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Cleveland Comhrá: Top Ten of 2024
- iIrish Admin
- December 26, 2024
- Edited 2 days ago
Table of Contents
By Bob Carney
Mary and I have shared our home with many dogs over the years, and daily walks were part of my routine. Cian our first Irish Wolfhound, and Morrighán, his younger “sister,” and I would walk two or three miles in the evening, until they started getting older.
Rían is our biggest guy at 210lbs, and now the oldest at five years. Aisling is three and Draoi is two. Little Doolin is eight now and at fourteen lbs. has more energy than all three wolfhounds combined. Those three are the laziest dogs on the planet!
Draoi loves to play and rough house with Aisling, but a walk at the end of the day, he’d prefer to just lay in the grass. As a result I spend more time on the treadmill in the morning and more evenings in the backyard reading while the dogs nap outside.
I found myself reading a lot more fiction this year and even reread Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Le Fanu’s Carmilla. There were a few Irish language books and a few Irish mythology books.
Irish and American history are always favorites. I hope you find something that peaks your interest in my top ten choices for 2024.
The Ghosts of Belfast
by Stuart Neville
I came across this fantastic novel quite by accident. I was browsing the horror section at the book store and the title caught my eye just as Mary was telling me to hurry up. I grabbed the book and was hurried to the checkout.
I don’t think I would classify this as horror, but more crime fiction, or thriller. The story is set in Northern Ireland after the Good Friday Agreement ended most of the violence there.
The ghosts are in Gerry’s head. He is an ex paramilitary assassin who is tormented by the faces and voices of the people he killed. Each one, in turn, pushes him to avenge them by killing those that gave the orders.
When Gerry can no longer control the voices through alcohol abuse, he does what he thinks they want. I spent two evenings squinting in the dark to finish this phenomenal book.
Collusion
by Stuart Neville
I ordered this book immediately upon finishing The Ghosts of Befast. This sequel is as fast paced as the first and brings in a surprise element that ties the story lines together. I will defintely seek out other works by this writer.
Listen to the Land Speak
by Manchán Magan
I have reviewed a few of Manchán’s books in my Speak Irish column in the past. He is passionate about sharing his love for the richness of the Irish language in a way that makes it accessible to everyone.
In this book he sticks to English to share the history and mythology of Ireland’s landscapes. Cleveland writer and playwright Christopher Johnson (The Ascension of Mary Mulligan) chose the Burren as the setting for his play because of a magical or spiritual connection he felt there. You will find this book to be a great read if you’ve experienced that connection yourself in the Irish outdoors.
The River of Doubt
by Candace Millard
After his election defeat in 1912, Theodore Roosevelt looked for a distraction. He had been humiliated politically during his final attempt to regain the White House and thought an adventure would put him right.
What had started out as a planned excursion through previously charted areas of the Amazon, changed when Roosevelt was challenged to explore an unmapped tributary of the river. The expedition suffered many hardships, including starvation, disease, drowning, Indian attacks and even murder. Roosevelt himself contemplated suicide under the physical and mental strain of it all.
For a man who was a legend in his own lifetime, this was the biggest challenge he ever faced. This is a brilliant outdoor adventure tale.
Gaeilge i mo Chroí
by Molly Nic Céile
Where was this book when I was first introduced to the Irish language? Molly launched Irish in my Heart in 2019 as a YouTube channel and Instagram account to share her love for the Irish language.
The book is not just for Irish language learners, but for anyone interested in language or their Irish heritage. It is full of seanfhocail, old sayings, and each chapter includes a glossary to help the reader out. The on-line dictionary teanglann.ie is helpful with the pronunciation for the new words and phrases you encounter.
I enjoyed Chapter 5 quite a bit, as Molly takes a conversation showing how Irish would sound if it were English. I recommended this book to all of Speak Irish Cleveland members.
And All the Saints
by Michael Walsh
Walsh tells the story of the most infamous Irish-American mobster in history as a memoir. Owney Madden tells us his life story from it’s beginnings in England to his arrival on the streets of New York. It can be difficult to remember this is a novel based on the real Madden, who formed a coalition that became the New York Crime Syndicate.
The book is largely accurate in its depiction of Madden’s life in crime with only small events and conversations being the work of the author. I read this over a couple of evenings and was inspired to share the story of Owney Madden in my July and August 2024 Cleveland Comhrá columns, The Killer.
Small Things Like These
by Claire Keegan
This a great time to sing the praises of our own Irish book club C.R.A.I.C., Cleveland Reads About Irish Culture. I rarely am able to make their monthly meetings.
I leave work early on Tuesdays for Speak Irish class and can’t leave on the Wednesday night they meet. They are kind enough to share their monthly book choice with me and this short story was one of them.
It takes place in a small Irish town in 1985, just before Christmas. The town’s basic institutions are run by the Catholic Church and the local convent.
It tells the story of one man who stands up for what is right. It is a story of hope and second chances at life. It depicts a dimmer side of religion and its impact on the Irish in those earlier years.
The Vampyre
by Thomas Holland
Most of us are familiar with the story of Lord Byron and his holiday with friends that led to the challenge to come up with tales of horror to share with one another. Mary Shelley came up with Frankenstein and Lord Byron started a story about a vampire, but grew weary of it.
His personal physician, John Polidori, saw something in it and asked if might elaborate on it making it his own. Byron had no objections and Polidori published The Vampyre in 1819. It is considered the forerunner of the vampire genre.
In this novel, Tom Holland builds on that relationship between Byron and Polidori, casting one as the immortal vampire ready to share his story two hundred years later. A very interesting blend of fact and fiction.
Knock Knock Open Wide
by Neil Sharpson
Written by Dublin playwright turned novelist Neil Sharpson, this story is like something you don’t want to see but can’t look away from. He blends celtic mythology with supernatural horror and modern alternative lifestyle.
A couple of months after reading the book, I saw a children’s toy, a small black stuffed goat, and looked at it in a totally different way. A freaky story that has me anticipating his next book.
Christmas and Other Horrors
Ed. by Ellen Datlow
This is a collection of modern stories from around the world, set during the time of the winter solstice. Stories of ghouls and creatures and things that go bump in the night, all during the most wonderful time of the year!
To read more of Bob’s Cleveland Comhrá columns, click HERE
Wise Craics: Irish Jokes, Humor, Stories
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Need a Laugh? Or many times that? Check out the Wise Craics words for this month
Off the Shelf: The Drowned
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The Irish have always been great writers, this month’s selection is no different. …
Bob Carney
*Bob Carney is a student of Irish language and history and teaches the Speak Irish Cleveland class held every Tuesday at PJ McIntyre’s. He is also active in the Irish Wolfhound and Irish Dogs organizations in and around Cleveland. Wife Mary, hounds Rían, Aisling Draoi, and terrier Doolin keep the house jumping. He can be reached at [email protected]
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