Siobhan O’Sullivan has helped a bit with past murders in the village of Kilbane, in County Cork and that gave her the idea of becoming a Garda (police officer) herself. Now she’s graduated after two years of study. Her friend, and almost more, Macdara Flannery has moved to Dublin although he still has jurisdiction over Kilbane when needed.
Alexia Gordon has garnered praise introducing us to thirty-six-year-old African-American Gethsemane Brown, a highly educated (Vasser, doctorate from Yale) talented musician and ex-pat in Dunmallach, Ireland.
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Maura left Boston after her grandmother’s death, just to visit Ireland. Gran wanted her to see the old country and let distant relatives know she’d died. What was to be a visit, has turned into a new life. Moira inherited a pub, three employees, a daily storytelling fixture of a customer, and a house too. It seems she’s here to stay, at least for now.
St. Patrick’s Day approaches on March 17 and those of us of Irish descent can justifiably dance a little, drink Guinness, Jameson, or Bushmills, and dance some more. Happily too, this year I discovered the Sister Fidelma novels of Peter Tremayne (a.k.a. Peter Bradford Ellis) so will enjoy reading all the series and probably Tremayne’s Irish history works as well.
Hillary Broome exhausted from meeting her last ‘ghost writing’ deadline frets about ‘murky’ dreams of her mother long since having abandoned her and her father. But the upcoming vacation/long-over-due honeymoon in the Emerald Isle with her husband Ed, daughter Claire, and surrogate-mother Sarah will be a needed refreshment. Hillary will be meeting a few people, including friend Bridget Murphy, and exploring her paternal family who had emigrated to America after the famine and tuberculosis epidemic. Bridget says she’s found some interesting details, and can’t wait to share.
Siobhan O’Sullivan (pronounced Shi-vawn), is doing her best to run the café and her family after the death of their parents in a car accident. It’s not easy with a brother who likes ‘a wee bit’ of the bottle ‘a wee bit’ too much, curious youngsters, and a teenage rebel sister. Still, the village has been very supportive, and things are improving.
As March begins you should be stocking the pantry to prepare tasty Irish dishes on and around St. Patrick’s Day, the 17th. Taking it a step farther, may I suggest a trio of Irish authors for your reading delectation as well? Read any or all of these authors in addition to cooking up and enjoying your colcannon, skirts and kidneys, crubeens, coddles, or just tucking into a simple Ulster fry with or without black pudding.
On my trip to Ireland several years ago we landed at the Dublin airport in weather that the Irish refer to as a soft day. By this they mean a rainy day. It was an early morning arrival and the dining hall in the hotel was closed. So, we fell onto our bed in the small but efficient room and took a nap.
