Wild and Improbable Adventures
With Leprechauns, Fairies,
Ghosts and a Banshee
DARBY O'GILL AND THE GOOD PEOPLE
By Herminie Templeton Kavanagh
Sophia Institute Press
ISBN 1-928832-35-0
Reviewed by Catholine Butler
At first glance, I thought Darby O'Gill and the Good People must be a children's book, but in fact it is a great read for adults as well as children.
However, because the book is written in the regional vernacular of a fictional part of Ireland, I think a lot of children would have trouble understanding what the characters are saying. Unless of course, the story was read to them by someone who would have an understanding of local Irish dialect or someone with an understanding of Celts generally.
The story is about Darby O'Gill and his wild and improbable adventures with leprechauns, fairies, ghosts and a banshee. Darby's adventures with the little people all started when they stole his pigs but the last straw was when they stole Rosie his prize cow. Rosie was the apple of his eye; he admired and rayspected the pigs, but he loved Rosie.
The adventure was on when Darby shoved his feet into a pair of brogues, clapped his hat on his head, and gripped his stick in his hand. "Fairy or no fairy, ghost or goblin, livin' or dead, who took Rosie'll rue the day," he said, and with those wild words he bolted in the direction of Slieve-na-mon, the mountain where the fairies were reported to live.
You'll learn how the Good People were expelled from Heaven and went down to Ireland, where they made their home in the hollow heart of the great mountain, Slieve-na-mon.
You'll also discover how Darby was held prisoner in Slieve-na-mon, drinking punch, telling tales and dancing reels with the fairies, until the day he tricked the fairy king into setting him free.
When Darby returned home, his adventures continued with rowdy debates, leprechauns caught, wishes granted and ghosts pursued. All of this to the endless frustration of his long-suffering wife Bridget who was never happy with Darby's ne'er-do-well ways.
Darby O'Gill and the Good People is an exciting story to read as the reader is held spellbound with Darby's adventures with the good fairies, who can also be the not so good fairies if you cross them.
Actually, Darby O'Gill and the Good People would make an excellent movie and it's one that could be enjoyed by the whole family.
[Special thanks to Pidge Stack of County Clare, who sent me Darby O'Gill and the Good People.]
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