An Irish childhood - Hardcover

Somerville-Large, Peter

4.11

9 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1841194573 ISBN 13: 9781841194578

Publisher: Constable, 2002

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Peter Somerville-Large grew up with his brother Phil in a nursery world at the top of a smart house in Dublin from where they could watch Fitzwilliam Place far below, with the horse drawn delivery vans, the animals being driven to market, and their father's patients arriving to visit the consulting rooms on the ground floor. The family had houses in the country too, with livestock and vegetable gardens, and a bevy of eccentric relations, among them Edith Somerville (of Somerville and Ross fame). When Peter was five, his father bought an island - eighty bare rocky acres on the north shore of the Kenmare River in county Kerry - which he saw as paradise. There were extraordinary parties, sailing trips, fishing expeditions. An Irish Childhood, beautifully written, takes the reader back to the sensations and excitements of children, and paints an engaging, vivid picture of a world at once so recent yet now vanished away.

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About the Author:

Born in 1928, Peter Somerville-Large was educated in Dublin. After a decade working abroad he returned to Ireland to take up a writing career. His many books of travel and social history include The Grand Irish Tour, Irish Eccentrics, and Cappaghglass.

Review:

Peter Somerville-Large's memories have an authentic and enchanting quality as he evokes the world of his parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts.' Contemporary Review - '..recalls in graphic detail the joys and tribulations of a childhood spent in a milieu that has vanished. * Books of Ireland *

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