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Whoredom In Kimmage: The Private Lives of Irish Women
Written with the art of a skilled fiction writer whose ear for Irish bluster is pitch-perfect, Whoredom in Kimmage tells the tale of contemporary Irish women through a series of brilliantly animated scences that take the reader from Dillon's tiny pub in rural Corofin to the heart of Dublin. This beguiling account of Irish life transcends that nation's small shores through the power of Mahoney's great storytelling gifts.
Before the phenomena of Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes , and Thomas Cahill's How the Irish Saved Civilization , Rosemary Mahoney traveled to Ireland in response to the growing feeling that changes were taking place, and that those changes directly involved women. Her ideas are animated in brilliantly crafted scenes, taking the reader from Dillon's tiny pub in Corofin to a lesbian pub in Dublin, from a Legion of Mary meeting to a classroom full of boisterous schoolgirls determined to drive their teacher, S'ta Keatin', over the edge. Here, too, are scenes with Ireland's first woman president, Mary Robinson, and the country's preeminent woman poet, Eavan Boland. But most memorable, and perhaps most prescient of the recent enchantment with literature about the Emerald Isle, are Mahoney's pitch-perfect ear for Irish bluster and warmth, her eye for detail, and people so real and unforgettable you'd think they were having a cup of tea with you.
Before the phenomena of Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes , and Thomas Cahill's How the Irish Saved Civilization , Rosemary Mahoney traveled to Ireland in response to the growing feeling that changes were taking place, and that those changes directly involved women. Her ideas are animated in brilliantly crafted scenes, taking the reader from Dillon's tiny pub in Corofin to a lesbian pub in Dublin, from a Legion of Mary meeting to a classroom full of boisterous schoolgirls determined to drive their teacher, S'ta Keatin', over the edge. Here, too, are scenes with Ireland's first woman president, Mary Robinson, and the country's preeminent woman poet, Eavan Boland. But most memorable, and perhaps most prescient of the recent enchantment with literature about the Emerald Isle, are Mahoney's pitch-perfect ear for Irish bluster and warmth, her eye for detail, and people so real and unforgettable you'd think they were having a cup of tea with you.
336 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1993
10 people are currently reading
461 people want to read
About the author
Rosemary Mahoney
19 books55 followersRosemary Mahoney (born January 28, 1961 Boston) is an American non-fiction writer.
She grew up in Milton, Massachusetts, andgraduated from St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire). She worked briefly for Lillian Hellman.
She has attended Yaddo.
She has written for numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post Book World, The New York Times Book Review, Elle, National Geographic Traveler, O Magazine, and the New York Times Magazine.
The Early Arrival of Dreams: A Year in China was a New York Times Notable Book in 1990, and Whoredom in Kimmage: The World of Irish Women, was a New York Times Notable book and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist in 1994, British writer Jan Morris listed her 2007 Down the Nile: Alone in a Fisherman’s Skiff, as one of the 86 best travel books of all time.
Source: Wikipedia.
She grew up in Milton, Massachusetts, andgraduated from St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire). She worked briefly for Lillian Hellman.
She has attended Yaddo.
She has written for numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post Book World, The New York Times Book Review, Elle, National Geographic Traveler, O Magazine, and the New York Times Magazine.
The Early Arrival of Dreams: A Year in China was a New York Times Notable Book in 1990, and Whoredom in Kimmage: The World of Irish Women, was a New York Times Notable book and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist in 1994, British writer Jan Morris listed her 2007 Down the Nile: Alone in a Fisherman’s Skiff, as one of the 86 best travel books of all time.
Source: Wikipedia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
January 5, 2017
Mahoney's gifts for both acute observation and captivating prose make this an entertaining and thought-provoking reflection - through Irish-American eyes - of Ireland in the early '90s.
This is also an unethical book, in which the writer lies to vulnerable groups of people to gain their trust, then betrays that trust by painting unnecessarily cruel portraits.
Mahoney doesn't always have her facts straight when it comes to issues like Irish abortion laws/history, and she has zero self-awareness (at one point she claims that Southern Irish people in the '90s never talk about The Troubles, with absolutely no sense that p'raps they just don't talk about them in front of the yank). Nonetheless, this is a very enjoyable account of Ireland at a pivotal moment in its cultural transformation. It's maybe most valuable as an indicator of Irish-American attitudes towards the complex realities of Ireland - attitudes which, I have found during my time living in North America, can be nostalgic yet supercilious, proud of the past yet derogatory towards the present.
Mahoney is a very accomplished writer of literary non-fiction, and my 4 star review reflects this. She is also someone by whom - I have it on good authority - many people represented in her book feel deeply wronged. And they have cause to be. So read her sharp, incisive book, but never, ever buy her a pint.
This is also an unethical book, in which the writer lies to vulnerable groups of people to gain their trust, then betrays that trust by painting unnecessarily cruel portraits.
Mahoney doesn't always have her facts straight when it comes to issues like Irish abortion laws/history, and she has zero self-awareness (at one point she claims that Southern Irish people in the '90s never talk about The Troubles, with absolutely no sense that p'raps they just don't talk about them in front of the yank). Nonetheless, this is a very enjoyable account of Ireland at a pivotal moment in its cultural transformation. It's maybe most valuable as an indicator of Irish-American attitudes towards the complex realities of Ireland - attitudes which, I have found during my time living in North America, can be nostalgic yet supercilious, proud of the past yet derogatory towards the present.
Mahoney is a very accomplished writer of literary non-fiction, and my 4 star review reflects this. She is also someone by whom - I have it on good authority - many people represented in her book feel deeply wronged. And they have cause to be. So read her sharp, incisive book, but never, ever buy her a pint.
June 5, 2022
It says "The World of Irish Women," but it's more an insane travelogue of funny-looking people, many of whom the author meets in pubs. The descriptions were so weird, I started highlighting them. Herewith:
"The woman was long-legged and slender, had a sad, spade-shaped face, a pointed chin, and a lipless mouth crowded with sharp little teeth- like a shark's mouth. Her short hair was laid on in clumps like sod, and her beautifully soft voice was marred by a heavy Dublin accent that often sounded leering and defeated."
"Freddy had the unmysterious androgyny of a high school basketball coach."
"He was like an oversized adolescent. His perfectly round face was pampered and smooth, and he was bald but for a glistening band of gray bristles around the crown of his large head. He had a docile manner and looked as though he's been dressed by a fastidious and competitive mother."
"Fine red veins fanned across his nose and cheeks; his lipless mouth was like a mail slot."
"His clothes were wet, his teeth chattered, and his mustache smelled of beer."
"She stood with her bare arms folded across her chest in an X, like the arms of a corpse arranged in a coffin."
"Her tiny face came to sharp points at nose and chin. Though it was not a terribly cold evening, she had not removed her hat and mittens. The hat, designed in the style of an aviator's cap, was composed of gray and white tufts of synthetic fur in approximation of the pelt of an exotic animal. The fur resembled nothing so much as the shaggy flap of carpet sometimes fitted around the bases of toilets and sinks. She wore glasses and what looked like her husband's trench coat."
"A scraggly, red-haired, toothless man in a greasy t-shirt exclaimed, 'I would never get married! I am too good to be married!'"
"She said, 'My sexuality is ruled by the stars. I'm a Scorpio is the reason. The genitals are ruled by the stars, if you are a Scorpio."
"The young man was English. He appeared to have made a poncho for himself by cutting a hole in a blanket and sticking his head through it. The poncho was brown and furry and reached to the floor. He had a thug's face and a wide mouth and would have looked menacing and cruel if not for the amazing thickness of his eyeglasses, which made him look helpless and blind."
"John was a short, pudgy man with an elfin face and a big rear end."
"Annie spoke in a slow, dramatic manner with regal diction and a half-British accent. She wore no makeup, in striking contrast to the other young women here, and no jewelry beyond a ruby engagement ring and a wedding band. She had a cigarette tucked behind her ear and was dressed in black jeans, a black beret, work boots like her father's, an oily Barbour raincoat of forest green: terrorist attire. Despite her clothes, Annie had a sophistication far beyond that of the other women in the pub."
Mahoney talks to an abortion resources advocate, devotes two chapters to lesbians, spends a few evenings with the weirdos at a Catholic social policy discussion group, and meets Ireland's premiere woman poet Eavan Boland, and President Mary Robinson. The poet's teenage daughter answers the door and Mahoney vividly describes the vibe of a parent and child who have just been fighting and stop because company is here. Later, the girl comes in with a kitten, and Mahoney says, "Suddenly I remembered hearing that Eavan Boland had lost one of her children- how or when or whether that was actually true I didn't know." WHAT? Well, did she? If she did and you're bringing it up here, then it should have been part of the interview, and if she didn't, then that's a weird rumor to be spreading about someone.
Betweentimes, Rosemary Mahoney lives in her friend's castle and drinks with insane old people in a pub.
The alternate explanation is that everyone in this book is fine and normal for '90s Ireland and Father Ted was never an exaggeration.
"The woman was long-legged and slender, had a sad, spade-shaped face, a pointed chin, and a lipless mouth crowded with sharp little teeth- like a shark's mouth. Her short hair was laid on in clumps like sod, and her beautifully soft voice was marred by a heavy Dublin accent that often sounded leering and defeated."
"Freddy had the unmysterious androgyny of a high school basketball coach."
"He was like an oversized adolescent. His perfectly round face was pampered and smooth, and he was bald but for a glistening band of gray bristles around the crown of his large head. He had a docile manner and looked as though he's been dressed by a fastidious and competitive mother."
"Fine red veins fanned across his nose and cheeks; his lipless mouth was like a mail slot."
"His clothes were wet, his teeth chattered, and his mustache smelled of beer."
"She stood with her bare arms folded across her chest in an X, like the arms of a corpse arranged in a coffin."
"Her tiny face came to sharp points at nose and chin. Though it was not a terribly cold evening, she had not removed her hat and mittens. The hat, designed in the style of an aviator's cap, was composed of gray and white tufts of synthetic fur in approximation of the pelt of an exotic animal. The fur resembled nothing so much as the shaggy flap of carpet sometimes fitted around the bases of toilets and sinks. She wore glasses and what looked like her husband's trench coat."
"A scraggly, red-haired, toothless man in a greasy t-shirt exclaimed, 'I would never get married! I am too good to be married!'"
"She said, 'My sexuality is ruled by the stars. I'm a Scorpio is the reason. The genitals are ruled by the stars, if you are a Scorpio."
"The young man was English. He appeared to have made a poncho for himself by cutting a hole in a blanket and sticking his head through it. The poncho was brown and furry and reached to the floor. He had a thug's face and a wide mouth and would have looked menacing and cruel if not for the amazing thickness of his eyeglasses, which made him look helpless and blind."
"John was a short, pudgy man with an elfin face and a big rear end."
"Annie spoke in a slow, dramatic manner with regal diction and a half-British accent. She wore no makeup, in striking contrast to the other young women here, and no jewelry beyond a ruby engagement ring and a wedding band. She had a cigarette tucked behind her ear and was dressed in black jeans, a black beret, work boots like her father's, an oily Barbour raincoat of forest green: terrorist attire. Despite her clothes, Annie had a sophistication far beyond that of the other women in the pub."
Mahoney talks to an abortion resources advocate, devotes two chapters to lesbians, spends a few evenings with the weirdos at a Catholic social policy discussion group, and meets Ireland's premiere woman poet Eavan Boland, and President Mary Robinson. The poet's teenage daughter answers the door and Mahoney vividly describes the vibe of a parent and child who have just been fighting and stop because company is here. Later, the girl comes in with a kitten, and Mahoney says, "Suddenly I remembered hearing that Eavan Boland had lost one of her children- how or when or whether that was actually true I didn't know." WHAT? Well, did she? If she did and you're bringing it up here, then it should have been part of the interview, and if she didn't, then that's a weird rumor to be spreading about someone.
Betweentimes, Rosemary Mahoney lives in her friend's castle and drinks with insane old people in a pub.
The alternate explanation is that everyone in this book is fine and normal for '90s Ireland and Father Ted was never an exaggeration.
December 20, 2007
A heartbreaking book detailing women's roles in Irish society, including an intimate telling of the struggles with abortion, homosexuality, and marriage. The book is mostly objective, although the author is American of Irish descent and does at times speak of her own ties to the culture, both emotionally and physically. Intelligent and thoughtful, the book sheds light on the dark side of Irish culture that is relevant even today - the same battles are being fought by women over a decade after the book was written.
April 15, 2010
A great biography of the women of Ireland, from lesbians and poets to the president (Mary Robinson) and nuns. This book tells a fantastic herstory of Irish women, in an excellent and descriptive writing style.
January 6, 2023
I have labelled this book as non-fiction but I am not entirely happy with that categorisation as the author does not seem to be entirely sure what is fiction and what is not. I am so annoyed at the way Mahoney went about gathering her information, lying and inveigling her way into places on the pretext of being helpful and friendly and then writing disparaging stories about the folk who trusted her.
She is an American of Irish descent with an aunt still living in Ireland so I fail to understand what she is gaining from her tell-all tale of all the vices of her countrymen who, I might add made her so welcome.
The book is supposed to be about the lives of Irish women in the twentieth century so I was expecting to read about wives and mothers juggling family with work, what it was like to be single with a child, or have a large family and run a farm or work in an office or shop, but no this is a real sniper shot at the poor and sidelined groups of the community.
Mahoney spends most of the time in her book sitting in Dillons pub with a few gossiping drunken old men and sometimes a woman who was sister to one of the men, how she managed to find out so much about women I fail to understand and I would like to add that I don't think, due to the hospitality of her companions that she even had to buy herself many drinks.
There were just two women in the book who the author seemed to think were worth talking to at any length face to face and one was Ruth Riddick, a campaigner for women's rights and therefore famous, the other being Mary Robinson the President, who she was very pleased to meet by invitation at her very fancy official home.
The rest of the Irish are apparently very strange-looking people, I was shocked at some of the descriptions of the men and women she met they reminded me of the cartoon pictures in the victorian newspapers at the time of the famine in the 1840s, pictures of ragged, dirty people with over pronounced features and the look of an idiot.
I know many Irish people and the women are very beautiful and the men handsome with either auburn or dark hair and fair complexion, they are usually very kind and the most welcoming people you could wish to meet, this was their downfall with Rosemary Mahoney.
In order to talk to gay women in a gay bar in Dublin Mahoney pretended to be gay and talked to a lonely woman who thought she may be interested in her. She went to a meeting of the Legion of Mary, once more undercover and made fun of the few older members there. Having made contact she then went on to 'help' at an after-school meeting for children where the Legion of Mary tried to teach them about the Catholic faith, gave them something to eat and tried to keep them off the street for a while after school. Mahoney questions the children about their lives (is that ethical or legal) and then goes on to make fun of their thick Dublin accents and their dreadful homes and their feckless parents.
I felt most sorry for Annie Macnamara, a young woman who according to Mahoney was a raging alcoholic, she described her in the most disparaging way and took advantage of the fact that she had been drinking to question her about her home life.
I could continue but the author is not worth any more of my time. I don't think she will ever dare to show her face back in the village of Corofin.
She is an American of Irish descent with an aunt still living in Ireland so I fail to understand what she is gaining from her tell-all tale of all the vices of her countrymen who, I might add made her so welcome.
The book is supposed to be about the lives of Irish women in the twentieth century so I was expecting to read about wives and mothers juggling family with work, what it was like to be single with a child, or have a large family and run a farm or work in an office or shop, but no this is a real sniper shot at the poor and sidelined groups of the community.
Mahoney spends most of the time in her book sitting in Dillons pub with a few gossiping drunken old men and sometimes a woman who was sister to one of the men, how she managed to find out so much about women I fail to understand and I would like to add that I don't think, due to the hospitality of her companions that she even had to buy herself many drinks.
There were just two women in the book who the author seemed to think were worth talking to at any length face to face and one was Ruth Riddick, a campaigner for women's rights and therefore famous, the other being Mary Robinson the President, who she was very pleased to meet by invitation at her very fancy official home.
The rest of the Irish are apparently very strange-looking people, I was shocked at some of the descriptions of the men and women she met they reminded me of the cartoon pictures in the victorian newspapers at the time of the famine in the 1840s, pictures of ragged, dirty people with over pronounced features and the look of an idiot.
I know many Irish people and the women are very beautiful and the men handsome with either auburn or dark hair and fair complexion, they are usually very kind and the most welcoming people you could wish to meet, this was their downfall with Rosemary Mahoney.
In order to talk to gay women in a gay bar in Dublin Mahoney pretended to be gay and talked to a lonely woman who thought she may be interested in her. She went to a meeting of the Legion of Mary, once more undercover and made fun of the few older members there. Having made contact she then went on to 'help' at an after-school meeting for children where the Legion of Mary tried to teach them about the Catholic faith, gave them something to eat and tried to keep them off the street for a while after school. Mahoney questions the children about their lives (is that ethical or legal) and then goes on to make fun of their thick Dublin accents and their dreadful homes and their feckless parents.
I felt most sorry for Annie Macnamara, a young woman who according to Mahoney was a raging alcoholic, she described her in the most disparaging way and took advantage of the fact that she had been drinking to question her about her home life.
I could continue but the author is not worth any more of my time. I don't think she will ever dare to show her face back in the village of Corofin.
Want to read
February 24, 2012Haven't read this yet, but spent some time in Ireland last year and found out about it through a local pub owner (who also happened to serve the most amazing Thai food my tastebuds have ever been lucky enough to encounter). Apparently, the town the pub was in was once occupied by this author, and, like some of you have already pointed out, she's regarded as quite the snob for having inhabited the area, intertwined herself with the locals (and their scandals), and then produced a book that allegedly exposes all their affairs and craziness (again, I haven't read the book yet, I'm just going off of what the pub owner said, so if I'm wrong I apologize). It's common knowledge that her little expose chronicles the lives of (or, rather, the time she spent with) particular women in the town . Needless to say, she isn't very popular amongst the people of the town, and it's still a sore subject with those who found themselves included in her book.
I'm still interested in reading it! - even if the only result is me agreeing with the locals that she's an ass haha.
I'm still interested in reading it! - even if the only result is me agreeing with the locals that she's an ass haha.
October 14, 2019
Very beautiful, lucid writing. I was very touched by the interactions with regular Irish people in both the city and the country, each free to just say what they want. Those conversations were very intimate and make you feel like your new best friend has decided to tell you her secrets. As with any book that talks about politics, one should always be conscious of the biases and omissions. But I loved Rosemary's frankness and honesty about her self and her personality and views.
June 22, 2007
i really liked this when i first read it -- i was 20 and had not yet been to ireland -- reread years later only to decide rosemary mahoney was a total snot.
June 2, 2008
One of the first volleys in the Irish culture wars of the 1990s to make it to America. May never again have the same impact (i.e. worth re-reading? doubt it), but important nonetheless.
October 24, 2008
Half of the chapters I read weren't even about women and seemed to have no point at all. I couldn't finish it.
February 8, 2010
Great topic and wonderful voice. Very insightful; Ireland on the brink of feminism. Or at least Ireland on the brink of recognizing women as something other than mothers of men.
October 21, 2019
A fascinating account of the people Mahoney met in Ireland and Irish culture. Usually writers are told to evoke character through action, but Mahoney's very detailed descriptions of how people talk and gesture and dress themselves are wonderful. Either the Irish are so distinctly expressive that every character description becomes a world made of one individual, or Mahoney's talent for description is phenomenal. (I think both combine, in this book.) My favorite parts concern the world of a village pub near the spooky castle in which Mahoney lived, and the rare visits of local people dismayed and awed by that spookiness. Since the book was written 20 years ago, I looked for Mahoney's possible updates about the status of women, which has changed considerably, but found nothing. Her main focus is Irish women, though she detailed a number of men she met as well and in doing so softened my poor opinion of the men and their senseless hegemony over women. (Domestically, in person, the women she talked with were strong characters but had so infuriatingly little political power.) There is also a chapter devoted to the problem of being gay and in the closet -- how that often meant joining a convent since the typical Irish woman's life would be absolute hell for a lesbian. Which brings us to the last and most important point this book makes: The Catholic Church and it's horrible role as oppressor of women, and men too, but especially women, as exemplified with a story about one woman's deceased mother, who went to confession to say (after 11 children) that she felt guilty for not wanting to have sex with her husband. The priest responded by "roaring" at her to get out of the confessional and go do what she was created to do, submit to her husband and bear however many children resulted. I do hope no Irishwoman has to live with such oppression ever again, and that other women throughout the world are eventually spared this horribly oppressive patriarchal fate.
August 8, 2023
This was a great insight into the feminine Irish psyche! I recognized a lot of characteristics in my own Irish side of the family and it was well balanced between loving the Irish people yet recognizing their shortcomings. Although I am reading this a couple decades late, I still very much appreciated and enjoyed it!
August 12, 2024
Its an older book - published in 1993 -so very dated. I was interested because I spent the summer of 1992 there. She knows how to craft a sentence...this is true. But the way she refers to the folks she's writing about is obnoxious and often cruel. I actually was on the side of the angry woman who gave her a lift! Very disappointing.
September 7, 2020
Even if you don't agree with it, the writing is beautiful and highly readable.
October 23, 2013
Loved this book. Neat mix of autobiography, biography, travel, journalism and fiction threaded throughout with first-rate description so vivid and at times so exquisitely lyrical that I gasp to think how magically such beauty can coexist with the many humorous absurdities that leaven the stories.
As usual I am stumped to see anyone giving one star to a book I really love. Oh well
She was interviewed before a live audience on The Next Chapter. A couple of points I recall worth repeating here:
The style of writing is "friendly" somehow readers feel like RM is an old pal. And that sense of intimate acquaintance was only enhanced in person, despite the huge group of people.
And the host--Sheila Rogers I think --noted that anyone who has ever longed to stay in a castle need only read this book wherein that experience is so powerfully conjured. Exactly!
Though I still want to stay in a castle all the same.
As usual I am stumped to see anyone giving one star to a book I really love. Oh well
She was interviewed before a live audience on The Next Chapter. A couple of points I recall worth repeating here:
The style of writing is "friendly" somehow readers feel like RM is an old pal. And that sense of intimate acquaintance was only enhanced in person, despite the huge group of people.
And the host--Sheila Rogers I think --noted that anyone who has ever longed to stay in a castle need only read this book wherein that experience is so powerfully conjured. Exactly!
Though I still want to stay in a castle all the same.
December 20, 2016
Whoredom in Kimmage sounds like a Harlequin romance title but is directly the opposite. Rosemary Mahoney, the author, visited Ireland (The Irish Republic, that is) during 1991-2, living alone in an old castle and getting to know her Irish roots. Her insights into the plight of women in Catholic Ireland at that time suggest a backward church not allowing women to live their lives. This is an excellent book about real people and issues. (non-fiction)
September 8, 2008
I enjoyed the book. I did feel that the portrayal was somewhat dated and, especially regarding the small town pub, a somewhat stereotypical narrow focus on the Irish character, but what can I say, I've never been to Ireland, and the author may be entirely correct. Having said that, I thought Rosemary Mahoney's look at Ireland in the 1990's an interesting read.
December 3, 2014
This is a great snapshot of what it was like in Ireland in the early 1990s. Thoughtful, thought provoking and a touch sad for the wonder of Ireland's women under the patriarchal heel of men and the Catholic Church.
July 15, 2007
Although possibly a little dated by now, I thought this was a highly perceptive take on the role of women in Irish society when it first appeared in the early to mid-90's.
September 1, 2007
This book focuses on Ireland and the travels of the author, but cannot help but irradiate the role of women in general with a brutally honest glow
September 25, 2007
Highly recommended for those who love the Emerald Isle and the characters who inhabit it.
January 13, 2008
Gorgeous prose.
February 6, 2008
Rosemary Mahoney is a great writer - this was an interest study of woman in Ireland.
September 23, 2009
BORING! Drunk Irish in pubs.
May 9, 2011
Really nice book with narrative flow about women in Ireland. I've made several friends read it!
November 8, 2012
I love this book
Read
December 9, 2014This popped up as recommended to me on GR and I realized I read it a million years ago as one of the texts for my MA thesis.
June 30, 2015
I personally didn't like the foul language in the beginning of the book, however story was very interesting. I am glad I read it.
September 28, 2013
Good book about Irish women in the 90's.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews