The Deposition of Father McGreevy [Hardcover]

Brian O'Doherty (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 6, 1999

In a London pub in the 1950s, editor William Maginn is intrigued by a reference to the reputedly shameful demise of a remote mountain village in Kerry, Ireland, where he was born. Maginn returns to Kerry and uncovers an astonishing tale: both the account of the destruction of a place and a way of life which once preserved Ireland's ancient traditions, and the tragedy of an increasingly isolated village where the women mysteriously die-leaving the priest, Father McGreevy, to cope with insoluble problems. Looking back in time, the book traces how, as World War II rages through Europe, McGreevy struggles to preserve what remains of his parish, and struggles against the rough mountain elements, the grief and superstitions of his people, and the growing distrust in the town below. The Deposition of Father McGreevy is a remarkable story, and a gripping exploration of both the locus of misfortune and the nature of evil. Rich in the details of Irish lore and life, its narrative evokes both a time and a place with the accuracy of a keen, unsentimental eye, and renders its characters with heartfelt depth.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

What was the cause of the destruction of an Irish mountain village? In the fictive memoir that makes up the bulk of this book, the village's priest recounts the macabre events that began with the swift deaths of six women in the winter of 1939, and ended with the village deserted, himself defrocked, others dead, rumors of men copulating with beasts and a man charged with murdering his own son. Father McGreevy vows to be "as honest as I can in this deposition, and the word can't help but bring to mind the Deposition of Our Lord Himself from the Cross." Trying to explain what he has seen, he draws on Catholic theology, Irish history and folklore and Irish-language literature. Are his parishioners victims of S! (vengeful Irish spirits)? Of the forces fighting in WWII? Of an angry God seeking a sacrificial lamb? The fictitious London editor William Maginn introduces Father McGreevy's manuscript in a prologue set in the 1950s; in two concluding chapters, Maginn interviews the disaster's aged survivors, climbs the mountain where it all happened and meditates on Irish history. O'Doherty (The Strange Case of Mademoiselle P.) works overtime with local color, pathos and religious symbolism in this elaborately constructed homage and elegy to rural, Gaelic Ireland. Lamb (or scapegoat) symbols are everywhere, and MaginnAwho annotates McGreevy's accountAcan be all too eager to help us interpret: "The dead village, with its lost memories, reached back to similar desolations... " McGreevy's own style veers between believable dialect and over-the-top stage-Irish ("It was grand to be out in God's good air those summer days that went on forever"). His first-person narration can be hard to take: "'Is it talking to me you are, Father?' I hit her on the head with a heavy hand. I couldn't help it." Readers will surely enjoy the history and myth O'Doherty spins out here, however, and the harrowing plot he imagines.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A visit to a ghost town will inevitably raise the question, "Why did everyone leave?" While "ghost towns" are most often associated in the American mind with the frontier West, this richly evocative novel details the painful demise of a tiny mountain village in rural Ireland. Told from the viewpoint of Father McGreevy, the devout, na?ve priest of a little flock, this is a tale of many conflicts: humans vs. environment, faith vs. superstition, and the cultural differences and suspicions that often deteriorate into fear and hatred between neighboring towns. If the conclusion is foregone, the story is still worth telling, and in his second novel O'Doherty (The Strange Case of Mademoiselle P., LJ 5/1/92) tells it with exquisitely suggestive detail. Highly recommended.AKay Hogan, Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham Lib.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 404 pages
• Publisher: Turtle Point Press (May 6, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885983395
• ISBN-13: 978-1885983398
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,278,216 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars lyrical, gripping and raw, April 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Deposition of Father McGreevy (Hardcover)

This is an original and fascinating story of an isolated Irish village which suffers a series of tragedies during the early forties that leads to its demise. A caring priest tells the tale of a terrible winter during which the five young women of the village die. This tragedy casts suspicions on the occupants of the village from the larger community at the bottom of the mountain, suspicions which continue to be fed by the primitive behavior of a damaged young man. The destruction and cruelties that result from innuendo and rumor build and begin to impact the good men of the village. An absorbing, wonderfully written story set in a bleak but fascinating time and place.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a hauntingly beautiful mystery, May 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Deposition of Father McGreevy (Hardcover)

A hauntingly beautiful mystery, with page-turning suspense, detailing the death of an Irish village and the unfolding of scandalous secrets. O'Doherty is a master, who has written a book of unsurpassed eloquence, laced with wisdom and wit. Wonderful characters, etched with extraordinary psychological insight and sympathy. An homage to the beauty of language, as well as an extremely important slice of history. While specific to a particularly fascinating time and place, O'Doherty reveals the human condition in all of its complexity, with a tenderness so often lacking in contemporary literature--the sensibility at work in this book is one of its most attractive features. The book is a work of art--a cliche O'Doherty would never employ.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unholy living, half dying, October 27, 2000

By 

K. P. Quinn "KQ" (Hersham) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Deposition of Father McGreevy (Hardcover)

This book puts a dagger close to the heart of old Ireland. It's as sure in that as the roads and by-passes that now saw through the towns and villages of the Republic: Dev is truly dead. O'Doherty's book is riveting as a story and a piece of poetic prose writing. Whoever imagined describing a face as "like vinegar"? Its real coup, however, is in the way it neatly captures the past and slays it before our very eyes. Sure, there's a certain amount of wish-fulfilment in the events described in the book. The doomed village is an uneasy metaphor for old Ireland and the portraits of the distant clergy are made to look wise by the more recent shenanigans we have read about ad nauseum and much to our mirth. But there is a lot to enjoy not least the often comic, sometimes heroic and ultimately flawed Fr McGreevy. He is supported by three or four very credible and strong support acts not the least of whom is his surreal housekeeper Biddy McGurk. Occasionally, O'Doherty strains to capture the essence of his thoughts which do centre around the passing of time and place. I was reminded of "The Butcher Boy" and, going back, some of the short stories from my youth. So, three cheers for the book and a couple of Hail Marys wouldn't go amiss either.