Writer Offers Great Insight Into the People and the Land
LAMBING SEASON IN IRELAND: Tales of a Vet's Wife
By Maria Coffey
McArthur & Company
ISBN: 1-55278
Reviewed by Tom O'Sullivan
As the title says Lambing Season in Ireland, written by Maria Coffey, is a novel recounting her experience during such a period of time on the rugged south_west coast of County Kerry in Ireland. Of course it's more than just about lambing season which keeps her husband Dag, a veterinary surgeon, rushed off his feet. It's about their interaction with the lives of the local shepherds tending to their flocks on the hills of the beautiful Kerry coast.
When this couple leaves their home here on Vancouver Island, B.C., to fulfill Dag’s passion for the Irish coast, author Maria Coffey has some misgivings. Brought up by Irish parents in England, she had slightly uncomfortable memories of her childhood visiting her Irish relatives and being viewed as an outsider from England. Now she accompanies her husband and settles into a rustic little Irish cottage in the countryside.
Their choice of cottage by_passes the comforts of a modern house but offers the couple the experience of the raw and rugged landscape of the coast. It's just located outside the little town called Cahersiveen on the Iveragh Peninsula, a quaint little place where the author quotes a local describing it’s remoteness by saying “God made this part of Ireland last, and he forgot to bless it.”
Her writing crafts a picture of the beautiful landscape and the rich vibrance of the arrival of spring. “In fields saturated in greenness, cows grazed on buttercups, daisies, red clover, cowslips, larkspur and bladder champion. Silverweed and marsh marigold blossomed among the stream banks, pink sea_thrift bloomed among grey and purple rocks above the harbour, while on the grassy headlands close by, the rare and delicate Western Marsh orchid shivered in the scariveen.”
Most noticeable, this book isn’t written by someone just passing through. Coffey relates her everyday experiences with a charming and honest subtlety that offers us a great insight into the people and land. Sometimes accompanying her husband on his rounds, she gets to meet the great characters of the area.
Paddy, who is unsatisfied with the toils of farming complains, “But maybe I’ll sell the farm and buy a pub. Staying inside all day in the warm and making good money on every pint they pull.”
“But Paddy a lot of publicans become alcoholics.”
“Sure I’m an alcoholic already,” says Paddy. “So what difference would it make.”
The author shows how the life of a shepherd is a tough one, and is carried on from generation to generation. Strong ties to the land exist and a pride of place fuels these people to battle inclement weather conditions and hard physical labour. She even tries her hand at shepherding as she adopts a pet lamb and rears it in her cottage.
In the local pubs she and Dag share evenings with local farmers and “blow_ins” who’ve moved to the area from the industrial centres of England or Germany to experience the lifestyle. She learns local history of the ancient tribes; the Corcha Duibhne, the Anglo_Normans, the MacCarthy lords and of course the British landlords.
Everybody has a story to tell and many of these stories incorporate the land and farming. We experience a great passion for the land and many stories hidden in the walls of old buildings or the stones in the fields.
There is a loneliness too, which drives most of the young population to the bigger cities or even abroad, in order to find a lifestyle more conducive to their desires. Those that stay behind remain bound to their surroundings, keeping alive the stories of the past and living among the wild hills of the coast.
When it comes time for this Canadian couple to leave, they do so with their hearts touched by the local hospitality and their senses stirred by the sights and sounds of a place that the famous Irish playwright J.M. Synge, when he visited asked, “One wonders in this place, why anyone is left in Dublin or London or Paris, where it would be better, one would think, to live in a tent or hut, with this magnificent sea and sky, and to breath this wonderful air, which is like wine in one’s teeth.”
When we close the last chapter of this book, we are left with a sigh, a wish maybe that we too could taste that cold Atlantic salt air. Author Maria Coffey serves us a feast for the senses that leaves us asking for more.
*
Reviewed by Tom O’Sullivan of Vancouver who grew up in the very same town of Cahirsiveen, County Kerry, Ireland.
[As part of CelticFest Vancouver, B.C. photographer/writer team, Dag Goering and Maria Coffey, will present a spectacular digital multi-media show based on Lambing Season in Ireland – Escapades of a Rural Vet. In their stunning multi-media show, Dag and Maria take you deep into the heart of rural Ireland with breathtaking images, evocative music and hilarious stories.
The show takes place March 15 and 16. Doors open at 7 PM and runs from 7:30 to 9 PM at Tom Lee Music Hall, 929 Granville Street, third floor. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Advance ticket sales are available at The Travel Bug, 3065 West Broadway, (604) 737-1122; Tom Lee Music, 929 Granville Street, (604) 685-2513; or call toll free (888) 791 6388 to pre-purchase with VISA or Mastercard. For more details, visit: www.hiddenplaces.net/irelandshow.]
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