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Singing Cave
After a big storm, Pat discovers a hidden inner chamber inside a local cave, where he finds the tomb of a Viking warrior, but when he returns the next day the Viking and his treasure have mysteriously disappeared
- GenresIrish Literature
259 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1959
3 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Eilís Dillon
69 books37 followersEilís Dillon (1920-1994) was born in Galway, in the West of Ireland. Her father, Thomas Dillon, was Professor of Chemistry at University College Galway. Her mother, Geraldine Plunkett, was the sister of the poet Joseph Mary Plunkett, one of the seven signatories of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, who was executed in Kilmainham Gaol at the end of the 1916 Easter Rising.
Eilís was educated at the Ursuline Convent in Sligo, and was sent to work in the hotel and catering business in Dublin. In 1940, at the age of 20, she married a 37-year-old Corkman. Her husband, Cormac Ó Cuilleanáin, became Professor of Irish at University College Cork. Eilís had always written poetry and stories, and in the intervals of bringing up three children and running a student hostel for the university, she developed her writing into a highly successful professional career. At first she wrote children's books in Irish and English, then started to write novels and detective stories. Over twenty of her books were published by Faber and Faber, winning critical acclaim and a wide readership. Her work was translated into fourteen languages.
In the 1960s, her husband's poor health prompted early retirement and a move to Rome. He died in 1970. Eilís Dillon's large historical novel about the road to Irish independence in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Across the Bitter Sea, was published in 1973 by Hodder & Stoughton in London, and Simon & Schuster in New York. It became an instant bestseller.
In 1974 Eilís married Vivian Mercier, Professor of English in the University of Colorado at Boulder. They moved to California when Vivian was appointed to a chair in the University of California, Santa Barbara. They spent each winter in California until Vivian's retirement in 1987, returning to Ireland for the spring and summer.
Eilís Dillon was active in a number of public and cultural bodies. She served on the Arts Council, the International Commission for English in the Liturgy, the Irish Writers' Union and the Irish Writers' Centre. She was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and a member of Aosdána, the State academy of writers, artists and composers. She had long argued for the establishment of such a body.
Vivian's death in 1989 was followed by the death in 1990 of Eilís's daughter Máire, who was a violinist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Despite these blows, and her own declining health, Eilís kept writing until the last months of her own life. An honorary doctorate was conferred on her by University College Cork in 1992. Her last two published works were Children of Bach (1993), a children's novel set in Hungary at the time of the Holocaust, and her edition of Vivian Mercier's posthumous Modern Irish Literature: Sources and Founders (Oxford, 1994). Her scholarly work on this book meant that her own last novel remained unfinished.
Eilís Dillon died on 19 July 1994. Of her fifty books, ten are now in print and others will shortly be republished. A special prize, the Eilís Dillon Award, is given each year as part of the Bisto Book Awards. She herself had won the main Bisto Book of the Year award in 1989 with The Island of Ghosts.
Eilís was educated at the Ursuline Convent in Sligo, and was sent to work in the hotel and catering business in Dublin. In 1940, at the age of 20, she married a 37-year-old Corkman. Her husband, Cormac Ó Cuilleanáin, became Professor of Irish at University College Cork. Eilís had always written poetry and stories, and in the intervals of bringing up three children and running a student hostel for the university, she developed her writing into a highly successful professional career. At first she wrote children's books in Irish and English, then started to write novels and detective stories. Over twenty of her books were published by Faber and Faber, winning critical acclaim and a wide readership. Her work was translated into fourteen languages.
In the 1960s, her husband's poor health prompted early retirement and a move to Rome. He died in 1970. Eilís Dillon's large historical novel about the road to Irish independence in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Across the Bitter Sea, was published in 1973 by Hodder & Stoughton in London, and Simon & Schuster in New York. It became an instant bestseller.
In 1974 Eilís married Vivian Mercier, Professor of English in the University of Colorado at Boulder. They moved to California when Vivian was appointed to a chair in the University of California, Santa Barbara. They spent each winter in California until Vivian's retirement in 1987, returning to Ireland for the spring and summer.
Eilís Dillon was active in a number of public and cultural bodies. She served on the Arts Council, the International Commission for English in the Liturgy, the Irish Writers' Union and the Irish Writers' Centre. She was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and a member of Aosdána, the State academy of writers, artists and composers. She had long argued for the establishment of such a body.
Vivian's death in 1989 was followed by the death in 1990 of Eilís's daughter Máire, who was a violinist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Despite these blows, and her own declining health, Eilís kept writing until the last months of her own life. An honorary doctorate was conferred on her by University College Cork in 1992. Her last two published works were Children of Bach (1993), a children's novel set in Hungary at the time of the Holocaust, and her edition of Vivian Mercier's posthumous Modern Irish Literature: Sources and Founders (Oxford, 1994). Her scholarly work on this book meant that her own last novel remained unfinished.
Eilís Dillon died on 19 July 1994. Of her fifty books, ten are now in print and others will shortly be republished. A special prize, the Eilís Dillon Award, is given each year as part of the Bisto Book Awards. She herself had won the main Bisto Book of the Year award in 1989 with The Island of Ghosts.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 4, 2016
Adventure, danger, action and mystery all under one cover. This may be written for the juvenile market but it has all the elements of an exciting read.
Pat lives with his Grandfather on the island of Barinish, just off the coast of Ireland. The coast is rocky and harsh, but the sea is the source of much of the island's economy. It is set in a time before modern conveniences, so people know each other pretty well and interact on a regular basis.
When Pat decides to explore the Singing Cave he gets his Grandfather to come along. Always up for an adventure, Pat's grandfather pilots the light boat to the mouth of the cave. What Pat finds when he enters astounds him. After telling his grandfather about the find they decide to share the information with Mr. Allen—the most learned man they know.
From there things take a strange turn and the adventure and mystery begin. Rough seas, stow aways, late night movements, treasure missing and more.
It isn't a long read (192 pages) but it is a good read and fun to take your time with.
Another Goodread.
Pat lives with his Grandfather on the island of Barinish, just off the coast of Ireland. The coast is rocky and harsh, but the sea is the source of much of the island's economy. It is set in a time before modern conveniences, so people know each other pretty well and interact on a regular basis.
When Pat decides to explore the Singing Cave he gets his Grandfather to come along. Always up for an adventure, Pat's grandfather pilots the light boat to the mouth of the cave. What Pat finds when he enters astounds him. After telling his grandfather about the find they decide to share the information with Mr. Allen—the most learned man they know.
From there things take a strange turn and the adventure and mystery begin. Rough seas, stow aways, late night movements, treasure missing and more.
It isn't a long read (192 pages) but it is a good read and fun to take your time with.
Another Goodread.
July 29, 2007
delightful! it's like if the Hardy Boys adventures were full of fantastic descriptive analogies and took place in Connemara.
October 22, 2022
Another beautiful story crafted so well by Eilis Dillon! She always makes me feel as if I am right there in the setting of the story, amongst the Irish community, or even in this case, among the Breton people on the coast of France. Every character is so well drawn and the story moves along at a perfect pace. I enjoyed reading about the finding, loss and relocating of the lost Viking artifacts so much!
March 24, 2023
A must read of Irish children's literature.
October 11, 2015
Easy to read. Fun to read.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews