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Standing in Gaps: A Memoir
I was born in Leitrim. A very rural and sheltered part of Ireland. This book is about growing up there. To be honest – I’m trying to steal back time. We hadn’t a clue till we got the telly and then we wanted to be like ‘Dallas’. It’s not an angry book. There’s no slander or shame – just a bunch of mad country people trying to make all their ends meet. We were never happy, that we knew of. We were always longing for something else, so we kept doing the same. What we wouldn't do, to go back and give ourselves a good boot up the backside. Those who have read it - say they laughed out loud and lots.
324 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2020
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401 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
October 14, 2021
Just loved it! Looking forward to seeing his new mono play The Handyman at the end of the month
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January 29, 2021Very enjoyable memoir full of wry humour of a man raised in rural Leitrim in the 60s and 70s. A bit too close to the bone at times for someone from neighbouring Roscommon 😯
January 10, 2021
Unreadable at times because of the tears in my eyes and the pain in my sides. Hilarious and moving in equal measure! Everything right and wrong with growing up in rural Ireland captured beautifully.
April 22, 2025
I was really looking forward to reading this book, hoping it would emulate the writing style of Dónal Ryan based on the premise / setting - This was not the case.
Without knowing anything about the author or the book, I knew I had to read it after simply catching sight of the stunning cover.
I enjoyed it at the start and then again about 2 thirds through, but between these stages, I felt a lull in the story / stories and began to lose interest a bit. But then I suppose the mundanity of country-side Leitrim life is captured quite well.
Maybe memoirs just aren’t for me - But I most likely will still get around to reading this book’s sequel: ‘Leaning on Gates’ at some point.
Without knowing anything about the author or the book, I knew I had to read it after simply catching sight of the stunning cover.
I enjoyed it at the start and then again about 2 thirds through, but between these stages, I felt a lull in the story / stories and began to lose interest a bit. But then I suppose the mundanity of country-side Leitrim life is captured quite well.
Maybe memoirs just aren’t for me - But I most likely will still get around to reading this book’s sequel: ‘Leaning on Gates’ at some point.
March 9, 2025
3.5⭐️
‘Standing in Gaps’ serves as a great history lesson for life in rural Ireland. The unabashed Irishness of Seamus O’Rourke’s coming-of-age, is ridiculously funny, but it also tugs at the heartstrings.
‘Standing in Gaps’ serves as a great history lesson for life in rural Ireland. The unabashed Irishness of Seamus O’Rourke’s coming-of-age, is ridiculously funny, but it also tugs at the heartstrings.
December 26, 2021
Excellent memoir - the audio book version really added to the experience as Seamus takes on the voices of the various characters of his youth. Highly recommended.
February 22, 2025
I really enjoyed this memoir by Séamas O’Rourke. Detailing his childhood and teenage years as a native of Leitrim, we get a rich insight into a lost Ireland, a simpler time, a time of hard work on the farm, but when people had time, knew their neighbours and the TV was just coming in, bringing the outside world in with it.
This was so well-written, each chapter an anecdote from the author’s life, and what made it shine for me was the use of the vernacular, the idioms particular to Leitrim or the surrounding areas, the turn-of-phrase that would really capture a scene, bring it alive and the natural wit of the writer in poking fun at himself and the eccentric characters that seemed to people rural Ireland at the time. Yet not in a cruel way, but a sort of sentimental way and with a real fondness and affection, a recognition of the heart of people.
As the third of four children, he grew up in a busy working family, the farm work routine marking out the day and the year. There was milking to be done morning and evening and ‘the things’, the rest of the jobs that go along with that. There was haymaking and the bog in summer, spuds all year round and many other jobs that keep the farm and family alive. His mother was a great worker, handmilking cows, taking in the turf, turning the grass for the hay and knitting by night to subsidise the family income. And while the children’s daily fare was plain and sparse, they always had enough and there was no lack of love or nourishment in every sense. They were encouraged with sport, their mother knitting two pairs of Leitrim green and yellow socks for himself and his brother when they showed interest in the game. His father ‘the Auld fella’, was a real and steady presence also. A tall man, he took up his space, not afraid to speak his mind but with a humility that gave others their space too. A very fond memory of the author was a day spent with his father fixing the back door and making a press, and him teaching Séamas how to use his saw, patient, present and proud, and then later buying him his own saw at the market, and deferring to Séamas to assess the quality of the saw.
While life was hard work, a daily drudge, they were all together in that house, happy, and full of peak moments that they shared together. Towards his latter teenage years, Séamas, with his brother and father begin to build a bungalow, a new family home, with an indoor toilet, and the famous ‘L shape’, a project that will take them several years. In the mass to bless the house, his brother prays that they may be as happy in that house as they were in the other. Simple but true.
I loved this book as it reminded me so much of my parents’ stories of their childhood and life growing up, especially my mother. We spent our summers on her childhood home on a farm in Galway. So many of her and my Gran’s stories were echoed in this book, school life, the farm jobs, the eccentric characters, the visits to the relations with warnings to restrain themselves at the table, the introduction of the TV. The way they all talked, their witty observations, words derived from Irish language that summed up people or a situation so much more effectively than could be done in English, was so similar to this author. Words like ‘footherin’’ or ‘Hair like a whin bush’. I loved it as it felt nostalgic to me, reminded me of my own roots and the very happy memories we had as children. Highly recommend!
This was so well-written, each chapter an anecdote from the author’s life, and what made it shine for me was the use of the vernacular, the idioms particular to Leitrim or the surrounding areas, the turn-of-phrase that would really capture a scene, bring it alive and the natural wit of the writer in poking fun at himself and the eccentric characters that seemed to people rural Ireland at the time. Yet not in a cruel way, but a sort of sentimental way and with a real fondness and affection, a recognition of the heart of people.
As the third of four children, he grew up in a busy working family, the farm work routine marking out the day and the year. There was milking to be done morning and evening and ‘the things’, the rest of the jobs that go along with that. There was haymaking and the bog in summer, spuds all year round and many other jobs that keep the farm and family alive. His mother was a great worker, handmilking cows, taking in the turf, turning the grass for the hay and knitting by night to subsidise the family income. And while the children’s daily fare was plain and sparse, they always had enough and there was no lack of love or nourishment in every sense. They were encouraged with sport, their mother knitting two pairs of Leitrim green and yellow socks for himself and his brother when they showed interest in the game. His father ‘the Auld fella’, was a real and steady presence also. A tall man, he took up his space, not afraid to speak his mind but with a humility that gave others their space too. A very fond memory of the author was a day spent with his father fixing the back door and making a press, and him teaching Séamas how to use his saw, patient, present and proud, and then later buying him his own saw at the market, and deferring to Séamas to assess the quality of the saw.
While life was hard work, a daily drudge, they were all together in that house, happy, and full of peak moments that they shared together. Towards his latter teenage years, Séamas, with his brother and father begin to build a bungalow, a new family home, with an indoor toilet, and the famous ‘L shape’, a project that will take them several years. In the mass to bless the house, his brother prays that they may be as happy in that house as they were in the other. Simple but true.
I loved this book as it reminded me so much of my parents’ stories of their childhood and life growing up, especially my mother. We spent our summers on her childhood home on a farm in Galway. So many of her and my Gran’s stories were echoed in this book, school life, the farm jobs, the eccentric characters, the visits to the relations with warnings to restrain themselves at the table, the introduction of the TV. The way they all talked, their witty observations, words derived from Irish language that summed up people or a situation so much more effectively than could be done in English, was so similar to this author. Words like ‘footherin’’ or ‘Hair like a whin bush’. I loved it as it felt nostalgic to me, reminded me of my own roots and the very happy memories we had as children. Highly recommend!
February 8, 2023
I laughed out loud several times as I read this honestly account of growing up in Carrigallen . Several chords were struck with the memories of my own childhood and teens. It was quite remarkable: the excitement of getting the first bathroom , the religious pictures , the feeling that there was nothing happening at home but maybe somewhere else and you wanted to be a part of it ! The lack of spoken affection and the advent of the TV were all brought to life again in
this book. It was so relatable, so funny so sad and the loneliness of the days with no contact much with the outside world were palpable.
this book. It was so relatable, so funny so sad and the loneliness of the days with no contact much with the outside world were palpable.
May 5, 2025
This is a wry, knowing, affectionate and (at times) brutally honest account of a young kid growing up in rural Ireland. There's a lot of love, an understanding of how hard it is to be honest with family members and tell them what they mean to us. I think the author is brilliant at articulating the nuances and contradictions of growing up n rural Ireland, but I think he does it better verbally than in writing. Still, I loved it, and will try to get to read Leaning on Gates in due course. A lovely read.
September 15, 2025
I like reading memoirs and novels about this time in Ireland. It’s like getting to know my own parents and their childhoods better (and it’s not like I could ever ask them, or if I did like they’d ever give me a decent answer). The prose here is simple, and O’Rourke has no higher political or artistic ideas other than presenting his life as he remembers it. But he has a generosity of spirit which I appreciate, coming out in brief flashes of empathy and wisdom. Funny and touching in equal measure.
July 8, 2022
Loved, loved, Loved this book. Seamus O'Rourke is a natural storyteller. There's no fussiness, nothing fancy, no trying to impress. Reading this book is like being in the presence of Seamus himself as he relates to us tales of his years of growing up in Leitrim and, without forcing it, portrays the humour in situations that simultaneously had me laughing out loud and had the heart put crossways in me. I need another book from Seamus now!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 18, 2022
A gem of a book! I absolutely adored this book. So much of this rang so true what with me being in a similar vintage as Seamus! There were numerous laugh out loud moments. It will be one I will recommend to friends but also be placed back on my book shelf as I will be reading it again. Thanks Mr O'Rourke! :)
June 13, 2021
This is an interesting book about the adventures of a Leitrim native. The turns of phrase are lucidly captured and rendered in concise stories. I recommend it highly. My copy is having a second life now in another household, a great honour to give a good read to another.
January 7, 2022
Very funny account of growing up on a farm in Leitrim from birth to 18 years old. A great story teller. He captures the loving, cynical and loving sides to rural life in Ireland from mid 60' to the 80's.
November 1, 2024
Wonderful recreation of O'Rourke's childhood in rural Leitrim in the 60s and 70s. A small farm which, once they were old enough all 4 children were expected to be involved in. His tales are told with great wit and capture the remote world of that bygone age. Highly recommended.
January 1, 2021
Lovely book, funny and moving and so truly reflective of growing up in Ireland in the 60s abd 70s. I really enjoyed it and was sorry when I'd finished it
February 17, 2021
Very funny and true insight into rural ireland.
February 22, 2021
Brought back great memories and laughs from my own childhood and standibg in gaps myself
February 28, 2021
Not for the faint hearted but beautifully written
March 17, 2021
A really enjoyable book, highly recommended. It's a long time since I laughed out loud while reading a book. Thank you Seamus O'Rourke for brightening up these grey days.
March 22, 2021
Honest and raw and utterly hilarious! Left wondering what happened in the next 18 years of his life!
April 5, 2021
A very funny but poignant story of a life growing up in the wilds of Leitrim. Seamus has a great way with words!
April 24, 2021
Enjoyable read
March 30, 2022
I truly wonderful memoir. I found I couldn't put it down. Fascinating to read of the authors life and upbringing. Would recommend!
May 1, 2022
Honest portrayal of growing up in rural Ireland. Something very familiar and funny to many of us.
February 11, 2024
A brilliant read from start to finish. Couldn't leave it down. Brilliantly written.
Hope Seamus continues his story in another book.
Hope Seamus continues his story in another book.
October 9, 2024
Couldnt finish it. Just not for me. Perhaps resonates with an generation of that time.
November 5, 2024
Rural Ireland in a nutshell, delivered with wit and speaks. Seamus is a national treasure.
January 3, 2025
3.5 stars
January 6, 2025
A belly laugh on every page, but a great look at life as it was in rural Ireland in the 80s. Rough and resilient
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews