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Irish Emigrant Book Review, No.65 (Dec 2000)
THE FALLING
ANGELS by John Walsh
- To all of us who have spent childhood and youth between Ireland and
England, and have found difficulty in finding where we actually belong,
John Walsh’s autobiographical work strikes an immediate chord. The search
for identity is also bound up with his relationship with his parents,
the doctor father who yearns to return to Ireland and inevitably finds
it a foreign country, and the mother who would rather remain in England
but is much more successful in settling into her new environment. John
and his sister Madelyn were typical of many children brought up by Irish
parents in London, they saw themselves as Irish, mixed hardly at all with
their English neighbours and became entranced when they eventually met
their Irish relatives in Galway. The author manages to capture the total
strangeness and attractiveness to the English-reared psyche of the nuances
of Irish life, and his gradual acceptance into this life. A later attempt
to become totally Irish, through choosing to take a postgraduate course
in a Dublin university, was less successful and he came to understand
that he was an unreconstructed Englishman, he spoke with an English accent,
dressed like an Englishman and liked English girls best. Ironically, after
he came to accept his own quintessential Englishness his father made the
final decision to return to Ireland, but felt uneasy at leaving his son
behind in London. The narrative both begins and ends at the hospital bedside
of his mother and in between the author chronicles the minutiae of his
family relationships. There are many hilarious incidents in the book but
the scenes that stick in the mind are the more sombre and painful episodes,
such as the effect on his father when John discussed with him his own
loss of faith, and the scene in the Galway clothes shop when his father’s
frailty and vulnerability were startlingly brought home to him. But it
is his mother’s final illness and death which bring both the funniest
and the most poignant moments. The local priest who insists on reciting
the day of the week and the time of day to each of his elderly patients,
to give them “something to hold on to”, brings forth the response from
the author that he might also think of giving a weather update and the
winner of the 2.30 at Leopardstown. In contrast, and in the final chapter
when the reader has been given an insight into the character of his mother,
the author describes her final days with love, with regret, with sadness
and with courage hen he accedes to her request and sings for her John
Denver’s “Leaving on a jet plane” despite the fact that she is in a public
ward. Finally John Walsh comes to a conclusion about his identity, listening
to advice from a Presentation nun at his mother’s funeral. She tells him
that he belongs not with his parents and ancestors but wherever his children
are, but that every heart is allowed sacred spaces where they feel most
alive. The final chapter sees him unconsciously echoing his father’s character
and personality, while at the same time declaring his independence from
parental influence. “The Falling Angels”, those displaced beings who are
forever caught between two places, symbolise perfectly the uncertainty
permeating the young John’s life. However it was a life filled with incident
and colourful characters beautifully detailed with humour, affection,
love and honesty; a book to be savoured.
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ECHOES OF ANOTHER
TIME by Hazel McIntyre
- This book of memories is firmly rooted in one particular spot on the
Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal where the author spent her childhood.
Opening with a poem entitled “Winter at Kinnagoe Bay” (better known to
those familiar with the area as the Glen Shore), the first story then
plunges us into the world of young people in the middle of the 20th century
and their efforts to travel the twenty miles or so to a dance hall near
the border. The eternal folly of youth is captured in Hanna’s refusal
to spoil her outfit by wearing a coat, and a sense of hospitality long
gone is epitomized in the kindness of a woman woken up late at night who
provided warmth, food and a change of clothing for the frozen revellers.
This sense of a disappearing world permeates many of the stories, the
“hellfire and brimstone” missions being particularly vividly described,
and from the vantage point of maturity the author condemns all religions
who “were guilty, to a greater or lesser extent, of using the tactics
of fear and guilt as weapons of control”. More lighthearted times are
also recorded, such as the cross-border smuggling after a trip to Derry
when the young Hanna’s outbreak of measles saved herself and her companion
from being searched at the customs post. The ’Presbyterian’ cow that bucked
when blessed with holy water, and the rooster with the broken leg who
was put to sit on a clutch of eggs are just two memorable incidents from
this record of life in days gone by. The memories reflect the author’s
childhood and teenage years while some, such as “A City Man’s Gifts”,
reflect her adult years. This random movement from one part of her life
to the other I found slightly confusing, but this is the only quibble
I have with Hazel McIntyre’s entertaining and thought-provoking memoir.
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SPOTLIGHT by
Carole Bellacer
- Both of these novels by American author Carole Bellacera deal with the
situation in the North as it affects people’s lives, and the main characters
in both are an American woman attracted to an Irishman who has been drawn
into the conflict against his will. In “Border Crossings” Pearse O’Faolain
feels compelled to move back to Fermanagh from his settled and peaceful
life in Dublin after the death by violence of his brother, Kennet. His
American wife, Kathy, is not so happy but makes the best of it until the
violence comes close to home and her son is put in danger. Her subsequent
flight to Dublin, and the dilemma faced by Pearse as he is torn between
patriotic duty and love for his wife and child, provide the climax to
a well-told story. - In “Spotlight” much of the action takes place in
the US, though the theme is similar, with an Irishman traumatized by the
events of Bloody Sunday who has turned his back on the conflict and has
become a successful singer. He meets an American girl who is assigned
to do a story on him for her paper, but the long arm of the terrorist
movement catches up with him and almost sucks him back into the world
he has firmly denounced. The inevitable happy ending is achieved with
credibility by means of a fast-paced narrative that carries the reader
along in its excitement. In both books the author has managed to strike
an authentic note, though the American voice is undeniable. The only note
that really jarred was the scene in “Spotlight” in which Caitlyn MacManus
and Sheedy are in Armagh, making their way south to the border and safety.
Sheedy, in advising her to act naturally should they meet anyone, says,
“...should anyone come along, just say ’Top o’ the mornin’, like you’re
out for a stroll”. Ms Bellacera has portrayed characters who are believable
on the whole, and both major and minor characters are equally successfully
drawn. Both books leave the reader with a feeling of hope for the future
of the North, though one suspects it might be a touch rose-tinted.
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BEYOND THE STUDIO
by Jonathan Bardon
- Noted Northern historian Jonathan Bardon has here tackled the subject
of the BBC’s presence in Northern Ireland from its first broadcast on
September 15, 1924, when a young Tyrone Guthrie was the announcer for
the evening, to the arrival of the digital age in 1998. From its first
base in Linenhall Street in Belfast, the broadcasting station moved to
the purpose-built Broadcasting House on Ormeau Avenue in 1941, a building
officially opened on the morning after the second German air raid on the
city. While radio became more and more popular as technology and therefore
reception improved across the province, television was slow to catch on
in the North and it wasn’t until the Coronation in 1953 that the number
of households owning televisions grew significantly. The author has dealt
with many aspects of broadcasting in the North including the question
of party political broadcasts, the beginnings of outside broadcasts with
their attendant cumbersome equipment, the variety of programmes covering
the arts, music, children’s programmes and sport, and the emergence of
Radio Foyle. “Beyond the Studio”, with its numerous photographs, will
bring back memories of past programmes on both radio and television and
is also a fitting tribute to a broadcasting company which is noted for
the way in which it has served and involved the people of the North over
the past seventy-five years.
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THE HIP FLASK
ed. Frank Ormsby
- Frank Ormsby has collected short poems, no more than ten lines, by Irish
poets in this anthology whose title reflects the perceived function, to
be carried with the reader and “nips” taken when sustenance is necessary.
Among poets chosen by the author are Yeats and Synge, Beckett and Clarke,
as well as living poets. Many contributions are in the form of haikus,
for example Tony Curtis’ stark “Shot twice in the head. Once in each astonished
eye. History is blind.” Many of the poems deal with death, some poignantly
as in Richard Murphy’s “Lullaby”, while others have a humorous and tension-breaking
note, as in Dermot Healy’s “The Prayer”. The author has been successful
in his aim, to give due attention to poems often overlooked in anthologies,
a success which is also indebted to Barbara Childs’ woodcuts and the high
quality of the presentation.
WOMEN IN PARLIAMENT
by Maedhbh McNamara & Paschal Mooney
- This book is a combination of an interesting survey on the low numbers
of women in Irish government and the reasons for the shortage, and a series
of biographical details of all the women who have held political office,
both in the Republic and the North. The survey, which was carried out
by the authors in association with Yvonne Galligan, Kathleen Knight and
Una Nic Giolla Choille, notes the numbers of elected women who have been
related to prominent male politicians, especially in the earlier years
of the century. These include Nora Connolly-O’Brien, Margaret Pearse and
Mary McSwiney, with later representatives featuring Nora Owen and Mary
Banotti, Sheila de Valera and Mary O’Rourke. A common obstacle to women
entering political life is the difficulty of juggling home and a very
demanding career, and the guilt engendered by the necessary long absences
from home. This was forcibly put by Senator Madeleine Taylor-Quinn who
said that the maximum time she could stay out of circulation after the
birth of her children was two weeks. It is recognised in the survey that
there is a need to increase the representation of women in parliament
which will require a concerted effort from the political parties. The
biographical section of the book lists all the women who have been elected
to either house of the Oireachtas, the European Parliament and the Northern
Ireland Parliaments. The chronicle begins, of course, with Constance Markievicz
and takes us through to Dana Rosemary Scallon, giving a brief sketch of
the career of each parliamentarian and, where relevant, quotations relating
to their responsibilities. Apart from giving us an absorbing study of
the advance of women in political life, the authors have provided a useful
reference book.
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THE IRISH TIMES
BOOK OF THE YEAR by Peter Murtagh
- Covering the year from September 1999 to September 2000, Peter Murtagh
has selected a representative series of articles and photographs so that
we move from Maeve Binchy in self-mocking mode to the horrific murder
of a young Dublin girl, from Brendan McWilliams casting a meteorologist’s
eye on the world of Anne Frank to Gerry Thornley’s interview with young
rugby international Brian O’Driscoll. As well as work from some of the
paper’s award winning photographers, we are treated to a number of Martyn
Turner cartoons and caricatures by Peter Hanan. In this compilation you
might well find the article you never found the time to read and you will
certainly remember some of the remarkable photographs, a particularly
striking example being Alan Betson’s study of sunlight striking the interior
of Newgrange megalithic tomb
LISBURN, THE
TOWN AND ITS PEOPLE by Brian Mackey
- Brian Mackey has amassed a collection of photographs of Lisburn over
a 100-year period from 1873 to 1973, each accompanied by an explanatory
text, and what makes this collection slightly unusual is that many of
the illustrations are by local photographers. The author begins by giving
a short history of the town from its foundation in the 17th century, though
the period covered by the photographs begins with the arrival of Sir Richard
Wallace, known chiefly nowadays for his famous art collection, and ends
with the disbandment of the Lisburn Borough Council in 1973. The linen
industry played a major role in the development of the town and its importance
is reflected in the text, as is the River Lagan on which the town stands.
Brian Mackey has provided a nostalgic look at a Northern town in times
of both peace and unrest in a book which will have particular appeal for
those familiar with the Lagan Valley.
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THE NORTH FROM
THE AIR by Esler Crawford
- Another view of the North is provided by Esler Crawford’s stunning collection
of photographs, with the cover shot of Carrick-a-Rede bridge giving a
foretaste of what is to come. A professional photographer, Crawford has
gone to some lengths to produce clear and breathtakingly beautifully photographs,
not always easy in the Irish climate. A prominent feature is the sea in
all its moods, from the gentle waves at White Rocks, Co. Antrim to the
white water battering the rocks at the Giant’s Causeway, and the tapestry
of fields provides an interesting blend of colour, most notably in the
view of brassica fields in Co. Down. The 134 photographs will surely provide
a totally new view of the North to those familiar only with the streets
of Belfast, Derry and other towns through television news programmes.
A CENTURY IN
FOCUS by W.A. Maguire
- The North is well-served by photographers this month, with W.A. Maguire’s
book making a trilogy of records of the North. This volume covers a slightly
different period and has a wider brief, from 1839 to 1939 in all nine
counties of Ulster. I am always surprised to discover just how far back
photography reaches; the oldest included here is a picture of George Augustus
Chichester, the 2nd Marquis Donegall, in 1843 and Maguire also includes
a photograph of Mary Anne McCracken taken in 1865. However the author
celebrates not only the art of photography but also the artist and his
instruments, and an appendix has a comprehensive list of photographers
and their studios in the century under consideration.
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THE CONCISE
HISTORY OF IRELAND by Sean Duffy
- A lecturer in the Department of Mediaeval History at Trinity College
Dublin, Sean Duffy has brought his professional expertise to bear in the
production of this accessible and well-presented history of Ireland. Each
period from the dawn of history to the present era of the Celtic Tiger
is dealt with concisely, providing a clear view of events that in other
volumes have often become obscured by a surfeit of words. The maps, photographs
and drawings add to our understanding of the text and the author has also
provided a chronology as a handy reference to the sequence of events.
The final illustration, of the statue of Carson outside Stormont with
a “Yield” traffic sign captured by a strategically positioned photographer,
is a final comment and perhaps a sign for the future.
THE CHOSEN
FEWS by Darach MacDonald
- The subtitle to MacDonald’s book, “Exploding Myths in South Armagh”,
endorses what is a refutation of the tag originating with Merlyn Rees,
that South Armagh is “bandit country”. Obviously totally committed to
his native area, the author writes lovingly of the townlands and the countryside,
of the characters who populate the region known as the Fews, and in doing
so succeeds in conveying the community spirit and the sense of continuity
inherent in a place which he feels has an unwarranted reputation for discord.
The almost Alice Taylor-like descriptions of country life are interspersed
with historical anecdotes of friction, and more contemporary accounts
of the relationship between the British military presence and the local
inhabitants. The juxtaposition can, at times, be somewhat disconcerting,
giving a lack of coherence to the narrative, but there is no doubting
the sincerity of the views expressed.
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