An Irish Country ChristmasBarry Laverty, M.B., is looking forward to his first Christmas in the cozy village of Ballybucklebo, at least until he learns that his sweetheart, Patricia, might not be coming home for the holidays. That unhappy prospect dampens his spirits somewhat, but Barry has little time to dwell on his romantic disappointments. Christmas may be drawing nigh, but there is little peace to be found on earth, especially for a young doctor plying his trade in the emerald hills and glens of rural Ireland. Along with his senior partner, Doctor Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly, Barry has his hands full dealing with seasonal coughs and colds, as well as the occasional medical emergency. To add to the doctors' worries, competition arrives in the form of a patient-poaching new physician whose quackery threatens the health and well-being of the good people of Ballybucklebo. Can one territory support three hungry doctors? Barry has his doubts. But the wintry days and nights are not without a few tidings of comfort and joy. Between their hectic medical practice, Rugby Club parties, and the kiddies' Christmas Pageant, the two doctors still find time to play Santa Claus to a struggling single mother with a sick child and not enough money in the bank. Snow is rare in Ulster, and so are miracles, but that doesn't mean they never happen. . . . |
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 7 |
1 Recommend the Old Inn to Evry Friend | 13 |
2 A Little Snow Tumbled About | 25 |
3 The Cobblers Children Are the Worst Shod | 35 |
4 The Daily Round the Common Task | 46 |
5 A Memory of Yesterdays Pleasures | 56 |
6 All the Worlds a Stage and All the Men and Women Merely Players | 62 |
7 Im Sickly but Sassy | 72 |
29 Till the Gunpowder Ran Out at the Heels of Their Boots | 268 |
30 A New and Original Plan | 274 |
31 Folks Who Live Beneath the Shadow of the Steeple | 283 |
32 As Children with Their Play | 291 |
33 Make Thick My Blood | 303 |
34 I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside | 313 |
35 Chastise with the Valour of My Tongue | 318 |
36 For They Shall Be Comforted | 328 |
8 Blow Blow Thou Winter Wind | 81 |
9 A Mighty Maze But Not Without a Plan | 97 |
10 La Donna è Mobile or Women Change Their Minds | 105 |
11 The Stars in Their Courses | 113 |
12 You Cant Have Your Cake and Eat It | 121 |
13 Will Someone Take Me to a Pub? | 129 |
14 Whats in a Name? | 139 |
15 A Primrose by a Rivers Brim | 148 |
16 My Poor Fool Is Hanged | 158 |
17 Theres No Smoke without Fire | 165 |
18 Matters of Fact Are Very Stubborn Things | 174 |
19 The Muddied Oafs at the Goals | 182 |
20 The Nearest Run Thing You Ever Saw | 188 |
21 You Can Never Plan the Future by the Past | 195 |
22 Thou Art a Hard Man | 206 |
23 A Feast of Wine on the Lees | 213 |
24 On with the Dance Let Joy Be Unconfined | 222 |
25 The Absent Are Always in the Wrong | 230 |
26 Woe unto Them That Rise Up | 243 |
27 It Is Best Not To Swap Horses While Crossing the River | 250 |
28 Plotting in the Dark Toils Much to Earn a Monumental Pile | 258 |
37 A Good Plot Good Friends and Full of Expectation | 335 |
38 The Pelting of This Pitiless Storm | 342 |
39 To Travel Hopefully Is a Better Thing | 348 |
40 Now in Injias Sunny Clime Where I Used to Spend My Time | 357 |
41 Feel the Pangs of Disappointed Love | 366 |
42 I Feel My Heart New Opened | 373 |
43 Not Half So Surprised as I Am Now | 381 |
44 Things That Go Bump in the Night | 391 |
45 Jolly Gentlemen in Coats of Red | 399 |
46 Surprised by Joy | 408 |
47 It Came upon a Midnight Clear | 420 |
48 Glorious Morning Have I Seen | 428 |
49 The Corridors of Power | 439 |
50 Come and Go Talking of Michelangelo | 446 |
51 Presents I Often Say Endear | 456 |
52 A Feast Fit for a King | 463 |
AFTERWORD | 473 |
AUTHORS NOTE | 481 |
GLOSSARY | 485 |