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All Over Ireland: New Irish Short Stories
All Over Ireland, edited by Deirdre Madden (Molly Fox's Birthday, Time Present and Time Past), continues the tradition of featuring the work of both new and established writers, including Colm Tóibín, Mary Morrissy and Eoin McNamee. These diverse and accomplished stories, by turns dazzling, thoughtful and startling, bring new ideas and energy to the form and richly enhance the tradition of Irish fiction.
Contents:
- My New Life by Andrew Fox
- The Comets by Eoin McNamee
- Emergency by Mary Morrissy
- For Keeps by Belinda McKeon
- The Weather Project by Selina Guinness
- Absent by Michael Gilligan
- Killing Time by Lucy Caldwell
- Villefranche by Ita Daly
- Queen of the Night by Natalie Ryan
- They'll Best You with Fun by Kathleen Murray
- Ceremony by Sean O'Reilly
- The Widow's Ferret by Frank McGuinness
- Beneath Green Hills by Eileen Casey
- The Journey to Galway by Colm Tóibín
Contents:
- My New Life by Andrew Fox
- The Comets by Eoin McNamee
- Emergency by Mary Morrissy
- For Keeps by Belinda McKeon
- The Weather Project by Selina Guinness
- Absent by Michael Gilligan
- Killing Time by Lucy Caldwell
- Villefranche by Ita Daly
- Queen of the Night by Natalie Ryan
- They'll Best You with Fun by Kathleen Murray
- Ceremony by Sean O'Reilly
- The Widow's Ferret by Frank McGuinness
- Beneath Green Hills by Eileen Casey
- The Journey to Galway by Colm Tóibín
250 pages, Paperback
First published May 21, 2015
5 people are currently reading
112 people want to read
About the author
Deirdre Madden
32 books67 followersDeirdre Madden is from Toomebridge, County Antrim in Northern Ireland. She was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and at the University of East Anglia. In 1994 she was Writer-in-Residence at University College, Cork and in 1997 was Writer Fellow at Trinity College, Dublin. She has travelled widely in Europe and has spent extended periods of time in both France and Italy.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 4, 2017
Wavering between 4.5 and 5 stars. These short story anthologies published by Faber were first put together by the late, great Irish editor David Marcus. In the past three years, Kevin Barry, Joseph O’Connor and now Deirdre Madden have edited these anthologies that are meant to include stories that are previously unpublished by both new and established writers. The title is taken from the gorgeous finale of the beautiful James Joyce story "The Dead".
Madden writes a brilliant introduction
“Whatever about writing, I would however, like to comment on the state of reading, which I believe gives us cause for concern. I think that the increasing struggle for bookstores to survive is testament to the problem and cannot simply be put down to e-readers and to books being bought online. To value writing over reading is to miss the point, because writers need readers. I sometimes feel that there is more and more interest in the process of writing and less and less in the end result. At literary festivals now, panel discussions, interviews and question-and-answer sessions are favored above readings, and I, for one, regret that loss of the primacy of the text. People seem to be less interested in the finished work than in the path one took to get to it; and any writer will tell you that the path is usually a messy one littered with discarded ideas and forked with roads leading to dead ends. That direct engagement between a reader and a writer –private, contemplative, born out of silence- is to be valued more and more as the cultural cacophony around us increase."
Madden has developed a well-rounded, excellent anthology. There is a thoughtful balance between young writers such as Lucy Caldwell and Brenda McKeon, and eminent, well-established writers including Colm Toíbin, and Eoin McNamee. Northern writers are well represented with Caldwell, McNamee, Sean O’Reilly, and Frank McGuinness from Donegal writer of the play Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme. Madden herself is a native of County Antrim in Northern Ireland and she stated in a Guardian interview that “the Troubles are always in my work at some level”. https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
The stories are widely varied, and the last two deal with death. Colm Toíbin’s story The Journey to Galway the final one in the book, was probably my favorite. The main character is Augusta Lady Gregory, one of the founders of the Abbey Theater, and lifelong friend of Yeats, among many other things. This is a superb collection that is a must read for those who love Irish short stories, and the short story genre.
Madden writes a brilliant introduction
“Whatever about writing, I would however, like to comment on the state of reading, which I believe gives us cause for concern. I think that the increasing struggle for bookstores to survive is testament to the problem and cannot simply be put down to e-readers and to books being bought online. To value writing over reading is to miss the point, because writers need readers. I sometimes feel that there is more and more interest in the process of writing and less and less in the end result. At literary festivals now, panel discussions, interviews and question-and-answer sessions are favored above readings, and I, for one, regret that loss of the primacy of the text. People seem to be less interested in the finished work than in the path one took to get to it; and any writer will tell you that the path is usually a messy one littered with discarded ideas and forked with roads leading to dead ends. That direct engagement between a reader and a writer –private, contemplative, born out of silence- is to be valued more and more as the cultural cacophony around us increase."
Madden has developed a well-rounded, excellent anthology. There is a thoughtful balance between young writers such as Lucy Caldwell and Brenda McKeon, and eminent, well-established writers including Colm Toíbin, and Eoin McNamee. Northern writers are well represented with Caldwell, McNamee, Sean O’Reilly, and Frank McGuinness from Donegal writer of the play Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme. Madden herself is a native of County Antrim in Northern Ireland and she stated in a Guardian interview that “the Troubles are always in my work at some level”. https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
The stories are widely varied, and the last two deal with death. Colm Toíbin’s story The Journey to Galway the final one in the book, was probably my favorite. The main character is Augusta Lady Gregory, one of the founders of the Abbey Theater, and lifelong friend of Yeats, among many other things. This is a superb collection that is a must read for those who love Irish short stories, and the short story genre.
March 19, 2025
Contemporary but traditional
The collection contains some stories that are outstanding in quality,as well as a couple of duds,but there is plenty of variety in style and content,so most people will find something to enjoy here.
The collection contains some stories that are outstanding in quality,as well as a couple of duds,but there is plenty of variety in style and content,so most people will find something to enjoy here.
October 27, 2015
Surprisingly meh. What happened? There are a very few genuinely *good* stories. Most are mediocre, which made me swear off wasting my time reading all the way through. My main takeaway here, having read the concluding story by Colm Toibin, is a reminder to go read a lot more of him.
June 6, 2016
- Emergency by Mary Morrissy ⋆⋆⋆⋆
- The Widow's Ferret by Frank McGuinness ⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆
(I loved how weird and surrealist this one was)
- The Journey to Galway by Colm Tóibín ⋆⋆⋆/
- The Widow's Ferret by Frank McGuinness ⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆
(I loved how weird and surrealist this one was)
- The Journey to Galway by Colm Tóibín ⋆⋆⋆/
July 28, 2018
This collection of Irish short stories covers a wide range of modern authors who wrote the stories with the stipulation that they would first appear in this volume; some many only appear here. Most stories deal with contemporary Ireland but a few reach back into the recent Irish past.
I am not familiar with contemporary Irish literature so most authors here were not known to me with the obvious exception of Colm Tóibín whom I have met. As with most collections the stories were of uneven quality but all were thoughtful and worth the time to read.
If you like short stories, or like Irish literature, or both, you will want to read the book. I am not a fan of short stories but found I could not put the book down and was a bit deflated when I reached the last page. I think the variety of authors and the high quality of the stories kept me glued to the pages.
B: 30 Jun 2018
F: 05 Jul 2018
I am not familiar with contemporary Irish literature so most authors here were not known to me with the obvious exception of Colm Tóibín whom I have met. As with most collections the stories were of uneven quality but all were thoughtful and worth the time to read.
If you like short stories, or like Irish literature, or both, you will want to read the book. I am not a fan of short stories but found I could not put the book down and was a bit deflated when I reached the last page. I think the variety of authors and the high quality of the stories kept me glued to the pages.
B: 30 Jun 2018
F: 05 Jul 2018
June 18, 2020
A mixed bag at best. It was amazing how much better the Toibin and Caldwell were then any of the others. Still, it's always interesting to read new writers and the range of subjects - from emigration to the Troubles to coming of age - made for lively reading . I'd give it another half star if I could.
December 29, 2018
Absolutely wonderful short story collection that makes me want to go out and buy novels from all of these authors! My personal favorite was the last story, but that’s partially because I’m a Tóibín fan already. Definitely recommend!
May 2, 2021
A mixed bag of good and bad stories. All sobre.
July 28, 2018
When I travel I try to pick up a collection of short stories or a lit mag from the place I'm visiting. All Over Ireland: New Irish Short Stories was the most recent pull from Ireland, a place whose collection of local musings is growing on my shelf.
This collection focused on the darker side of life (which many collections do) that is loss. While I enjoyed all the stories included in its pages, there were really only two that stood out: "Killing Time" and "Ceremony". While the other stories didn't resonate in ways I wanted them to, these stories made up for it. Dark, disturbing, and oddly relatable, I highly recommend at least reading these two shorts, maybe the others will work for you better than they did for me.
This collection focused on the darker side of life (which many collections do) that is loss. While I enjoyed all the stories included in its pages, there were really only two that stood out: "Killing Time" and "Ceremony". While the other stories didn't resonate in ways I wanted them to, these stories made up for it. Dark, disturbing, and oddly relatable, I highly recommend at least reading these two shorts, maybe the others will work for you better than they did for me.
April 8, 2017
Some great stories, particularly enjoyed Michael Gilligan and Selina Guinness contributions
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews