A Lost Tribe a novel by William King (Lilliput Press, Dublin, 2017). This novel derives from William King’s experiences as a clerical student and priest in the archdiocese of Dublin during the last fifty years. Through his character Fr Tom Galvin, a 70-something parish priest, he narrates the story of the Catholic Church in Ireland as…
Gooch: The Autobiography by Colm Cooper (Transworld, €20.00) At the outset Cooper explains the origin of his nickname. It arose because when he was eight years old he had a passing resemblance to red-haired ‘Goochie’ dolls popular at that time. The real heroes in this book are Colm’s parents, Mike and Maureen. They began their…
The Kilderry Files a novel by Maurice Manning (Currach Press, €14.99) This novel is set in the pre-and post-Vatican II period. An elderly Irish bishop dies and his successor discovers in his papers US stocks and shares worth millions of dollars. Wishing to dispose of these without questions being asked as to their source,…
Quality Time at St Chinian by Patrick Masterson (Liberties Press, €14.99) Many people have enjoyed Ronald Searle’s The Terror of St Trinians and its sequel of comedy films. With an unmistakable reference to it in the title, Masterson provides a foretaste of this debut novel. Just as Searle described the eccentricities and idiocies of the staff…
Journey of Ten Thousand Smiles by Patricia Keane (Rebuild for Bosnia, Monasterevin, €16.95; for over the phone sales call 045 532 410) In November 1996 I accompanied Fr Kevin Doheny, CSSp, on a journey from Medjugorje to Sarajevo. He had been a missionary in Biafra, where there were thousands of displaced people and refugees after…
Murtaí Óg: Murtaí Óg Ó Súilleabháin (c. 1710-54): a life contextualised by Gerard J. Lyne, (Geography Publications, €25.00) Here once again this author writes with authority about his local area. His The Lansdowne Estate in Kerry under the agency of William Steuart Trench, 1849-72 was a classic account of an Irish landlord’s agent in the…
The Great Famine in Tralee and North Kerry by Bryan MacMahon (Mercier Press , €35) The Great Famine, or ‘Black ‘45’ as it is known in the oral tradition, was a seminal event in the modern history of Ireland. It initiated the great emigration to the ‘New World’. Regrettably it also grafted on to the folk…
Wounds: A Memoir of Love & War by Fergal Keane (William Collins, £18.99) Fergal Keane is well-known as a foreign correspondent, especially for his coverage of Africa and Serbia. His main area of interest is war and its effect on those who have been caught up in it. In his latest book he looks closer to…
A Bloody Night: The Irish at Rorke’s Drift by Dan Harvey (Merrion Press, €14.99) A Bloody Day: The Irish at Waterloo by Dan Harvey (Merrion Press, €14.99) J. Anthony Gaughan These are interesting accounts by the same author of two very different battles, but which had one thing in common – the participation of Irish soldiers. Rorke’s Drift…
Sam Maguire: The Man and The Cup by Kieran Connolly (Mercier Press, €12.99) As last week’s dramatic victory by Dublin over Mayo showed, the Sam Maguire Cup is much better known than the man after whom it was named and honours. This opportune account of Sam Maguire and noteworthy occasions and persons associated with…