The smartest man in Ireland [Hardcover]

Mollie Hunter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1965

To live up to his boast of being the smartest man in Ireland, Patrick Kentigern Keenan will do anything--he’ll even try to outwit the fairies. When the first three battles of wits end in draws, the fairies enchant Patrick’s son. To win back his boy, Patrick will have to prove once and for all that he is not only the smartest man in Ireland, but the bravest as well. “An exhilarating adventure-fantasy with real Irish flavor . . . imagination, humor, gaiety and some underlying sadness.”--The New York Times Book Review

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Hailed as Scotland's most gifted storyteller and currently living in Inverness, Mollie Hunter has drawn many award-winning novels from her country's history. They include You Never Knew Her As I Did, a riveting tale about Mary, Queen of Scots, and her Carnegie Medal winner, The Stronghold. A Sound Of Chariots, her autobiographical novel, won the 1991 Phoenix Award from the Children's Literature Association.  --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 95 pages
• Publisher: Funk & Wagnalls; First U.S. Edition edition (1965)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0007DLLKI
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,393,961 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My students love this book!, August 31, 2008

By 

D. Dahl (Mid-America) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Smartest Man in Ireland (Paperback)

I've read this book to my second graders for the last two years. They just love it, they keep asking when I can read more. It is especially fun to use an Irish accent! The book is not just entertaining... it also has some great moral lessons woven in.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How The Wee Folk Were Bested, July 14, 2004

By 

Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Smartest Man in Ireland (Paperback)

I have really become quite a Mollie Hunter fan. This on is titled THE SMARTEST MAN IN IRELAND and like last many others this book touches heavily on Irish myth and legend.

Patrick Kentigern Keenan claims he is the smartest man in Ireland. He might very well be but he wants to prove it. In order to prove that he is as he claims, Patrick attempts to outsmart the fair folk. He begins by trying to trick a leprechaun but does not succeed as well as he would like. Several schemes later he is no closer to proving his case.

But then his young son is enchanted by the Fairy Queen and is being held captive. Utilizing his knowledge of legend, Patrick prepares himself for a confrontation on the Fairy's home ground.

In the end Patrick not only outsmarts the fair folk, but he neutralizes their power in the land. When the local townsmen set out to disprove his claims they find that he was telling the truth and they are forced to admit that he really is the smartest man in Ireland.

A very entertaining and quick read with plenty of good honest Irish lore. It is a pleasure to read a story based on so simple and Irish concept without getting bogged down the way so many modern Celtic fantasies do. THE SMARTEST MAN IN IRELAND was first released in 1962 but has recently been reissued by Magic Carpet Books. So if you like tale of the mischievous wee folk, you should take a look at this book. It's worth it!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for boys and girls (and men and women)!, September 14, 2009

By 

Brian Holmes (USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Smartest Man in Ireland (Paperback)

Wow! I read this to my eight year old daughter, and we loved it. It really should be reprinted to make it more available.

Plenty of action. Passages are variously funny, foreboding, beautiful, absorbing, exhilarating, even a bit scary perhaps (the fairies are not exactly nice to the protagonist, for example). Before we started I told my daughter that the book was based on stories told long ago in Ireland, and the leprechauns and fairies might be rather different than she expects!

The characters are great. In addition to Patrick, you gotta love Bridget, too. Patrick's more-sensible better half has her own great sense of humor. It's nice to see some growth in wisdom for both through the pages in a young person's book.

Eight chapters; the first four each have a whole adventure in itself (good stopping points), with the last two adventures using two chapters each. The sentence structure was sometimes a little unusual (for me), which made it more interesting than most kids' books to read aloud.

I think this book would be equally enjoyed by boys and girls (and men and women) -- something for everyone!