Great Irish Short Stories

by Vivian Mercier

From time immemorial, the Irish have had a gift for storytelling. This collection features some of the best writing, culled from ancient literature and folklore, and from modern writers such as John Millington Synge, Frank O'Connor, James Joyce, and Mary Lavin. Excerpts include a short note on each writer, providing a miniature history of the development of Irish literature.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Irish Literature, Mythology, Anthologies

384 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1964

About the author

Vivian Mercier (1919–1989) was an Irish literary critic. He was born in Clara, County Offaly, Ireland and educated first at Portora Royal School, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, and then at Trinity College, Dublin. After taking his doctorate at Trinity, he taught in American universities from the 1940s to the 1980s; his last post was Professor of English at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is perhaps best known for his famous summation of the plot of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot: "... has achieved a theoretical impossibility—a play in which nothing happens, that yet keeps audiences glued to their seats. What's more, since the second act is a subtly different reprise of the first, he has written a play in which nothing happens, twice." (Irish Times, 18 February 1956, p. 6.). Despite what may sound like a somewhat disparaging criticism, Mercier was one of the foremost Beckett scholars of his day, and wrote extensively about Godot. He also wrote a critically acclaimed study of Beckett's work as a whole, Beckett/Beckett.

1989, the year of his death, was also the year of Beckett's death. Mercier's last marriage (1974-1989) had been to the Irish novelist and children's writer Eilis Dillon, who edited his posthumous book, Modern Irish Literature: Sources and Founders (Oxford, 1994). He is buried beside his wife in his hometown of Clara.

Reviews

[Margie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great selection.

[Bill S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of mostly lesser known works by Irish greats as it stood in 1961. O'Connor really stands out as one would expect, but O'Faolain, O'Flaherty, Doyle and Levin are worthy of further examination. My one taste of Beckett tells me that he is not for me.

Some favorites for me:

*****"Two of A Kind" - Sean O'Faolain - The author liked to write about Irish and American ex-pats and this one is so well conceived and executed. An Irish sailor is lonely in NYC so he looks up an Aunt who fled Ireland with a boyfriend decades before. The last she was supposedly heard from was a priest saying she had married and lived in Brooklyn. The sailor and Aunt get together and she tells him of her husband's success before his death and then how her son is in charge of a department store. But, the first time she says this, it is Macy's, the second, Sears. Once the reader catches this, you begin to worry. Sure enough, she accuses the sailor of coming to spy on her. Turns out the truth is the husband abandoned her shortly after her son was born leaving her in poverty and now her son has run off with a woman and does not keep in contact. Alas, the sailor admits to lying too. His mother his dead, his father remarried, and he left Ireland at 16. He has no idea what is really happening back home. Another truth emerges that the Aunt had in fact written to the family back in Ireland and told them the truth, but heard nothing back. This reveals much. The two become the closest of relatives after this. Every time he is in port they get together.

The Coat - Sean O'Faolain - Study of class, another common O'Faolain theme according to the editor. A woman whose husband has finally gotten a secure job in government can't make up her mind if she wants a fur coat or not. She needs it to wear to parties and fit in, but if she gets it is she putting on airs?
"A Persian Tale" - Lynn Doyle was absolutely hilarious. You laugh at almost every paragraph. His tales are set in one village and told from the perspective and brogue of Pat Murphy. In this one the local school teacher does an experiment. If a cat can live three years drinking whiskey then the ratio tells me I can do 15 more and get to my life expectancy. She only makes it 3 months, so now he reasons he'll be dead by October, so why stop now?

The Stones - Daniel Corkery - The superstition is that to observe oneself on a stone is a bad omen. One man comes to believe in it so intently that when he sees himself on a stone, he takes to his bed and awaits his doom. He is still waiting.

The Peasants - Frank O'Connor - Witty story of Irish rural life. A local from a family of ill-repute has stolen money from the sports club. The people of the parish want the young man to simply go away to America. The local priest (who is not originally from the village) represents a harsh form of justice. He must stand trial and no he won't speak up for his good character which would be a lie. The locals do all they can to change the Priests mind to no avail. They don't want the community to be embarrassed - we'll get a reputation. The thief ends up going to prison for 3 months but is a changed man. He ends up a success vindicating the Priest. The last paragraph is hard to understand but I took it to mean that the village is angry because they were proven wrong. O'connor's style was to make the narration sound like a man telling you the story.

Pigeons - Michael McLaverty - Writer from northern Ireland. A sad portrait of the death of a young man fighting British occupation told from the perspective of his younger brother. The deceased was a gentle, caring brother to the narrator and together they cared for pigeons. At the end, the boy worries that the father will kill the pigeons. I infer that the Dad will because they are a constant reminder of his loss. The line, "He died for Ireland" is a constant refrain.

*****"Lovers" Liam O'Flaherty - An old man with dementia meets up with a woman over whom he fought another suiter and went to prison in an attempt to marry her. The Priest wouldn't marry them and she is forced to marry another while he was in jail. She remembers all, he only the fight. She unloads on him as to how awful her life had been with her drunk and philandering husband. Clues abound that the man has not had an easy life with the family he raised either. The last lines assure the reader that the man has not been faking. He can't remember her.

"The Blow" by Liam O'Flaherty - What a great concept of a badgered son and his bullying father going to buy piglets. During the course of the story the pigs are used to symbolize relationships, the father pointing out that the weak pig has only to blame for himself for not pushing his siblings out of the way to eat and his insistence that the mother pig purposely hit him. It is a cruel world without pity. The father strikes the boy when he cries and disagrees, but the boy stops. The father reveals that he feels isolated because the boy and his mother conspire against him. This is confirmed when the mother pig calls out to the piglet showing she loves him just as the boy believes his mother does love him as well. The boy suddenly warms up to the Dad, having gained a new understanding and the Dad seems to have accepted his son as well for not crying after he hit him. He feels bad about the whole incident, but the two celebrate the father's triumph in the negotiations over price.

***Brigid by Mary Lavin - Magnificent job! In just six pages the author captures a long dispute between a husband and wife - what to do with the husband's mentally ill aunt. He has promised to never put her away in a home so keeps and cares for her in a small hut on their property. She wants Aunt Brigid put in a home. Her main concern is that their daughters are having trouble finding husbands with Brigid being the talk of the village. She also tries to sell the idea that it would be for her own good. The husband ends up having a stroke and falling into a fire while with Brigid who does not have the sense to pull him out. The wife discovers the scene and to everyone's surprise tells them that she will do what she should have done - she invites her into her own home! She had come to realize that when she gave flowers to Brigid when courting her husband that it was not out of love for her but a desire for catching the husband. She never gave the man much love so he poured it out into Brigid. Now she will. This lady could write an ending.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent anthology. I'd love to see where it would go next if it were updated. There are not exactly chronological successors as we travel throughout these stories, but themes revisited and topics reimagined. There are so many different ways that a writer could express their "Irishness," and many of these stories explore just how broad and varied that expression can be. I'd never heard of many of these writers but will be seeking several of them out now.

[Jillian Brady · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection, spanning oral tradition to a Brian Friel story published 1961. The short author intros were both helpful and sometimes strangely rushed, with an occasional alarming assertion tacked suddenly to the tail end of an otherwise very conventional introduction.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rather strange collection of lesser works.

[Sean Sexton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice collection of stories. All seem to have characteristics of typical Irish stories: wit, emotion, etc.

[Kevin Driskill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good collection that dates back far enough to give historical context to a fascinating society. You will laugh and cry and know better what it means to be Irish.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice book some good some not so good stories but a fun read

[Louise Adinolfi · Rating 3 out of 5]

These stories were a bit old to keep my interest even though some of the authors are famous. Ireland has gone a long way forward and I am more interested in that.