Darby O'Gill
by Herminie Templeton Kavanagh
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Book Summary Information
Author: Herminie Templeton KavanaghEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-02-07
ISBN: 0765354624
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Tor Fantasy
Book Reviews of Darby O'Gill
Book Review: Darby O' Gill
Summary: 5 Stars
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Although the Disney Movie was based on it loosely, there are many differences. The stories in the book were set in Tipperary near the Mountain of Slieve-na-Mon; the movie was set in Kilarney near "Nok-na-sheega" In the book Darby is a young man with a son and at least one daugher and his wife, Bridget very much alive and part of the stories. In the movie he is a elderly widower with a daughter. Finally, in the book he is a small farmer whereas in the Movie he is a caretaker for the gentry.
Darby in Herminie Templeton Kavanaugh'S stories is a "knowledgible man" meaning he has collected extensive information about the "Good People" or the Leprechauns who live under a mountain not far away. He was captured by them after they had taken his prize cow and he had gone back to get her as they let their stolen cattle out to graze under the moon. In escaping, Darby also manages to liberate his sister in law Maureen from their control (She had been given the come hither some time before) and yet the two become good friends with King Brian of the Good People who routinely visits them in evenings at Darby's hearth (much to the discomfort of Darby's wife Bridget). Bridget calls on Father Cassidy to put a stop to Darby's association with the "Good People" and he comes to Darby's house loaded with blessings and holy things but the shrewd little people battle him to a standstill. Later when Father Cassidy is riding his horse in the mountains and she throws a shoe, King Brian befriends him and answers a question that had been bothering him (How did the little people get into Ireland). King Brian does overstay after a night at Darby's but it is not Darby that captures him and tries to wring advantages from him but a string of Darby's neighbors with humourous results.
Finally, Darby saves not his daughter but a friend from the Banshee and in the altercation (he and the banshee run square into each other on the midst of a bridge over a flooded stream) the bansee loses her gold comb. Darby returns it to the witch ("spy of the fairies") Sheila McGuire (not Sugrue)in return for promises not to visit him and his family and to leave the poor fellow and his wife alone that she had been chasing. But Darby did not return the whole comb (a piece had broken off) and the Banshee despondently refused to work and the following Halloween all the unhappy ghosts came from the mountain of Crogmagh to force Darby to hand it over. Darby chnced on them on a dark road by a mill and onnly by invoking King Brian'S aid were they saved. King Brian invoked the Coiste Bodhar driver Sean (a headless ghost or Dullahan) who King Brian informs Darby is the only ghost civil enough to be worthy of his associaton. Sean drives them in the Coiste Bodhar to Coagmagh (An Irish "purgatory" for ghosts where the Banshee resides, like Slieve-na-Mon inside a mountain though unlike SlievenaMon its location is probably not known to mortals) Darby is given his wishes again and wishes wisely, the last time asking the Banshee sing an old Irish ballad which, flattered she does so beutifully that it is not possible to describe, Darby having thus won her regard.
The book creates a fascinating contrast: Darby is by day a likeable but laughable spalpeen farmer afraid of his own shadow and prone to daydream at the slightest provocation (It was said that once he developed a liking for honest work and felt so odd about it he went to see the doctor for medicine) But by night when he enters the world of latter day Celtic myth, legend and superstition (though still plagued by the same faults and shortcomings) he becomes something of a great hero figure having (As Pwyll of Dyfed did hundreds of years before him in the Mabinogeon) been to the Otherworl and been permitted to return and earned the rich gifts and highest regard of the King of the Otherword, or who has emerged from great battles with the "forces of darkness" not only undefeated but enhanced and well regarded. As has been suggested, these are ancient stories in modern clothing like those of riddle/magic duel of the Blacksmith and of the "Maiden or the lover dead far away who comes one last time to say goodbye" that populate the folklore of these regions.
Herminie Templeton Kavanaugh tells these stories in a delightful way preserving many of the local expressions and pronunciations ("baste" for "beast" and "divil a foot" and many more). Onse senses that with modernization our world so much that was delightful has quietly been lost, and one is grateful to Ms Templeton Kavanaugh that she recorded these stories when she did.
Summary of Darby O'Gill
Leprechauns, Banshees, Sprites.
"This history sets forth the only true account of the adventures of a daring Tipperary man named Darby O'Gill among the Fairies of Sleive-na-mon"
These leprechauns, banshees, and other little people had long been feared by the good folk of the old Sod, always frightened that some curse or come hither might lead even the best of souls unto an exile in the fairy realm .
The denizens of the faerie realm have met their match in Darby, a plain spoken fellow wise to their ways .
He may not be able to hold onto their boon of three wishes or avoid being the butt of a joke or two , but he does earn the respect of their King and the chance to be merry with his friends from the enchanted realm of Sleive-na-mon.
This edition has been de-brogued for modern readers.
"This history sets forth the only true account of the adventures of a daring Tipperary man named Darby O'Gill among the Fairies of Sleive-na-mon"
These leprechauns, banshees, and other little people had long been feared by the good folk of the old Sod, always frightened that some curse or come hither might lead even the best of souls unto an exile in the fairy realm .
The denizens of the faerie realm have met their match in Darby, a plain spoken fellow wise to their ways .
He may not be able to hold onto their boon of three wishes or avoid being the butt of a joke or two , but he does earn the respect of their King and the chance to be merry with his friends from the enchanted realm of Sleive-na-mon.
This edition has been de-brogued for modern readers.
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