Cornwallis, General John Moore and Lord Castlereagh, as well as Dwyer’s closest comrades, Hugh Vesty, Martin Burke and John Mernagh, who were to accompany him into exile. The story, set against the background of the unsuccessful rebellions of 1798 and 1803, gives to Dwyer the same ability to evade capture as was enjoyed fictionally by the Scarlet Pimpernel and in reality more than a century later by Michael Collins. The esteem in which he was held by his close associates and the people of Wicklow, the determination of the authorities to effect his capture, and his final betrayal by Dublin Castle form the basis of the tale, while his humanity is emphasised by his love affair and secret marriage to Mary Doyle.
Dwyer lives on the run, visiting his wife and children in safe houses, until he is persuaded to surrender in order to safeguard his extended family. The final cruelty of transportation to Botany Bay with Mary but without their four children brings a different kind of sorrow, and Michael dies just months before his two sons and two daughters join the family in Australia. The last few chapters tell of the good and bad years of his life in his new home and contrast with the fictional quality of the work, particularly given the details in the Epilogue of the monument erected to him to mark the centenary of the Rising in 1898.

[ top ]

A Year in Connemara by Guy St John Williams
- An indication of the general tenor of Guy St John Williams’ book comes in the subtly altered disclaimer, “Some of the names in this narrative may be fictitious, but then many of the characters are surreal”. “A Year in Connemara” describes a period spent renovating and rendering habitable the house on Heather Island in Connemara formerly occupied by his grandfather, Oliver St John Gogarty. Relinquishing a career as a racing official in the far east, St John Williams persuaded his family to take up permanent residence on what had been an infrequent holiday venue. Writing with a certain self-deprecatory humour, he chronicles the trials and tribulations of persuading local tradesmen to complete contracts, though his greatest difficulty lay with the installation of an electricity supply, since the ESB was loathe to risk its engineers on the perilous crossing of Tully Lake. Each chapter is devoted to one month, from summer to summer, covering the “war” between the fish farmers and local fishermen; a proposed literary trail of Connemara taking in James Joyce, Somerville and Ross, Shaw and, of course, the author’s own grandfather; a proposal to walk the disused railway line between Clifden and Galway; and an overall coverage of more usual rural pursuits.
St John Williams peoples his book with a range of characters who bring the pages to life. His friends and acquaintances are drawn from the world of the arts, the racing confraternity and his neighbours in Renvyle, in particular Gerry Park, Gerry Sheep and Gerry Carpets, so designated from their occupations to avoid confusion. He is able both to observe and participate in the minutiae of country life so that we are introduced to summer evenings in the village when, “it seemed that everyone we knew in the neighbourhood and many more besides had assembled in the evening sunshine, imbibing and chatting animatedly”. At the same time he can ponder on the seasonal donkeys who, some suspect, “are wintered in a vast hangar under the auspices of Bord Failte, released at strategic points at the beginning of each tourist season to beguile our visitors”. This is altogether a delightful account of one year in what has obviously been a very full life.

[ top ]

Christmas in Ireland Edited by Colin Morrison
- First published in 1989 and based on a radio series entitled “Cast Your Mind Back to Bethlehem”, “Christmas in Ireland” is a collection of essays with a linking theme of Christmas past. Eamon Kelly, the Kerry seanchai, recalls a time in the ’20s when Christmas was “a pool of light in the inky darkness of winter”. He recalls in particular the lighted candles which were placed in each window and which gave such unfamiliar illumination in the days before electrification. Playwright Hugh Leonard also reflects on Christmas as a special time, a time when his mother could be safe in the knowledge that the family had come through another year and were in the calm waters of Christmas before setting out on the journey into the next year. Poet Pat Ingoldsby remembers his father scouring Dublin until late on Christmas Eve to find the presents his two small sons had asked for, but also reflects on the loneliness of the bedsit dweller who can only be an observer of Christmas happiness in others. Micheal O’Shadhail’s poems, too, reflect the conflict that is Christmas; “Dangling” records the child’s excitement in bringing home and decorating the Christmas tree, while in “Outsider” he recalls being asked for help by a man
“...his face blotched crimson with cheap wine and sleeping rough.”
and having ignored him, is then haunted by the question of what might have been his fate.
Bryan McMahon has a delightful story of two novice nuns who escape on St Stephen’s Day to “follow the wren”, but take their daring to the point of folly by knocking on the door of their own convent, and Seamus Heaney’s “An Ulster Twilight” adds a further dimension to our understanding of how Christmas can reconcile differences. Other contributors to “Christmas in Ireland” include John B. Keane, Brendan Kennelly, Clare Boylan, Val Mulkerns and Breandan O hEithir.

[ top ]

Firebolt by Joe Buckley
“Firebolt” is a fantasy adventure involving two childhood friends who set out on a perilous journey to rescue their fathers from the Orelord, who represents the forces of evil. The time is the future, after a cataclysmic destruction has taken place, but the forces of good and evil are still ranged against each other. Branwald and Maloof set out armed with the Firebolt and pass through a variety of adventures on the way to the Bastion of the Orelord, where their quest to release the prisoners is ultimately successful. Buckley concludes his story with a legend which effectively promises a sequel in the adventures of Branwald and Maloof.

Stone Buildings by Patrick McAfee
In “Stone Buildings”, the author of the bestselling “Irish Stone Walls” has compiled a guide to the repair and preservation of Ireland’s traditional buildings, a tradition which he fears may be lost. This is essentially a technical volume for builders both professional and amateur, though Patrick McAffee does provide some diversion with a number of the legends of The Goban Saor. The development of the stone building from ancient Greece to our own times is the context for advice on stonecutting, stonemasonry, pointing and plastering among a range of skills. The volume is amply illustrated with both photographs and explanatory diagrams and is a testament to the author’s dedication to his craft.

The Early Years of Brian O’Nolan, Flann O’Brien, Myles Na Gcopaleen by Ciaran O Nuallain
- In 1973 Ciaran O Nuallain, the older brother of Brian O’Nolan, recorded in Irish the early years of his famous brother. Now “The Early years of Brian O’Nolan/Flann O’Brien/Myles na gCopaleen” has been re-published in a translation by Roisin Ni Nuallain. The elder O Nuallain covered the family’s years in Tyrone, Tullamore and Dublin and the book is almost as much about their father, Michael, as it is about Brian, though perhaps the most startling fact is that the three older brothers didn’t begin to attend school until they were in their teens, a very traumatic experience for all of them. Brian’s boyhood and youth are recorded, up to his emergence as a noted speaker at UCD’s Literary and History Society debates and his first forays into print with a journal entitled “Blather”.

[ top ]

The Wild Red Deer of Killarney by Sean Ryan
- Retired accountant Sean Ryan has a deep interest in the wild red deer which inhabit the Killarney National Park and this interest has led to the completion of a virtually exhaustive study of the animals which will appeal to both amateur and professional. Covering the lifestyle of the animals season by season, Ryan deals with the feeding and behavioural habits of this unique herd, and the text is accompanied by superb photographs taken by the author. The appendix contains more detailed information on such subjects as tagging, the red deer on the Blasket island of Inishvicillaun, and advice on capturing the deer on camera.

The Celtic Tiger from Outside Looking in by Mary Valarasan Toomey
- Mary Valarasan Toomey came to Ireland from what was then known as Ceylon in 1967 in order to continue her education at Trinity College, and found a great welcome from everyone she met. In “The Celtic Tiger from the Outside Looking in”, she contrasts her early experience with the treatment of later immigrants, whether legal or illegal, who have had to deal with a not inconsiderable level of racism. She has seen the country develop from the less than affluent times through an increase in emigration in the 1980s to the burgeoning economy of the ’90s. Having married a Dubliner she was struck by the welcome she received from her husband’s family, which was in stark contrast to the reaction of her own parents in Sri Lanka at her marriage to a white Westerner, but makes the point that in the era of the Celtic Tiger the Irish are no longer as welcoming of people from other countries. Even the medical staff from overseas have noticed a change in attitude from earlier years, and Ms Toomey lays the blame for this change squarely on the shoulders of some sections of the media. As well as writing on racism, the author also deals extensively with Irish education, deploring a system that concentrates on entry to university to the exclusion of a broader approach to the subject. This is an interesting view of our present society, coming as it does from one who has been part of it for the last 30 years but who nevertheless is able to give an objective view to some extent.

Robert Lloyd Praeger by Sean Lysaght
- Sean Lysaght, who was first introduced to the works of Robert Lloyd Praeger by his father, has written a biography of the famous Northern naturalist which chronicles his life from his early years in Holywood, Co. Down, to his work at the National Library in Dublin and his position as tour conductor for the Dublin Naturalists’ Field Club. His election as a member of the Royal Irish Academy for his work on geology and botany in his native province, the Clare Island Survey and his professional isolation after the wars in Europe and Ireland are dealt with extensively, as are his two field trips to the Canary Islands, on which he was accompanied by his wife, Hedwig. Praeger’s interest also extended to archaeology and, with colleagues, he carried out excavations at Carrowkeel, in Co. Sligo, and at the Hill of Uisneach, in Co. Westmeath. It was in the 1930s that he produced his best-known work, “The Way That I Went”, a survey of the 32 counties from both a topographical and a personal point of view.

[ top ]

Great Irish Voices, edited by Gerard Reid
- In “Great Irish Voices”, editor Gerard Reid has brought together a number of historical speeches spanning the last 400 years in Ireland. Subdivided into categories including “Speeches from the Dock”, “The Ulster Question”, “The Great Advocates” and “The Rights of Man”, the book includes such familiar speeches as Robert Emmet’s “Let no man write my epitaph...” and De Valera’s reply to Churchill. Mary Robinson’s inaugural speech as President and her address to a joint sitting of the Houses of the Oireachtas on “Cherishing the Diaspora” are included, with the only other female voice being that of Countess Markievicz exhorting the women of Ireland to play their part in the national struggle for freedom. This is a book pleasurable to dip into, with each of the 62 speeches given an explanatory opening paragraph and each speaker given a short biographical note.

Isobel’s Wedding by Sheila O’Flanagan
- In her third novel, “Isobel’s Wedding”, Sheila O’Flanagan again chooses Dublin as the setting for what is essentially light holiday reading. Although centred on Dublin, much of the action takes place in Madrid, to which city the eponymous Isobel has moved after being virtually left at the altar by her fiance, Tim. In a surreal episode she actually heads off on what should have been her honeymoon trip to Greece, with a girlfriend. An office administrator, Isobel is persuaded by her boss to take the offer of a job in Madrid as a means of distancing herself from her traumatic experience, and so begins a totally new life. Though demonstrably successful in her new job she never quite lets go of what might have been and, despite a succession of relationships, her ex-fiance is never far from her thoughts. A connection is maintained between them despite the misgivings of her family and friends. On a visit home for her friend’s wedding, inevitably Isobel meets up once again with Tim and is persuaded to give him another chance. This is a book whose title accurately reflects the contents, for the subject of Isobel’s wedding or non-wedding to Tim permeates the entire narrative. The wedding is postponed, the engagement is broken off, both parties enter other relationships, the ring appears back on Isobel’s finger, arrangements are put in place once more. Tim has acknowledged his mistake and Isobel’s only ambition is to walk down the aisle as Mrs Tim Malone. I must admit that my interest in the nuptials of this indecisive pair was beginning to wane in the last few chapters, but Ms Flanagan managed to add a twist to the tail of the story which revived it sufficiently for me to read to the final page with a certain sense of satisfaction.

[ top ]