Barefoot in Mullyneeny: A Boy’s Journey Towards Belonging

Barefoot in Mullyneeny: A Boy’s Journey Towards Belonging
Bryan Gallagher

Bryan Gallagher's reminiscences of the Ireland of his youth, first heard on Radio 4's 'Home Truths', transport you to a world of boyhood pranks, playground politics and the confusion of growing up in a land that is every bit as magical and captivating as the stories he has to tell.Barefoot in Mullyneeny is Bryan Gallagher's evocative tale of a childhood remembered through the people and landscape of Fermanagh, near the beautiful shores of Lough Erne in Ireland. Bryan chronicles a time when all the big boys went to school in bare feet and secretly watched the Saturday night bands and dances in halls lit by Tilley lamps; where it was known to be nothing less than the biblical truth that if you put a horse-hair across the palm of your hand when you were about to be punished at school, the cane would split in two.Gallagher's writing will touch the hearts of those who long for the innocence of childhood and the simplicity of an era long past. Whether relating tales of murderous bicycle chases through the darkened streets of Cavan, of ghosts and fairy forts or the anguish of emigration, this remarkable memoir vividly recreates life in rural Ireland in the 1940s and 50s.For those who thought that life in Ireland was one of the poverty and misery of James Joyce or Frank McCourt, Barefoot in Mullyneeny offers a view of the Ireland of yesteryear that combines the touching, homely nostalgia of Nigel Slater's Toast and Laurie Lee's Cider with Rosie with a humorous optimism that is unmistakably Ireland at its best.

Barefoot in

Mullyneeny

A Boy’s Journey Towards Belonging

Bryan Gallagher

As I write this, the memory of the tragic death of John Peel is still vivid in my mind. He changed the lives of many people with his encouragement, and he did that for me in his sincere appreciation of these stories. He broadcast some of them in his BBC programmes, and it was he who first broached the prospect of publication.

This book is respectfully dedicated to his memory.

Table of Contents

Cover Page (#ub486683b-7aa1-540c-9cfb-31dcfc55e867)

Title Page (#uaf287c73-ff60-5cc8-a6f6-26e77aa0be81)

dedication (#u3a697161-c177-5294-9014-451c882f1671)

INTRODUCTION (#u1231d81f-6707-5106-bd6f-e485ba78d51c)

The Map of Ireland (#uc675f742-7252-5e92-ba1e-7aa39a744b74)

The Cobbler (#u8f0b347f-bb33-5176-a67d-313d15a7bbce)

Jolly Nice (#ud80c1235-565b-5aed-bf9b-0dc76685b868)

I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls (#u36689725-4792-5162-b854-60e0fa8395ee)

Clerical Error (#u62a22584-17ef-5aed-b73d-beafea4189e9)

Last of the Islandmen (#u7795dcff-6d3d-5d8a-bcb6-5b2628cae4a0)

Goodbye Dolly Gray (#u5b435aa1-5a9e-58c6-ba9a-8d8e9773a6d8)

Mrs Malaprop and Daughter (#u6388da4c-d7d5-5dbd-a9cd-2f1eba5621e6)

Altar Altercation (#ub4909297-ddcf-511b-8d61-9d838bebf941)

Sand Pit (#litres_trial_promo)

Requiem for a Huntsman (#litres_trial_promo)

Oremus (#litres_trial_promo)

Rite of Passage (#litres_trial_promo)

The Huntsman (#litres_trial_promo)

Three Cheers for the Souls in Purgatory (#litres_trial_promo)

The Stations of the Cross (#litres_trial_promo)

Hounds and Hares (#litres_trial_promo)

The Fourth Fall (#litres_trial_promo)

Killing the Pig (#litres_trial_promo)

The Rabbit Island (#litres_trial_promo)

An Inspector Calls (#litres_trial_promo)

The White Horse (#litres_trial_promo)

Lords of the Dance (#litres_trial_promo)

Gorman’s Reel (#litres_trial_promo)

The Fiddle Maker (#litres_trial_promo)

Donkeys (#litres_trial_promo)

A Policeman’s Lot (#litres_trial_promo)

A-Hunting We Will Go (#litres_trial_promo)

Belonging (#litres_trial_promo)

How Much is that Doggie in the Window? (#litres_trial_promo)

Coping the Lea (#litres_trial_promo)

The Wet Winding Roads (#litres_trial_promo)

Hob-nailed Boots (#litres_trial_promo)

Bonny Mary of Argyll (#litres_trial_promo)

The Boat (#litres_trial_promo)

The Stonemason (#litres_trial_promo)

Disgrace (#litres_trial_promo)