Lig sinn i gcathu / by Breandan O hEithir

by Breandán Ó hEithir

It is the Easter weekend of 1949, the date of the declaration of the Irish Republic, but in the city of 'Ballycastle', Martin Melody, the pub-crawling university student, and his disreputable friends are too busy drinking and lusting after girls to pay much attention to this political development. O hEithir, drawing upon rich personal experiences of life in the west of Ireland, paints a rackety picture using sniffy landladies, crackpot academics, hectoring clergymen, dolled-up virgins, and dockside down-and-outs, among other hilarious characters. A nephew of Liam O'Flaherty, he was one of Ireland's most evocative and waggish novelists of modern times and this was the first Irish-language novel to lead the best-seller list in Ireland. He died in 1990.

Genres: Irish Literature

207 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Breandán Ó hEithir was an Irish writer and broadcaster. wrote in both Irish and English, and was highly regarded for the originality and liveliness of his journalism, especially his work in Irish. He was a regular columnist with the journal Comhar and also contributed a weekly column to the Irish Times. He also served as a staff journalist with RTÉ, working on the current affairs programmes Cúrsaí and Féach.

He was born in Galway City, but grew up on Inishmore (one of the Aran Islands), County Galway. His parents were national school teachers and Ó hEithir attended their school in Kilronan. He received his secondary school education at Coláiste Éinde (St Enda's College) in Galway. He attended University College Galway for three years but left without obtaining a degree.

After college, he spent a number of years working as a book manager for Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge. He served as an editor at Sáirséal agus Dill, the Irish language publishing house, and as Irish language editor for the Irish Press from 1957 to 1963 he also wrote a column for Sunday Press.

A biography of him has been written by Liam Mac Con Iomaire.

Reviews

[CAG_1337 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable book. However, I felt that as a non-Irish person, some of the subtlety of the humor was probably lost on me. Brush up on your Irish political history before you read this one, and I'm sure it will enrich your experience.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun read that gives you a glimpse of how rural society in Ireland in 1949 worked.
You do need to know a bit of your Irish history (1916, War of Independence, Irish Civil War and how the political parties Fianna Fail and Fine Gael came to be and who their important leaders were), but then it's very interesting.
I did learn a good amount of new words I'd never heard before and did end up googling a few out of interest.
An easy read for a weekend. If you like Flann O'Brien you will like this one.

[Lenka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining. I was reading it for a seminar and had to rush through the ending too fast. Will re-read and look up the political references in the book.