Viewers of Father Ted will
already know the work of Arthur Mathews, and if you find that
show about Irish Catholic priests funny, then you may well enjoy
this fictional autobiography of Eoin O’Ceallaigh. It relies a
great deal on knowledge of Irish and British culture, and so some
of the jokes may be lost on American readers, but there are still
lots of laughs left for all readers.

The main character, Eoin, is more conservative than the Pope (he
thinks sex is an abomination: all sex), and is devoted to the
cause of Irish nationalism (he criticizes the depiction of the
Irish by Frank McCourt in Angela’s Ashes for
distorting the truth; "My own memory of Ireland in those
times is that everyone in the country was blissfully happy all
the time"). He is also breathtakingly misogynistic and rude
about women, especially his best friend Gloinn’s wife Maire who
is so ugly, he says, that she has caused several car crashes.

Much of Well-Remembered Days tells the story of the twentieth
century from Eoin’s view, highly critical of popular culture and
anything British. The humor can wear a bit thin, but it all depends
on how funny you find this genre, and how much you know about
Irish culture and politics. This book could be compared to Meera
Syal’s comic novel Anita and Me about
immigrant Indian families in Birmingham, England, although that
book might be a bit more educational about a transplanted culture
than Eoin’s account of Irish life. Parts of Well-Remembered
Days are laugh-out-loud funny, if you have the right sense
of humor. Three stars out of five.

Not for sale in the US; available from Amazon.co.uk

Hannah Perring lives in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Having just returned from travels around the world, she is now contemplating her next step.

Categories: Fiction