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    An Irish Country Girl: A Novel
    An Irish Country Girl: A Novel
    An Irish Country Girl: A Novel
    Audiobook10 hours

    An Irish Country Girl: A Novel

    Written by Patrick Taylor

    Narrated by Terry Donnelly

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Readers of Patrick Taylor's books know Mrs. Kinky Kincaid as the unflappable housekeeper who looks after two frequently frazzled doctors in the colourful Irish village of Ballybucklebo. She is a trusted fixture in the lives of those around her, and it often seems as though Kinky has always been there.

    Nothing could be farther from the truth.

    Some forty-odd years before and many miles to the south, the girl who would someday be Kinky Kincaid was Maureen O'Hanlon, a farmer's daughter growing up in the emerald hills and glens of County Cork. A precocious girl on the cusp of womanhood, Maureen has a head full of dreams, a heart open to romance, and something more: a gift for seeing beyond the ordinary into the mystic realm of fairies, spirits, and even the dreaded Banshee, whose terrifying wail she first hears on a snowy night in 1922. . . .

    As she grows into a young woman, Maureen finds herself torn between love and her fondest aspirations, for the future is a mystery even for one blessed with the sight. Encountering both joy and sorrow, Maureen at last finds herself on the road to Ballybucklebo---and the strong and compassionate woman she was always destined to become.

    An Irish Country Girl is another captivating tale by Patrick Taylor, a true Irish storyteller.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Audio
    Release dateJan 5, 2010
    ISBN9781427208910
    An Irish Country Girl: A Novel
    Author

    Patrick Taylor

    Patrick Taylor, M.D., was born and raised in Bangor County Down in Northern Ireland. Dr. Taylor is a distinguished medical researcher, offshore sailor, model-boat builder, and father of two grown children. He lives on Saltspring Island, British Columbia.

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    Reviews for An Irish Country Girl

    4.5/5

    17 ratings9 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Another fun group of happenings in the fictional village of Ballybuckledo, Northern Island. Dr. Laverty, Patricia Spense, and Kinky Kincaid all work with the larger than life Dr. Fingle Flaherty O'Reilly to make life better for all residents.
    • 4/5
      Kinky Kincaid has lived in the northern Irish village of Ballybucklebo for more than 40 years, working as a housekeeper for two harried doctors. Readers of Patrick Taylor's Irish Country series know little about her childhood and where she grew up ... until now. Kinky reminisces about when she was a young girl named Maureen O'Hanlon - first telling the neighborhood children about the Saint Stephen's Day ghost's initial appearance in the southern county of Cork; and later (as she makes Christmas dinner for the doctors) Kinky recalls her memories of the years growing up from a child into womanhood in that same county.An Irish Country Girl is not just a coming of age story, but a look deep beneath the lore and magic of Ireland. The novel centers around the belief in fairies, spirits and the mystical Banshee whose eerie wail on a snowy night foretells of a death. Blessed with "the sight" (passed down from her mother), the young Maureen wants to understand her future. She is a dreamer, a determined girl who wants an education to become a teacher as well as a romantic match with the man she grows to love.Patrick Taylor brings to life a small farming community and its eccentric people, and reveals the life of a young girl growing up in the 1920s in Ireland. Readers unable to stretch their imaginations may find it difficult to fully immerse themselves in this realm of magical realism. But, I found the novel a fun and entertaining read. Taylor's narrative strength is in telling the story through his characters' eyes. At times I felt as though I was sitting rapt in front of a gifted Irish storyteller, waiting for the expected ending to a tale of intrigue.Taylor has written a light, engrossing novel about storytellers, magic, and Irish lore. He describes the Irish countryside with its rolling green hills and dales, its flocks of sheep, and the unexpected and sudden shifts in weather; then inserts his quirky characters and the "little people" who populate the spaces beneath the blackthorn trees, thereby creating a story which entertains and delights the imagination.If you have not yet read Taylor's previous books in the series, no worries. This novel can stand on its own. Taylor even includes a helpful glossary of Irish terms and phrases, as well as some of Kinky Kincaid's fabulous recipes at the end of the book.Recommended to those readers interested in Irish lore and magic, as well as readers who enjoy novels of small town life.
    • 4/5
      Falling into the class of “Comfort Reads”, An Irish Country Village picks up where the first volume left off. We follow the adventures of young Dr. Barry Laverty as he joins the practice of the older, gruff, heart-of-gold, Dr. Fingal Flahertie O’Reilly. Trying to fit into the small rural village of Ballybuckbo isn’t easily done as everything the young doctor does comes under scrutiny. A huge cast of characters with assorted ailments or problems drift in and out of the doctor’s waiting room and the two doctors analyse, console and/or treat as the condition demands.Humorous, light, entertaining reading with a touch of the Irish blarney. A great book to curl up with on a cold winter’s day.
    • 4/5
      Newly qualified doctor Barry Laverty had a successful month working under Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly in the Northern Irish village of Ballybucklebo. O'Reilly seems to be ready to offer Dr. Laverty a permanent position in his small practice. However, repercussions from a case gone wrong may damage Dr. Laverty's reputation in the village beyond repair. The results of a postmortem will either condemn or exonerate him. Meanwhile, Dr. Laverty's interest in Patricia continues to grow, but there's a problem. Patricia's got her heart set on winning a scholarship to Cambridge, far away from tiny Ballybucklebo.This book picks up right where the first book ended. In fact, the action starts on the morning after the last scene in the first book. Several of the patient visits are follow-ups to visits in the previous book. It had been a couple of years since I read the first book, and I wish I hadn't waited so long to read the second one. I had forgotten some of the details that it would helped to have had fresh in my memory. This series is a good choice for readers looking for nostalgic comfort. To get the most out of it, the books need to be read in order and fairly close together.
    • 4/5
      Reason for Reading: The Irish Country Doctor series has been on my tbr list for a while and when I had an offer to read this fourth book, which can also be read as a stand-alone, I jumped at the chance to get my feet wet with the series.Summary: This fourth book in the series takes a different direction than the other books by centering on Maureen Kincaid, housekeeper/cook for two country doctors in the 1960s. The book actually takes place during a few hours near the end of Book Three while Maureen is at home preparing Christmas dinner and the doctors have gone out. During this time Mrs. Kincaid reflects back on her earlier life in the 1920s, specifically following the years she was fourteen to eighteen years-old. The book tells the story of Maureen's biggest characteristic, being that she has "the sight" and how she first became that way, when she first saw the fey and had her first visions of the future. Her story also answers questions such as why she came to be called "Kinky", how she became a Mrs., and how she finally ended up as the doctors' housekeeper.Comments: First, I'll say the book was not what I had expected. Not having read any of the other books in the series I did not know Mrs. Kincaid had "the sight" making the story a lot more whimsical than just the cozy village story I had expected. I thoroughly enjoyed the book from start to finish and since this book is so different from the others, as a newcomer to the series the only character I had to get to know was Maureen herself. A wonderful story, with exceptional characters, that tells a tale full of romance and heartbreak, life and death, religion and folklore at a time when people spoke of God in the same breath as they warned away the spirits.Maureen is a lovely, spirited girl with such a bittersweet story. I took to her right from the first page. Actually the rest of her family was just as real and enjoyable that they all felt like people I knew by the end of the book. I wonder if any of them ever came to visit or vice versa in the previous books or if they may pop up again in future books now that they have been introduced. I am now even more eager to get started reading the first book, meet the doctors and read the type of story I was more expecting in the first place but now I will have a familiar face to greet me when I open its pages. Charming tale for those who enjoy cozies, but also appreciate a good dose of Irish folklore.
    • 3/5
      The first book was perfectly inoffensive - light and sort of amusing, but it's all just a bit too insubstantial for me. It reads very much like something that was always intended to be made into a PBS mini-series.
    • 4/5
      So this was very different than the other Irish Country books I've read. It is told from Kinky Kincaid's perspective and details her youth and how she became "fey". (Psychic) It's a cozy trip into Irish folklore of which I heretofore knew nothing. It also includes some mouth watering details about her cooking which always make me wander into the kitchen wondering if I have any of the ingredients on hand to make something like she describes. Anyway, it's sweet, and nice but the good doctors literally just walk in the door at the last minute and don't even say a word I guess. I believe it's an important part of my Patrick Taylor collection. Oh, yes, I'm collecting, the covers are quite lovely. They look so nice in my library
    • 4/5
      While I really enjoyed the details of Irish myths and bits of Irish history, the story wasn't as strong for the last half as Taylor's other works.
    • 5/5
      This is the second book in a series about a young doctor adjusting to life in a small village in NOrthern Ireland during the early 1960's. I found this to bve a light, fun, heart-warming read remeniscent of James Herriots' books about a Yorkshire veterinarian.A bonus for me is that the setting is not far from my ancestral home. That seemed to personalize it a bit, and made it even more fun. I adored it.