The Irish Connection and Other StoriesBy Michael Corrigan
Michael Corrigan proclaims his Irish roots through prose, with passion and pathos imbedded in every one of these twenty stories. His first book, Confessions of a Shanty Irishman, began his personal odyssey. This second book, although fiction, completes the journey. Mr. Corrigan's treatment of love, loss, family, friendship, and the passage of time is firmly tethered to his ancestry. Each character is memorable, demonstrating the resilience and rugged toughness that so typifies Ireland, past and present. But always, underlying every story, is a stirring spirit of compassion and the heartsong shared by Erin's sons throughout the world. The fascinating linchpin of these stories is Michael Mulligan. His history and descendents are recurring themes throughout the book. We meet him as a handsome young horse trainer, fleeing Ireland with his lover, the wife of a cruel English landowner. The year is 1847, a time of plague and famine in Ireland. Because of his love for Maria Burke, Mulligan deserts his ties with Ireland and the secret group of which he is a member -- ferocious Irish patriots -- the Whiteboys. From County Roscommon, they sail to America and freedom. All hopes of a bright future with his lover end when Maria dies of typhus. Heartbroken, Mulligan heads for San Francisco to face an uncertain future and to rebuild his life, alone. The next generation of Mulligans is introduced when Michael and his son meet in 1888 on the sacred grounds of Gettysburg. The years between Maria's death and this strained meeting with his son have aged Michael Mulligan in more than years. His son John's mother died in childbirth. And Michael all but abandoned the boy to join the Union army and support President Lincoln's cause. Through Corrigan's descriptive prose, the place and the day are memorialized as Michael Mulligan haltingly looks into the past and shares it with his son. The estranged father and son establish a common bond at Gettysburg, then travel to Grosse Isle to visit Maria Burke's grave. Revenge comes bitter and late as Michael Mulligan travels to Ireland to confront his past and Maria's husband, Nathanial Burke. Mulligan's son and grandchildren accompany him, meeting traveling gypsy bands and hearing stories of ancient Celtic kings and warriors. Not all stories involve the Mulligans, but are interconnected by place or time chronologically. Through pivotal moments of two centuries, we meet the Kennedys and O'Learys, for example. The Kennedy women demonstrate courage in a new land in Corrigan's stunning prose pictorial of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. And Thomas O'Leary, Jr. returns from war in 1946 to find an introverted son abandoned by his mother. That son at twenty -- Terrence Michael Seamus O'Leary -- and his friends encounter life's chilling realism in Berlin of 1962. And Sean Dineen experiences the nightmare decade when JFK, RFK, and Martin Luther King, Jr. were assassinated. The Mulligan saga resumes with Declan Mulligan, Michael's great great grandson, as he researches his family history. It all comes full circle beautifully at the end, as Declan learns about the Whiteboys -- who are known to exact revenge upon deserters through subsequent generations -- and the courageous Irish Brigade, heroes of the Civil War. Eloquently, often reverently, author Corrigan takes his readers through the lives of unforgettable people who survive times of trouble. The breathtaking beauty of Ireland and America, the awfulness of war and disease are seen first hand through the eyes of his fictional characters. The horror of Dachau's legacy, the shattering effect of untimely death, prejudice and racism add powerful impact to several of the stories. Explosive changes in Ireland and America through parts of two centuries are skillfully explored. And always, there are the tiny moments of joy, the glimpses of pure beauty, or the sorrowful nuances that Michael Corrigan expresses so well. One final comment: Those who buy this book should carefully examine the quietly dramatic front cover. Review by Laurel Johnson |
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