A Doorway in Time

by Herbert O'Driscoll

A Canadian clergyman recounts his upbringing in Ireland and how it brought him into touch with the spiritual traditions of Celtic Christianity

Genres: Memoir

113 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1985

About the author

A native of Ireland, O'Driscoll is an Anglican priest and renowned storyteller and scholar of Celtic Christianity. By turns a teacher, speaker, broadcaster, hymnist, and author,he now lives in Victoria, British Columbia.

Reviews

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Doorway in Time is a memoir of a Celtic Spiritual Journey--by a rector of Christ Church, Calgary, Alberta, Canada--who grew up Southern Ireland in the 1930s. In this memoir Herbert O'Driscoll reflects on the history he learned as a child, on religious stories and people, and his faith as a Protestant in a Catholic region. "...I was entering a doorway in time. Although I was to have vivid awareness of images of a past taught to me since childhood, it was a doorway leading not so much to the past as to a level of reality freed from time. There are many doorways swinging open silently and unexpectedly in our experience (O'Driscoll 3)." He combines stories of his childhood with a brief history of Ireland and a brief history of religion. He sketches an image of Ireland of the past that prided itself on tradition. Most important he reflects on his own human journey that led him from Southern Ireland to Alberta, Canada. A sweet book only 113 pages long.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a memoir! Some insights are beautiful. It’s a nice little book overall. I read it in one sitting.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I finish, I'll re-read and take notes until I've my heart is full of this wisdom and then I'll pass the book along to just the right person at the right time -
Update - I passed the book along!