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Classic Irish Short Stories
In his introduction to this collection, Frank O'Connor, himself a distinguished short story writer, emphasizes the richness of the short story tradition in Ireland. The stories he has chosen, all written between the end of the last century and the 1950s, illustrate his meaning and demonstrate how the style and approach of these writers changed in response, not only to the demands of a developing aesthetic, but also to the social and political conditions of their day. The volume represents the finest writers of their time with their best work, revealing the variety of styles and approaches within the genre, and ranging from the folk tale to the romance, and from the symbolic to the naturalistic. It contains selections by George Moore, Somerville and Ross, Daniel Corkery, James Joyce, James Stephens, Liam O'Flaherty, L.A.G. Strong, Seán O'Faoláin, Frank O'Connor, Eric Cross, Michael McLaverty, Bryan MacMahon, Mary Lavin, James Plunkett, and Elizabeth Bowen.
352 pages, Paperback
First published April 5, 1990
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About the author
Frank O'Connor
164 books131 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.
Frank O’Connor (born Michael Francis O'Connor O'Donovan) was an Irish author of over 150 works, who was best known for his short stories and memoirs. Raised an only child in Cork, Ireland, to Minnie O'Connor and Michael O'Donovan, his early life was marked by his father's alcoholism, indebtness and ill-treatment of his mother.
He was perhaps Ireland's most complete man of letters, best known for his varied and comprehensive short stories but also for his work as a literary critic, essayist, travel writer, translator and biographer.[5] He was also a novelist, poet and dramatist.[6]
From the 1930s to the 1960s he was a prolific writer of short stories, poems, plays, and novellas. His work as an Irish teacher complemented his plethora of translations into English of Irish poetry, including his initially banned translation of Brian Merriman's Cúirt an Mheán Oíche ("The Midnight Court"). Many of O'Connor's writings were based on his own life experiences — his character Larry Delaney in particular. O'Connor's experiences in the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War are reflected in The Big Fellow, his biography of Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins, published in 1937, and one of his best-known short stories, Guests of the Nation (1931), published in various forms during O'Connor's lifetime and included in Frank O'Connor — Collected Stories, published in 1981.
O'Connor's early years are recounted in An Only Child, a memoir published in 1961 but which has the immediacy of a precocious diary. U.S. President John F. Kennedy quoted from An Only Child in his remarks introducing the American commitment to land a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. Kennedy described the long walks O'Connor would take with his friends and how, when they came to a wall that seemed too formidable to climb over, they would throw their caps over the wall so they would be forced to scale the wall after them. Kennedy concluded, "This nation has tossed its cap over the wall of space and we have no choice but to follow it."[7] O'Connor continued his autobiography through his time with the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, which ended in 1939, in his book, My Father's Son, which was published in 1968, after O'Connor's death.
Frank O’Connor (born Michael Francis O'Connor O'Donovan) was an Irish author of over 150 works, who was best known for his short stories and memoirs. Raised an only child in Cork, Ireland, to Minnie O'Connor and Michael O'Donovan, his early life was marked by his father's alcoholism, indebtness and ill-treatment of his mother.
He was perhaps Ireland's most complete man of letters, best known for his varied and comprehensive short stories but also for his work as a literary critic, essayist, travel writer, translator and biographer.[5] He was also a novelist, poet and dramatist.[6]
From the 1930s to the 1960s he was a prolific writer of short stories, poems, plays, and novellas. His work as an Irish teacher complemented his plethora of translations into English of Irish poetry, including his initially banned translation of Brian Merriman's Cúirt an Mheán Oíche ("The Midnight Court"). Many of O'Connor's writings were based on his own life experiences — his character Larry Delaney in particular. O'Connor's experiences in the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War are reflected in The Big Fellow, his biography of Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins, published in 1937, and one of his best-known short stories, Guests of the Nation (1931), published in various forms during O'Connor's lifetime and included in Frank O'Connor — Collected Stories, published in 1981.
O'Connor's early years are recounted in An Only Child, a memoir published in 1961 but which has the immediacy of a precocious diary. U.S. President John F. Kennedy quoted from An Only Child in his remarks introducing the American commitment to land a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. Kennedy described the long walks O'Connor would take with his friends and how, when they came to a wall that seemed too formidable to climb over, they would throw their caps over the wall so they would be forced to scale the wall after them. Kennedy concluded, "This nation has tossed its cap over the wall of space and we have no choice but to follow it."[7] O'Connor continued his autobiography through his time with the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, which ended in 1939, in his book, My Father's Son, which was published in 1968, after O'Connor's death.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 18, 2012
O'Connor writes in his introduction that "the Irish short story is a distinct art form." This collection has twenty stories, from George Moore to Elizabeth Bowen. There's no such thing as too many Irish short stories, in my opinion.
March 30, 2017
I'll start this review by saying what I say about every book of short stories, I'm not a fan. I was also slightly put off by the word 'Classic' in the title as that can be very hit and miss.
However this wasn't too bad. I really liked 'My OEdipus Complex'. That was the stand out one. The rest were okay but I will forget them fairly quickly. I wouldn't go around recommending this to everyone but you could pick something worse to read.
However this wasn't too bad. I really liked 'My OEdipus Complex'. That was the stand out one. The rest were okay but I will forget them fairly quickly. I wouldn't go around recommending this to everyone but you could pick something worse to read.
November 20, 2017
This review has been crossposted from my blog at The Cosy Dragon . Please head there for more in-depth reviews by me, which appear on a timely schedule.
This is a literature text for one of my Arts units, Irish Literature. For that reason, I haven't actually read all of the short stories within the book. Frank O'Connor is only the editor, not writer of the short stories. There is a good range, particularly of women Irish writers.
The short stories are carefully crafted, and often filled with symbols and metaphors. They are a great expose on 'Irish Life'. A bit of context regarding the famine, and world war II would be helpful, but not essential. You can still appreciate the stories as great Irish Literature.
While reading I wasn't exactly concentrating on the joy of reading - these had an exam on them. I would love to go back at a later time when I'm not so stressed and reread more in the collection. If you didn't like James Joyce, there is still a good chance you may like these, because there is simply so much variety in style.
This is a literature text for one of my Arts units, Irish Literature. For that reason, I haven't actually read all of the short stories within the book. Frank O'Connor is only the editor, not writer of the short stories. There is a good range, particularly of women Irish writers.
The short stories are carefully crafted, and often filled with symbols and metaphors. They are a great expose on 'Irish Life'. A bit of context regarding the famine, and world war II would be helpful, but not essential. You can still appreciate the stories as great Irish Literature.
While reading I wasn't exactly concentrating on the joy of reading - these had an exam on them. I would love to go back at a later time when I'm not so stressed and reread more in the collection. If you didn't like James Joyce, there is still a good chance you may like these, because there is simply so much variety in style.
July 11, 2017
I'm really not a fan of short stories so this was never going to be the book for me and although I felt the stories were ok, it didn't feel like they were anything special.
The stories are all Irish and by different authors. It was strange reading some of them as although some of the stories were quite old, the language did not seem to fit with the time it was published. I'm not sure if this was to do with the stories themselves or if they have been edited.
I was intrigued to see there was a James Joyce story in there and fearful in case it was anything like his longer works but it is the first thing I have read of his that I have been able to enjoy.
I would only recommend if you like reading short stories.
The stories are all Irish and by different authors. It was strange reading some of them as although some of the stories were quite old, the language did not seem to fit with the time it was published. I'm not sure if this was to do with the stories themselves or if they have been edited.
I was intrigued to see there was a James Joyce story in there and fearful in case it was anything like his longer works but it is the first thing I have read of his that I have been able to enjoy.
I would only recommend if you like reading short stories.
December 8, 2013
Very decent collection with a few gems thrown in for good measure. The stories I am most grateful to have taken from the book are the two from the author Frank O' Connor, who's two short stories are polar opposite in subject matter. The contrast however only served to impress me further at his style and ability. These are 'Guests of the Nation' and 'My Oedipus Complex'.
The first took me into a stunned and contemplative silence, while the second was an uproariously funny and charming account of paternal hatred jealousy from the perspective of a precocious child. If I can take a passage from each:
(Guests of the Nations)
I stood at the door, watching the stars and listening to the shrieking of the birds dying out over the bogs. It is so strange what you feel at times like that that you can't describe it. Noble says he saw everything ten times the size, as though there were nothing in the whole world but that little patch of bog with the two Englishmen stiffening into it, but with me it was as if the patch of bog where the Englishmen were was a million miles away, and even Noble and the old woman, mumbling behind me, and the birds and the bloody stars were all far away, and I was somehow very small and very lost and lonely like a child astray in the snow. And anything that hapenned me afterwardsm I never felt the same about again.
(My Oedipus Complex)
One evening when he was being particularly obnoxious, chattering well above my head, I let him have it.
"Mummy," I said, "do you know what I'm going to do when I grow up?
"No dear," she replied. "What?"
"I'm going to marry you," I said quietly.
Father gave a great guffaw out of him, but he didn't take me in. I knew it must only be pretence. And mother, in spite of everything, was pleased. I felt she was probably relieved to know tgat ibe day Father's hold on her would be broken.
"Won't that be nice?" she said with a smile.
"It'll be very nice," I said confidently, "Because we're going to have lots and lots of babies."
The first took me into a stunned and contemplative silence, while the second was an uproariously funny and charming account of paternal hatred jealousy from the perspective of a precocious child. If I can take a passage from each:
(Guests of the Nations)
I stood at the door, watching the stars and listening to the shrieking of the birds dying out over the bogs. It is so strange what you feel at times like that that you can't describe it. Noble says he saw everything ten times the size, as though there were nothing in the whole world but that little patch of bog with the two Englishmen stiffening into it, but with me it was as if the patch of bog where the Englishmen were was a million miles away, and even Noble and the old woman, mumbling behind me, and the birds and the bloody stars were all far away, and I was somehow very small and very lost and lonely like a child astray in the snow. And anything that hapenned me afterwardsm I never felt the same about again.
(My Oedipus Complex)
One evening when he was being particularly obnoxious, chattering well above my head, I let him have it.
"Mummy," I said, "do you know what I'm going to do when I grow up?
"No dear," she replied. "What?"
"I'm going to marry you," I said quietly.
Father gave a great guffaw out of him, but he didn't take me in. I knew it must only be pretence. And mother, in spite of everything, was pleased. I felt she was probably relieved to know tgat ibe day Father's hold on her would be broken.
"Won't that be nice?" she said with a smile.
"It'll be very nice," I said confidently, "Because we're going to have lots and lots of babies."
March 1, 2020
This anthology of Irish short stories, published mid 20th century, still provides an excellent selection of highly readable stories, spanning the first half of the century. I particularly enjoyed those by George Moore, James Joyce, Mary Lavin, James Plunkett and Elizabeth Bowen. In his introduction Frank O’Connor draws a very pertinent distinction between the Irish tale (of which there are several examples in this anthology), a tall-story told by a character usually in a bar and intended to raise a laugh, and the Irish short story itself, a carefully constructed work of literature. My only quibble with the book would be this introduction itself, in which he mentions several writers (O’Kelly, Colum, Brian O’Nolan, Benedict Kiely and Val Mulkerns), examples of whose work he does not include, and in which he omits mention of Eric Cross, an example of whose work he does include in his anthology. The short stories themselves are, however, superb.
September 3, 2013
The book has some great stories of different aspects of Irish life up to the time of Frank O'Connor. A lot of the stories and themes are quite depressing though and I found that overwhelming towards the end of the book.
January 15, 2014
As in all short story books, some are well written and interesting and some are not.
December 11, 2016
current stories timeless for those interested in what Irland was till mid 90's
May 10, 2021
There is a wide variety of stories here, for me they ranged from two star- to five star-stories, the best being James Joyce's "The Dead". What they all have in common is an all-permeating moroseness, that is self-evident to those who are familiar with Ireland's history (all these short stories are from the 1950s and before, so the GFA, the EU, and Celtic Tiger are still a long way off, this is a country drained and exhausted by eight centuries of British occupation, countless rebellions and famines, a war of independence, and a civil war). Most stories are pleasing to read and left a lasting imprint on my memory, only some I consider below par.
October 25, 2024
Great stuff!
Why the Irish write better than others is apparent in these stories.
Small country produces writers: Wilde, Yeats, Joyce, Shaw, Beckett, etc. to name a few, in addition to the authors in this anthology.
Why the Irish write better than others is apparent in these stories.
Small country produces writers: Wilde, Yeats, Joyce, Shaw, Beckett, etc. to name a few, in addition to the authors in this anthology.
December 29, 2020
Bought this for a community arts class. The class was disappointing but I enjoyed the stories. There’s a wide variety of stories. I couldn’t see a as my threads between them , but most were worthwhile
Want to read
July 1, 2022To read “home sickness” by George Moore; in relation to ‘Homesickness’ by Colin Barrett
June 19, 2024
classic art of the irish history again with so many originals and beauty in the different styles. I LOVE IRELAND
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews