Revisiting Canon Sheehan of Doneraile 1852 - 1913: Author • Activist • Priest edited by Gabriel Doherty
BOOK REVIEWS
"My initial reaction after reading my first Sheehan novel was to compare him with Trollope, for his compelling, detailed and textured story-telling as well as for his sympathetic and believable characters...he does share some of Trollope's taste for gentle and not so gentle satire. Patrick Sheehan deserved the popularity his novels once had and does not deserve the obscurity that has dimmed the view of his work. Perhaps the book here reviewed will help start a revival of interest...In the end, after all [its] fascinating scholarly analysis, the reason that Patrick Sheehan's fiction should be rediscovered and embraced is that his novels tell compelling human stories, paint loving pictures of a rural Irish culture that has disappeared, and, perhaps most importantly, make great reads. I hope the publication of this book helps start the process."
South-Eastern Catholic History, n.6, 2014 Robert G. Harley
"The attempt by this excellent publication and the conference that prompted it to claim for Sheehan his rightful place in the pantheon of Irish writers is to be highly commended."