An Irish Country Christmas
Barry Laverty, M.B., is looking forward to his first Christmas in the cozy village of Ballybucklebo, at least until he learns that his sweetheart, Patricia, might not be coming home for the holidays. That unhappy prospect dampens his spirits somewhat, but Barry has little time to dwell on his romantic disappointments. Christmas may be drawing nigh, but there is little peace to be found on earth, especially for a young doctor plying his trade in the emerald hills and glens of rural Ireland.
Along with his senior partner, Doctor Fingal Flahertie O’Reilly, Barry has his hands full dealing with seasonal coughs and colds, as well as the occasional medical emergency. To add to the doctors’ worries, competi… More >>
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An Irish Country Christmas
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As soon as I saw the title for this book I knew that I wanted to read it. I thoroughly enjoy this particular style of book which features characters involved in their daily life in small rural towns and villages. I have read all of the James Herriott stories as well as those written by Jan Karon and her Father Tim character. Another special series for me are the Miss Read books in the small English villages of Fairacre and Thrush Green, mostly told from the viewpoint of the lynchpin of the community, the school teacher.
I have not read the other two stories in this series, An Irish Country Doctor and An Irish Country Village but I found that with only a few exceptions this part of the story of Doctors Laverty and O’Reilly and the people of Ballybucklebo can be quite easily understood without having any prior knowledge of the first two books. If you read both or either of those stories and enjoyed it, you will most certainly enjoy this continuation of the story. I liked the “Irishness” of the writing, that is to say the Ulster dialect, and the cultural phrasing of the narrative. I also liked the descriptions of the landscape and the various weather conditions. All of these things were completely realistic for me. Since the author, Dr. Patrick Taylor, is himself Irish this aspect of the book was very satisfying and enjoyable. Since Dr. Taylor is also a medical man, the diagnosis, treatment and descriptions of the fictional characters illnessess and medical problems were, I’m sure, completely correct and accurate.
My main problem with this book is that it moved so very slowly. This book takes place just during the month of December and was a description of almost every single occurrance in the lives of the main characters over that period of time. The story is presented from the viewpoint of both Barry Laverty and Fingal O’Reilly including their visits with patients, interactions with their housekeeper, the village inhabitants, a new doctor in the area and situations concerning their growing interest in the women who will obviously play major roles in subsequent novels. All three of the books only cover a space of time from July to December of 1964.
On the plus side, unlike much modern fiction written today, there is not one single objectionable thing that I found contained within the pages of this book. There is no vulgar language, there are no sexual situations. There is an afterword written by Mrs. Kincaid (Kinky) the housekeeper where she shares some of the recipes talked about in the story. There is also a section of author’s notes where Dr. Taylor gives an explanation of how the stories came about and gives some insight into the location and the characters he created. There is a glossary with definitions of the Ulster dialect for those of us who became hopelessly stumped upon occasion.
I think that those of you who are looking for a very slow moving, folksy, daily detail laden novel will thoroughly enjoy this book. I am glad I had the opportunity to indulge my curiosity of “some things” Irish by having a look at the culture through these characters. My rating for this book is actually a 2.5/3 star rating because it was rather a slow read for me.
Rating: 3 / 5
Book was a Christmas present for my wife. It arrived in plenty of time for the Christmas holiday.
Rating: 1 / 5
This was a wonderful curl up book … im planning to reread it for christmas! Interesting friendships in unlikely places are discovered here.
Rating: 5 / 5
In the quaint Irish village of Ballybucklebo, Dr. Fingal O’Reilly and his partner Dr. Barry Laverty deal as always with the vast ailments of the townsfolk while also dealing with respective attractions to the opposite sex. Fingal has doubts about courting effervescent Kitty O’Halloran except when he is near her; than he has no rational thought. Barry is upset because his girlfriend Patricia Spence at Girton College informs him she may not make it in time for his first Christmas in the small Irish village.
However, all that pales compared to a new doctor in town who steals their patients with remedies that should have the man barred. To country doctors O’Reilly and Laverty, Dr. Fitzpatrick should be called Dr. Quack, but as ridiculous as his prescriptions are, he is gaining patients.
The third Irish County medical cozy (see AN IRISH COUNTRY DOCTOR and AN IRISH COUNTRY VILLAGE) is a fun tale as O’Reilly and Laverty continues to take care of the villagers by combining modern medical practices with homespun “cures” like dressing up as Santa. The story line is warm and uplifting even when Patricia looks like she will not make for the holidays and Fitzpatrick causes harm to the patients he steals. Readers who enjoyed the previous entries will especially want to read this one as the two physicians spend their first holiday season with fans.
Harriet Klausner
Rating: 4 / 5
I’m Irish and it’s starting to look like Christmas, so I ordered this book. I found it to be very slow and rather tedious reading. It simply did not hold my interest.
The recipes at the end of the book look interesting, and I may try a couple this Christmas. Also, I found the glossary to be very helpful because I have never heard some of the expressions such as, “he’s no goat’s toe”, and others used in this book.
If you are looking for a more interesting Christmas story I recommend First Christmas At Muddy Creek by Richard A. Bartlett.
Rating: 3 / 5