My next book, Under His Roof, published by Summer Palace Press, is a sequence of vignettes about my late father, Barney O’Doherty. I have recorded a few pieces below and will add more later.
I read a couple of pieces from Under His Roof, at The Wild Geese Literary Festival in Strangford on Feb 6.
It seemed to go down well.
You can hear a recording here:
Keeping yourself to yourself.
http://malachi.podcastpeople.com/redirect/media/35587malachi-o-doherty-35587mp3Barney assessed the merits of a man by his ability to get by without saying anything about his doings.
Barney’s Dogs
http://malachi.podcastpeople.com/redirect/media/34620malachi-o-doherty-34620mp3We always knew a dog’s time was up when it started to cough. These were dry hacking coughs that disturbed the creature’s whole body.
And the bounce would go out of the beast as the grip of distemper tightened.
Barney would not even consider calling a vet but he had sufficient concern to try his own remedies.
My Father, Barney O’Doherty, assessed the worth of a man by his ability to keep quiet about his doings.
Barney’s Language:
http://malachi.podcastpeople.com/redirect/media/34215malachi-o-doherty-34215mp3Barney lived in a world in which spanners and knives and even people were not named. The yoke and the cutty and the gulpin were to be spoken of a little coyly, in case others listening in should know what you were talking about.
There were other traditional language terms used around me growing up, ‘thran’, to describe a canny person of few words and dry humour, Barney never used those other words much. The beauty of those words is in their capacity to sharpen thought and refine an image. Barney was not preserving an old language so much as an old code.
Barney’s Noises
http://malachi.podcastpeople.com/redirect/media/32300/malachi-o-doherty-32300mp3
Snoring was nature’s guard dog. At the ancient campfire, it was probably a warning to all dangerous animals to stay away, for the man is never more bestial and appalling than when he is shuddering from deep in his throat up to his sinuses.
Malachi I really enjoyed this podcast and it’s raw insight into human behaviour
This was a very interesting peek at Uncle Bernard.. some of those expressions made me smile and reminded me of my dad (his brother). I look forward to the book Malachi.. 🙂
Love from your family ‘branch’ in Canada!
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Malachi – That was brilliant! I enjoyed it so much – laughing at some of the same words daddy would use – I was lucky enough to visit your Dad on a few occasions before he died so I can picture him exactly talking like that. I was never big on reading like some member’s of our family but I am really looking forward to your new book about Barny. He was a character – daddy might say when they made him they threw away the mould. But it’s funny how listening to you I can picture him exactly – the way he talked and carried on! I love the way you can listen to you reading the book – will I be able to get it on cd or tape? It made me think of how much I miss listening to Mammy & Daddy’s accent! Noises, language, accents – You bring Barney story to life (Thru the eye’s of his child).
Well Done! 🙂
i knew your father for years didnt see him for a long time your uncle george used to keep me up to date he was some man he was dogmatic all right but thats not a bad thing looking forward to reading the book pobyrne
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