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Tír na nÓg

Moving to Lisdoonvarna

 

By

Nancy Chambers

 

ISBN: 978-1-911131-07-6

Ebook: 978-1-911131-92-2

 

Price:  €12.50/£9.99

Ebook: €11.50/£8.99

 

 

 

About the Author:

 

The author, Nancy Chambers, was born in Dublin. Following her childhood in County Clare, she lived in England for 30 years before moving to Wales.  With a passion for Celtic History and Art, she is well placed to pursue these interests.

 

 

 

About the Book:

 

Nine-year-old Áine becomes rebellious when she learns that she is to move from her idyllic surroundings at Rockville, in County Clare.  Living halfway up a mountain in the Burren has given her an affinity with the earliest inhabitants of that place - the Celts, which will be with her throughout her life.

 

Áine’s grandfather, a retired headmaster, concerned abut her reaction to the forthcoming move, decides to prepare her, not merely for the change which is due to take place, but also for life’s journey.  For Áine his story became a fascinating, frustrating, rollercoaster of emotions, which relied on her unbounded love and admiration for him, to keep her steadfast throughout.  It was to be a story for which she learned to be truly grateful as she journeyed onwards: one which helped to explain why he had chosen that out-of-the-way place to spend his life, helping others to get the best out of theirs. 

 

This is the story that Áine shares with her grandson, as they spend time in her favourite place: the place of her childhood, believing that this will prepare him, as it did her, for whatever is to come.

 

 

 

 

Sample Excerpts:

 

Chapter XIII

 

A light in the darkness

             Mum had announced at breakfast, that all the packing would need to be completed before Granddad emerged.  She would take him his breakfast tray as usual, then it would be all hands on deck and we should be ready to leave after lunch.  I had tried to be positive, acknowledging that autumn, winter and spring had come and gone since the bombshell was dropped concerning the move.  I had returned to school feeling much happier about all that lay ahead.  My resolution to note the seasonal changes remained uppermost in my mind, and the time sped by.  During the winter months I had gone back over my journey with Granddad, and sometimes we chatted about those things, which had perplexed me.  I certainly spent a lot of time thinking about how those nomadic people would have felt, particularly in the light of my own move.  Granddad avoided telling me that their situation and mine bore no comparison.  After all I was only moving three miles, and to a lovely modern bungalow.  However, he knew how I felt, and he didn’t need to point out the obvious.

The arrangement was that Patrick would travel with Dad, but Mum and I would walk the three-mile distance, using the lower road, because Rooska was situated at that end of the town.  There were to be no awkward moments as we parted company, because Mum had already put her case as she saw it, but I couldn’t look at Granddad as I hugged him, and began to turn away.  As I did so, he took my hand and placed a brown paper package in it, ‘This one is very old and dog-eared like me, but I hope it serves you well.’  A quick look inside the package confirmed that he had given me his personal Bible.  Then I looked at him, handed the parcel to Mum and fled.

I continued to gaze at the candle flame as the realization flowed over me.  Suddenly I knew that I was crying, but it didn’t worry me; it felt rather like a stream rushing over a dry river bed, which had become parched in the drought, but was about to come back to life, so that even the lifeless stones would sparkle in the sunlight.  Like the stream, which had its source deep in the earth, the tears led me to what had become my pit, where they had been bottled up.  The tears flowed out and the memories flowed back, but my gaze remained fixed on the candle flame, the flame which helped to light my journey backwards to my inner being. 

~~~~~

Nancy is rather like the proverbial ‘ Elephants child’ always having another question ..., 24 Feb. 2017 By Miss E Perrott This review is from: Tir Na Nog Moving to Lisdoonvarna (Paperback) Tir Na Nog
( Moving to Lisdoonvama)
BY Nancy Chambers
Reviewed by Liz Perrott

My review of the first book in this series, Aine’s Diary, mentioned the fact that although I had never been to Ireland, I felt as if I knew it well after reading it. So it has been with this book. I was transported once more to the Land of Nancy’s childhood, the sights, the smells, the seasons and colours. The mixture of Christianity and the Little People
The second book, ‘’Moving to Lisdoonvara’’ takes the story further as Nancy relates memories of her childhood to her grandson.
We know from the first book how upset Nancy was at the prospect of leaving Rockville, in the Burren , especially when she realises that her Grandfather is not going to move with the rest of the family,
Grandad shares many of his own memories and knowledge, teaching Nancy how to read ancient maps and how to also do her own research alongside him.
Nancy is rather like the proverbial ‘ Elephants child’ always having another question to put to each answer or thought , indeed often she struggles to contain her curiosity and enthusiasm for knowledge.
There is much fascination, especially for the serious historian, in the way this researching of Scripture and Celtic Mythology seem to almost overlap.The maps, chronologies are helpful in this respect.
However for me the book’s strength comes from the way the reader is drawn into the special relationship between Nancy and her Grandfather and later into the relationship between Nancy and her grandson, as she conveys her thoughts and actions as a nine year old child, and shares these memories with her young grandson in later years.
What I learned as a reader was the way Grandad counsels her to grasp the situation as it happens because ’There may not be another opportunity’ also I recognised in the story, how we can learn from the past, but we should not dwell on it. We also need to be able to take what we have learned and move on and move forward, especially when our lives change through loss and as we age.
The book also tells us of the powerful relationship between Nancy and her mother. All the things she describes as ‘ chores’ as a child, were more than household tasks, they also helped her raise her own children and also stood her in good stead later in life, when she was sadly widowed at a young age. They gave her the strength and to go on and forge a new career for herself. In becoming an adult education tutor, she drew on the many practical skills and application she learned from her mother, and she became an adult education tutor, using many of the practical skills she had learned from her mother in planning and linking with her students.
All in all another enjoyable and inspiriting read.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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