Farewell Companions: James Plunkett

The sequel to Strumpet City and described as a rich tapestry of Irish life from 1914 to the end of World War II. It's about growing up: Tim McDonagh and his two close friends move through childhood and adolescence to early manhood, each adapting in his own way to the varied and complex strands of the Irish heritage. The Church is, of course, a powerful influence; as is the strong blood-myth of race and a pervasive nostalgia for the lost, golden age of the Gael: a crowded, mythological world of gods, warriors and hero-poets. There's also the passionate antagonisms of the Civil War which had so recently marked the setting-up of the new State and turned the triumph of the uprising to dust and ashes. There are characters personifying these influences: O'Sheehan, the eccentric old librarian and Celtic scholar who believes he is Oisin, - son of Finn MacCumhaill of Gaelic mythology (and therefore about 2,000 years old...) Cornelius Moloney publican and politician, who hopes to make his fortune by training greyhounds; and petty politicians and feuding Treatyites and Anti-Treatyites who were at one time brothers-in-arms.