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The Parish
In a series of vignettes of life in her village, Alice Taylor reasserts the priorities of public space and local community. The Parish evokes and explores the positive values of community, which could be renewed and reinvigorated for a present and future that achieves harmony between comfort and the pressing need to respect the environment.
- GenresNonfiction
224 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2008
7 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
Alice Taylor
109 books64 followersAlice Taylor lives in the village of Innishannon in County Cork, in a house attached to the local supermarket and post office. Since her eldest son has taken over responsibility for the shop, she has been able to devote more time to her writing.
Alice Taylor worked as a telephonist in Killarney and Bandon. When she married, she moved to Innishannon where she ran a guesthouse at first, then the supermarket and post office. She and her husband, Gabriel Murphy, who sadly passed away in 2005, had four sons and one daughter. In 1984 she edited and published the first issue of Candlelight, a local magazine which has since appeared annually. In 1986 she published an illustrated collection of her own verse.
To School Through the Fields was published in May 1988. It was an immediate success, launching Alice on a series of signing sessions, talks and readings the length and breadth of Ireland. Her first radio interview, forty two minutes long on RTÉ Radio's Gay Byrne Show, was the most talked about radio programme of 1988, and her first television interview, of the same length, was the highlight of the year on RTÉ television's Late Late Show. Since then she has appeared on radio programmes such as Woman's Hour, Midweek and The Gloria Hunniford Show, and she has been the subject of major profiles in the Observer and the Mail on Sunday.
To School Through the Fields quickly became the biggest selling book ever published in Ireland, and her sequels, Quench the Lamp, The Village, Country Days and The Night Before Christmas, were also outstandingly successful. Since their initial publication these books of memoirs have also been translated and sold internationally.
In 1997 her first novel, The Woman of the House, was an immediate bestseller in Ireland, topping the paperback fiction lists for many weeks. A moving story of land, love and family, it was followed by a sequel, Across the River in 2000, which was also a bestseller.
One of Ireland's most popular authors, she has continued writing fiction, non-fiction and poetry since.
Alice Taylor worked as a telephonist in Killarney and Bandon. When she married, she moved to Innishannon where she ran a guesthouse at first, then the supermarket and post office. She and her husband, Gabriel Murphy, who sadly passed away in 2005, had four sons and one daughter. In 1984 she edited and published the first issue of Candlelight, a local magazine which has since appeared annually. In 1986 she published an illustrated collection of her own verse.
To School Through the Fields was published in May 1988. It was an immediate success, launching Alice on a series of signing sessions, talks and readings the length and breadth of Ireland. Her first radio interview, forty two minutes long on RTÉ Radio's Gay Byrne Show, was the most talked about radio programme of 1988, and her first television interview, of the same length, was the highlight of the year on RTÉ television's Late Late Show. Since then she has appeared on radio programmes such as Woman's Hour, Midweek and The Gloria Hunniford Show, and she has been the subject of major profiles in the Observer and the Mail on Sunday.
To School Through the Fields quickly became the biggest selling book ever published in Ireland, and her sequels, Quench the Lamp, The Village, Country Days and The Night Before Christmas, were also outstandingly successful. Since their initial publication these books of memoirs have also been translated and sold internationally.
In 1997 her first novel, The Woman of the House, was an immediate bestseller in Ireland, topping the paperback fiction lists for many weeks. A moving story of land, love and family, it was followed by a sequel, Across the River in 2000, which was also a bestseller.
One of Ireland's most popular authors, she has continued writing fiction, non-fiction and poetry since.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 20, 2019
This was a bit of a two and half star book for me... but then I had the feeling the book was not written for me but a 'home' audience where I can imagine she is very popular. I think it suffered greatly from being read in proximity to Return to Akenfield, as I anticipated something of similar literary quality and feel, just about a village (parish) in Ireland.
I must have driven through Innishannon on my way to my only Irish holiday and I am intrigued by how life works there for different people. I think my problem was that the series of warm vignettes from her life and that of the village didn't seem to show me that and I could have imagined the same book written about people in England. It wasn't especially humorous (in style, there are certainly humorous events) I felt I liked *her* very much and that I would very much enjoy sharing a pot of tea with her, but I didn't feel motivated to read any more of her work.
I must have driven through Innishannon on my way to my only Irish holiday and I am intrigued by how life works there for different people. I think my problem was that the series of warm vignettes from her life and that of the village didn't seem to show me that and I could have imagined the same book written about people in England. It wasn't especially humorous (in style, there are certainly humorous events) I felt I liked *her* very much and that I would very much enjoy sharing a pot of tea with her, but I didn't feel motivated to read any more of her work.
April 18, 2021
This one I took home from the thrift store because it was a white hardcover with a esthetically pleasing dust jacket and it had the authors autograph and it was about a small church in Ireland: I expected some uplifting and insightful stories about the inner working of a parish. What I got was a rather practical report on how to organize a fundraiser or how to get into gardening. It was rather pleasantly written, there was a lot of white space on the pages and the chapters where short, so I finished it in something like one and a half day. Not very interesting in the end, though. If you want it, it is waiting on my outshelf to be left at one of the local booksharing-shelves.
April 6, 2024
I rounded up and would like to give 3 and a half stars.
I did enjoy the community aspect of the book. Subsidiarity is a concept that I agree with and this book shows what can be done for a community at the local level, without expecting or needing big governments with over-reaching powers.
The tributes to people and pets that the author loved and lost were touching and I enjoyed the sections of garden writing as well.
There were some redundant sections of fundraising efforts. I understand that is a necessary aspect of subsidiarity, it just doesn't make for the most interesting reading.
I did enjoy the community aspect of the book. Subsidiarity is a concept that I agree with and this book shows what can be done for a community at the local level, without expecting or needing big governments with over-reaching powers.
The tributes to people and pets that the author loved and lost were touching and I enjoyed the sections of garden writing as well.
There were some redundant sections of fundraising efforts. I understand that is a necessary aspect of subsidiarity, it just doesn't make for the most interesting reading.
July 3, 2018
I didn't like this one as well as "To School Through the Fields." It's a gentle description of small village life in Ireland. There's a lesson in how people can work together to accomplish great things. I found particularly interesting the depiction of funeral rituals there.
May 12, 2009
Book Review of The Parish by Alice Taylor by Annette Dunlea
Alice Taylor is one of Ireland’s best selling authors. Her past memoirs have all become bestsellers and translated into many languages and sold internationally. The Parish her latest novel is published by Brandon Press in now available in paperback. Its ISBN is 9780863223976. Alice Taylor depicts happy rural Irish life citing examples from her own village in Innishannon, Co. Cork. It speaks of the virtues of a sense of community and how people worked together for the good of the parish. She chronicles fading rural life and rural rituals in a conversational and amusing tone. She asserts the priorities of public space and social community.
Reviewed by Annette Dunlea author of The Honey Trap and Always and Forever
Alice Taylor is one of Ireland’s best selling authors. Her past memoirs have all become bestsellers and translated into many languages and sold internationally. The Parish her latest novel is published by Brandon Press in now available in paperback. Its ISBN is 9780863223976. Alice Taylor depicts happy rural Irish life citing examples from her own village in Innishannon, Co. Cork. It speaks of the virtues of a sense of community and how people worked together for the good of the parish. She chronicles fading rural life and rural rituals in a conversational and amusing tone. She asserts the priorities of public space and social community.
Reviewed by Annette Dunlea author of The Honey Trap and Always and Forever
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews